Wanjoo (The Welcome Song)
Welcome, welcome beautiful friends! In this video, Bree from Keiki Hamersley performs Wanjoo (The Welcome Song). This song is enjoyed each morning by educators and children of all ages as part of our daily ritual at Keiki Early Learning.
Bree sings Wanjoo in the traditional Aboriginal Noongar language, and begins with a Noongar Welcome to Country acknowledgment. Here, we sing “Welcome, welcome, beautiful friends. Welcome, welcome, strong friends. We are happy to see you.”
This happy song has a simple melody that is easy for children to sing along to – and it’s just as catchy for the adults! So, join Bree on her guitar and sing loudly and brightly with us.
Why is the Wanjoo song so important to us?
We understand how important it is to keep the Noongar language alive through song. The Wanjoo song is popular in early childhood education centres, schools and choirs around Perth, thanks to its deep roots in the Noongar tradition.
It was written by singer-songwriter Gina Williams, who released an album sung entirely in the Indigenous language of Western Australia. Williams believes that if you live on Noongar country, you should know a few words of the land. The Wanjoo song gives children an uplifting, easy way to pick up some of this traditional vocabulary.
Sing along with Keiki Early Learning
Join Bree and sing the Wanjoo song with us. We’ve shared the simple but catchy lyrics below, both in the original language and in its English translation:
Wanjoo, wanjoo (Welcome, welcome)
Kwobodak koorda (Beautiful friends)
Wanjoo, wanjoo (Welcome, welcome)
Moorditj koorda (Strong friends)
Ngalak djerabin (We are happy)
Noonook djinaniny (To see you)
Ngalak warangka (We sing)
Wanjoo (Welcome)
Djiraly-ak (wanjoo) (From the north (welcome))
Koongal-ak (wanjoo) (From the south(welcome))
Boyal-ak (wanjoo) (From the east (welcome))
Marawar-ak (wanjoo) (From the west (welcome))
Ngalak djerabin (We are happy)
Noonook djinaniny (To see you)
Ngalak warangka (We sing)
Wanjoo (Welcome)
© Words and Music – Gina Williams 2010.
Find out more about Keiki Early Learning
We’re a small group of family-owned childcare centres in Perth’s northern suburbs, providing quality early education through dynamic learning, play and song. Visit our YouTube channel if you’d like more songs to sing along to, or contact us for more information.
