Aboriginal leader lauded
NYOONGAR leader Ken Colbung, Professor John Penrose and Professor Jan Aart Broeze have received the Western Australian Museum Medal.
The Museums Australia (WA Branch) Institutional Award was also presented to the John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library and Brian Sheperd, in recognition of their ongoing achievements in the development of good museum practice.
Five WA Museum staff members were also recognised for 25 years of continuous service with WA Museum Awards.
Mr Colbung was awarded for his commitment to the WA Museum and for the protection and dissemination of knowledge on Aboriginal cultural heritage.
Professor Penrose and Professor Boeze, who received his medal posthumously, were lauded for their many years of service to the WA Museum and the preservation of maritime history and marine archaeology.
The medals presented to Mr Colbung, Professor Penrose and Professor Boeze’s family were created from silver residues collected by museum conservators during the treatment of coins from shipwrecks of the WA coast.