Local Governments across Australia celebrated National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee Week last month. As part of the celebrations in the City of Cockburn, Western Australia, its Seniors Centre hosted a ball highlighting the importance of indigenous culture to the community.
Local seniors and elders gathered for lunch, dancing and entertainment from the Usual Suspects, bringing together Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, showing cultural diversity is alive and well in the area.
The NAIDOC Seniors Ball was a joint initiative from the Cities of Cockburn and Melville and comes after the City of Cockburn became Western Australia’s first metropolitan Local Government to adopt a reconciliation action plan at the start of June.
NAIDOC’s origins can be traced to the emergence of Aboriginal groups in the 1920s, which sought to increase awareness in the wider community of the status and treatment of Indigenous Australians.
With roots tied intrinsically to Aboriginal rights, the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee was formed in 1957 to support and promote Aboriginal Sunday and has since evolved into a week long recognition of Aboriginal culture.
For the past 54 years, NAIDOC celebrations have been held around Australia in July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
In Queensland, Mackay Regional Council hosted a flag raising ceremony, traditional lunch, open forum, art exhibition and palm frond weaving workshops.
The theme for this year’s NAIDOC Week celebrations is “Change – the Next Step is Ours”. Mayor Col Meng said each year NAIDOC week provides the community with the opportunity to recognise the contributions of Indigenous Australians in various fields.
