NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to bring together both indigenous and non-indigenous people to celebrate and support indigenous communities, their history, achievements and culture.
The 2019 theme is ‘Voice. Treaty. Truth. Let’s work together’.
The Barossa Council, South Australia, area spans the traditional land of the Ngaduri, Peramangk and Kaurna People with a proud and rich history that is to be celebrated and honoured, but also to be understood and for true history to be heard in order to reach reconciliation.
Mayor, Bim Lange, said, “It’s never too late to ask questions, be informed, or to reassess our point of view. We can all be champions for cultural awareness. It’s important that we recognise all our historical, traditional and cultural past as part of the Barossa story”.
A bush morning tea with bottomless billy tea and traditional wattleseed damper and bushfood jams served around a hearty will set the scene for a great yarn.
To celebrate the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages, Wollongong City Libraries, NSW, is holding a film festival featuring Indigenous voices from around the world.
The first week of the festival coincides with NAIDOC Week and features Australian Indigenous content, with the second week highlighting movies that tell Indigenous stories from across the world.
On Saturday evening Canberra hosted the 2019 National NAIDOC Awards Ceremony. The Awards recognise the outstanding contributions made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in their communities and beyond.
In Shire of East Pilbara, Western Australia, the week’s opening ceremony included a flag raising ceremony where students participating in Newman Senior High School’s Follow the Dream program raised the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags alongside Senior Sergeant Russell Evans who raised the National flag. Prior to the flag raising, proud Noongar woman and long-term local resident, Phyllis Lockyer performed some of her favourite songs.
Mayor, Lynne Craigie OAM, took the opportunity to encourage members of the indigenous community to nominate for Council as part of the Local Government Elections on October 19.
“We encourage nominations from members of our Indigenous community to stand for election as we would welcome greater Indigenous representation on Council,” she said.
