NAIDOC Week

COMING up on Sunday, 3 July to Sunday, 10 July is NAIDOC Week.
It’s the week when the National Aboriginal and Islander Day of Observation Committee celebrates what it means to be aboriginal in this great land that they inhabited for thousands of years.
NAIDOC was born out of the need to observe the passing of the traditional times and those who were dispossessed of their land and ancient rites and languages.
There were approximately 33 different tribal groups in Victoria at the time of white settlement, yet very few are intact today. In 2005 the struggle for many aboriginal people is not over because the pain of the brokenness and dispossession is still very real. There are elders alive today who saw their families separated, and the necks of kinsfolk chained in cattle cars.
I am reading the novel ‘Pemulwey’ at the moment which is the story of one of the most feared defenders of his land from the British as they ‘took over’ New South Wales. He waged war for two years until the inevitable tide of white settlement over took him and his people.
Of late, however, NAIDOC Week has become a time of celebrating the new era that is being ushered in.
The new Shire of Yarra Ranges Indigenous Advisory Committee in conjunction with the elders has planned some exciting activities for the week.
On Monday, 4 July there will be the opening of an Indigenous Art Exhibition at the Healesville Campus of Swinburne University. Arrive at around 10am. Tickets available from Anne or Dosena at $30.