Aboriginal Voice, Treaty and Truth: NAIDOC 2019

We have just finished another NAIDOC week in Australia, a week where we celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

There were a lot of events during NAIDOC in Newcastle, including a march. At Newcastle Afoot we are pretty excited that a canoe made by Worimi man Luke Russell and the local community is on display at the Newcastle Museum! It was so exciting to witness it being made with traditional methods in December 2018.

The theme for NAIDOC this year is VOICE, TREATY, TRUTH.

Our business runs on Awabakal land on the southern banks of Newcastle / MULOOBINBA place of the sea fern, across the river from the traditional lands of the Worimi people. We think it’s really important to recognise and support Aboriginal people and their looooong and deep connection to this land, and we seek to walk with them, support them, and seek their knowledge for a better future. This week we want to recognise that the first people of Australia have had a voice on this land for upwards of 65,000 years, and in our local area for several thousand. We recognise that a treaty was never signed, and sovereignty has never been ceded.

It happens that 2019 is the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages, so we encourage you to get out there and learn some of your local language! Can you share any with us? We just heard heard a flock of cockatoos / KEYARAPAI flying past! Head to Miromaa Aboriginal Language & Technology Centre to find some awesome Awabakal language resources.