Greetings …
July 2 – 9 is NAIDOC week – a week which celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC week is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians all over the country and overseas. The theme for 2023 is For Our Elders. From the NAIDOC website (www.naidoc.org.au), I would like to share the following …
“Across every generation, our Elders have played, and continue to play, an important role and hold a prominent place in our communities and families. They are cultural knowledge holders, trailblazers, nurturers, advocates, teachers, survivors, leaders, hard workers and our loved ones.
Our loved ones who pick us up in our low moments and celebrate us in our high ones. Who cook us a feed to comfort us and pull us into line, when we need them too. They guide our generations and pave the way for us to take the paths we can take today. Guidance, not only through generations of advocacy and activism, but in everyday life and how to place ourselves in the world.
We draw strength from their knowledge and experience, in everything from land management, cultural knowledge to justice and human rights. Across multiple sectors like health, education, the arts, politics and everything in between, they have set the many courses we follow.
The struggles of our Elders help to move us forward today. The equality we continue to fight for is found in their fight. Their tenacity and strength has carried the survival of our people. It is their influence and through their learnings that we must ensure that when it comes to future decision making for our people, there is nothing about us – without us.
We pay our respects to the Elders we’ve lost and to those who continue fighting for us across all our Nations and we pay homage to them.
In 2023, might we join with the voices of many of our First Nations Elders, as we celebrate the care, nurture and guidance they have given their communities, while listening to their call for a Voice.
Blessings – Heather.