The University of New England’s acknowledged NAIDOC week with a flag raising and smoking ceremony on the lawns of Booloominbah on Tuesday.
Master of Ceremonies and Student Engagement Officer at Oorala Aboriginal Centre, Bruce Dennison introduced this year’s theme Always Was, Always Will Be and called for a minute’s silence in memory of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that have passed.
UNE’s Elder in Residence, Colin Ahoy, performed the Welcome to Country.
In her welcome to the over 100 people in attendance, CEO & Vice-Chancellor Professor Brigid Heywood spoke of Indigenous history and 75,000 years of environmental guardianship, of citizenship being valued, of family being at the heart of all and of friendship being the narrative.
Guest speaker Donna Moodie, a Lecturer in Contextual Studies in the School of Education, also referenced the theme of Always Was, Always Will Be throughout her speech saying “Indigenous People have never ceded responsibility and custodianship for Country and we will keep taking responsibility for caring, crying, singing, learning, acting, speaking and thinking of Country, on or off Country.”
She also highlighted the damage being done by climate change, persistent drought, extreme weather, deforestation and species extinction and called on Australians to have respectful relationships with each other and work together for a healthier future for everyone.
“Let us start a healthier, more helpful respectful dialogical discourse. In other words let us too start yarning and talking and speaking Country again for a healthier future. Our children, our future generations and our sentient beings demand this of us.”
“We can learn from each other, respecting the concept of Always was, Always will be…”
Student guest speaker UNE Archaeology student Colin Ahoy Junior also spoke about witnessing the destruction of culture and working together to ensure a future for all. Colin Junior is a former TRACKS student, who successfully completed his preparatory course with Oorala Aboriginal Centre before enrolling in Archaeology at UNE.
Proceedings wrapped up with performances by the Gogan Dancers.