NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across this country each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people past and present. It is a significant time for us and our communities, but it should be an important time for all Australians to participate in this week long celebration.It doesn’t really take a lot of effort to find a NAIDOC event. I did a quick google search of ‘NAIDOC events in Sydney’. This is what I found
- The Art Gallery of New South Wales is running a free drop-in art making class and Aboriginal performances in song, story and dance during the school holidays to celebrate NAIDOC Week.
- On Saturday there is the Woolloomooloo NAIDOC Family Day
- Hereby Make Protest exhibition is on at Carriageworks
- Yawkyawk and Lilies, a textile display of Arnhem Land screen printed designs at Kings Cross Library
- On Sunday in Glebe a NAIDOC Family Day and Historic Ride
- The Stiff Gins concert @ Waterloo library.
- On Thursday Surry Hills library was hosting the launch of Through our Eyes: History of Black Dance photographic display.
- NAIDOC Inner City Family and Sports Day hosted by the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence
One Aunty today commented on how many people asked her why are there so many people at a City of Sydney event, why are there so many kids around? What is happening?
How can they still be asking this question after decades
of NAIDOCs?
I did a quick flick through a bunch of magazines at Woollies the other day, and there was not one mention of NAIDOC nor of Black History Month.
For all the work we do in our schools and communities, for all the explaining and describing, for all the answering of their questions, Australia is still not listening.
It was great to hear the ABC doing so much work during NAIDOC week. If it weren’t for the ABC, and NITV and NIRS, as well as First Nations Telegraph and the Koori Mail, we would be mistaken for thinking we were unimportant to this country, that we were still just a footnote.
