NAIDOC Week 7-14 July 2019

Image: Artwork entitled Awaken by Charmaine Mumbulla
Available to be downloaded and coloured in at https://www.naidoc.org.au/sites/default/files/teaching-guides/2019-naidoc-poster-colouring.pdf

NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life. The week is a great opportunity to participate in a range of activities and to support your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

The theme for NAIDOC Week 2019 is VOICE. TREATY. TRUTH.

Voice. Treaty. Truth. were three key elements to the reforms set out in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. These reforms represent the unified position of First Nations Australians.  The Uluru Statement built on generations of consultation and discussions among Indigenous people on a range of issues and grievances. Consultations about the further reforms necessary to secure and underpin our rights and to ensure they can be exercised and enjoyed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

It specifically sequenced a set of reforms: first, a First Nations Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution and second, a Makarrata Commission to supervise treaty processes and truth-telling. (Makarrata is a word from the language of the Yolngu people in Arnhem Land. The Yolngu concept of Makarrata captures the idea of two parties coming together after a struggle, healing the divisions of the past. It is about acknowledging that something has been done wrong, and it seeks to make things right.) 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people want their voice to be heard as part of an enhanced role in decision-making in Australia’s democracy. A genuinely shared future.

Events listed for Tasmania 

A panel of inspiring speakers addressing Tasmanian issues of Voice Treaty Truth. 

Hobart Tuesday 9 July from 17:30 to 19:30 https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/naidoc-week-forum-hobart-tickets-62246588221

Launceston Monday 8 July from 17:30 to 19:30 https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/naidoc-week-forum-launceston-tickets-63033590165

NAIDOC Flag Raising Morning Tea in Devonport on Monday 8 July from 11am.  Email board.sixrivers@gmail.com

2019 is also being celebrated as the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages, emphasising that it’s time for Indigenous knowledge to be heard through local voices.

Find out more about the origins and history of NAIDOC Week here. And more about the week itself here.

To note: AMaGAT Cultural Competence Workshop postponed

Due to the unavailability of key people and to complete its consultation process AMaGAT has decided to push the date for this workshop back from the 22 July to later in the year. As this is the first of a series of workshops, we are doing our best to get the purpose, timing, content, and outcomes right for all participants.  For those of you that made a diary date well done! Watch out for the new date/time for the workshop planned for Burnie. 

Drop us a line at museumstasmania.com.au if you would like to know more about the workshop or keep watching this blog and our AMaGAT facebook page.