What is NAIDOC Week?
This week is 2019 NAIDOC Week in Australia.
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 communities.
NAIDOC originally stood for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’. This committee was once responsible for organising national activities during NAIDOC Week and its acronym has since become the name of the week itself.
During NAIDOC Week, there is a National NAIDOC Week awards ceremony. The awards are presented to inspirational Indigenous people in ten different categories
Here’s a list of NAIDOC Week Events
NAIDOC Week 2019 Theme
For decades, NAIDOC has had significant themes to represent, celebrate and raise awareness to significant Indigenous affairs. This year the focus is on significant and lasting change to better the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander peoples: Voice. Treaty. Truth.
Voice. Treaty. Truth.
This theme aim at getting everyone together for a shared future.
The Indigenous voice of this country is over 65,000 plus years old.
They are the first words spoken on this continent. Languages that passed down lore, culture and knowledge for over millennia. They are precious to our nation.
It’s that Indigenous voice that include know-how, practices, skills and innovations – found in a wide variety of contexts, such as agricultural, scientific, technical, ecological and medicinal fields, as well as biodiversity-related knowledge.
They are words connecting us to country, an understanding of country and of a people who are the oldest continuing culture on the planet.
And with 2019 being celebrated as the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages, it’s time for our knowledge to be heard through our voice.
For generations, we have sought recognition of our unique place in Australian history and society today. We need to be the architects of our lives and futures.
For generations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have looked for significant and lasting change.
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 of the Heart
The Statement is a document Aboriginal people from all over Australia agreed on. In it they express that they are a sovereign people, and what they want the government to do to recognise and support this sovereignty. It also comments on the social difficulties faced by Aboriginal people.
It is not the first time Aboriginal people crafted such a document, but probably the first time Aboriginal people form a united position and a single key recommendation, or, as The Guardian put it, “the largest ever consensus of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on a proposal for substantive recognition”.
While previous documents of Aboriginal aspirations were usually addressed to the Parliament, the Uluru Statement From the Heart is directed to the Australian public.
Information in this post is sourced from the NAIDOC official website, SBS Learn NAIDOC Secondary Resource, Creative Spirits: Explainer Uluru Statement and Five Fast Facts by Reconciliation Australia.