NAIDOC WEEK

CPA Group acknowledges the importance of National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Week to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples.

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.

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.

To find out a little more about the origins and history of NAIDOC Week, please visit  https://www.naidoc.org.au/about/history

NAIDOC WEEK is a significant celebration for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that provides a platform for the preservation and promotion of Australia’s oldest living culture; to enhance Indigenous Australian’s access and participation to services that can enhance their well-being and increased support to our families; and for the provision of cultural awareness for all Australians, towards the spirit of true reconciliation.

Local community celebrations during NAIDOC Week are encouraged and often organised by communities, government agencies, local councils, schools and workplaces.

Here are some ideas on how to celebrate NAIDOC Week:

• Display the National NAIDOC Poster (attached)
• Go to the Share our Pride Website http://shareourpride.reconciliation.org.au/ and learn more about
  • First Australians
  • Their Culture
  • Our Shared History
  • Beyond the Myths
  • Respectful Relationships
• Listen to Indigenous musicians or watch a movie about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history
• Study a famous Indigenous Australian
• Research the traditional Indigenous owners (areas that your team work in, here or at your home suburb)
• Study Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and crafts
• Research Indigenous history online or visit your library to find books about Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples
• Visit local Indigenous sites of significance or interest
• Learn the meanings of local or national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander place names and words

Some things that you may wish to place in your diary (throughout the entire month of July) to take the family and visit are:

• “Voices of Dreaming” 2^nd July Bris Square Library
• “Official Launch” 8^th July Bris City Hall
• “NAIDOC Breakfast” 10^th July Howard St Wharves
• Musgrove Park Family Fun Day (MPFFD) 12^th July – Musgrove Park

(The MPFFD is the Brisbane signature event that has been supported by the Brisbane community and, as attendance numbers have increased over the years, evidently is a ‘must do’ during NAIDOC Week)

• “Voices in Business” 25^th July Bris Square Library
• “Together in one Voice” 26^th July Redacliff Place Bris CBD
• Don’t forget the QUANDAMOOKA Festival on North Stradbroke Island also runs over NAIDOC Week and continues up until Aug. The festival concludes with a Corroboree (Kunjiel) in Dunwich, (Goompi) – the GOOMPI KUNJIEL. Jess Mauboy will conduct an evening concert to close the festival on Sat 31 Aug.

Quandamooka is the ancestral homeland of the Nunukul, Ngughi and Goenpul peoples, the sub-groups that make up the Quandamooka People. The Quandamooka People are the traditional owners of Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island), who have owned and occupied the lands and waters of Moreton Bay since time immemorial.

Quandamooka territory, known as ‘Country’, comprises the waters and lands of and around Moorgumpin (Moreton Island), Minjerribah, the Southern Moreton Bay islands and South Stradbroke Island.

It includes the mainland from the mouth of the Brisbane River, Wynnum, Chandler, Lytton, Belmont, Tingalpa, south to Cleveland, to the Logan River. Quandamooka Country crosses the boundaries of four Queensland local governments.

Lorraine Hatton, our CPA Group Indigenous Ambassador, sits on the Quandamooka Board

Please have a look at the many events being held on North Straddie! – (Minjerribah)      http://quandamookafestival.com.au/major-events/

“Here in Australia we’re fortunate enough to have one of the richest and oldest continuing cultures in the world. This is something we should all be proud of and celebrate”.

Dr Tom Calma, AO

Reconciliation Australia Co Chair