NAIDOC Week 2018, held nationally from the 8th July to the 15th July, is a significant celebration of the indigenous culture of our country. It provides an opportunity to recognise the contributions that Indigenous Australians, past and present, have made to our way of life. It’s a conscious reflection on the history, language, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It’s a time to share significant and important cultural stories, to foster a sense of identity, belonging and recognition for all indigenous Australians.
This year’s theme, ‘Because of Her, We Can’, hosted in Perth, honours the often invisible or silenced voices of the Indigenous Feminine. For over 65,000 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have carried the precious cultural dreaming stories, songlines, languages and wisdom at the heart of Indigenous culture.
NAIDOC Week 2018 celebrations offer a precious opportunity to reflect on and acknowledge the role of Indigenous women in our collective history. It’s a time of deep recognition and appreciation of the unique achievements of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women who have played, and continue to play, in the promotion of Aboriginal rights and culture in our country. We honour these women in all areas of our community, whether it be in areas of activism, the arts, education, health care, sports, business, politics, or the media.
NAIDOC is a week of recognition and remembering of all Indigenous women past and present. Those women who were part of the Torres Strait Pearlers’ strike in 1936, the Day of Mourning in 1938, the 1939 Cummeragunja Walk-Off, the 1946 Pilbara pastoral workers’ strike, the 1965 Freedom Rides, the Wave Hill Walk Off in 1966, on the front line of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in 1972 and at the drafting of the Uluru Statement. Those women who campaigned for the 1967 Referendum and represented their people in a call for national advocacy. To those women who have held families together, fought prejudice, racism, gender stereotypes, marched, protested, spoke out at demonstrations and fought for the proper recognition of the rights of their people.
“Seven Sisters” by Reggie Sultan
This week we celebrate these incredible women. Their strength, courage, wisdom, bravery and dedication to justice and equality. We are where we are, because of them. Because of Her, We Can.
We are celebrating at The Sound Temple as part of our ongoing commitment to the honouring of the traditional custodians of our land.