NAIDOC Week is a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and a chance to acknowledge our history, culture and achievements.
The NAIDOC 2023 theme is: For our Elders:
From the NAIDOC website:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders are a fundamental part of our communities. Our Elders are our wisdom keepers. They have witnessed the many changes, so dramatically incurred in their lifetime. They are the vital bridge between the modern world and Aboriginal culture. They are the leaders of our communities. There is no time more urgent to sit down and listen to our Elders than now.
"The Elders are the ones that hold on to the culture and the lore, they are the most important aspect of healing our people. They have the enormous task of maintaining and passing on traditional knowledge, values and customary practices, while helping us find balance as we navigate between two very different worlds," National NAIDOC Committee Co-Chair, Steven Satour said. “They have laid the foundations for us to be successful across multiple sectors like health, education, the arts, politics and everything in between.
"The inspiration they spark in us as Anangu (Aboriginal) people allows us to dream of futures that are bigger, brighter and blacker and that’s what we are celebrating this NAIDOC Week."
From the frontier wars and the earliest resistance fighters to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities fighting for change today this theme continues to be of singular importunate.
Whether it’s seeking proper environmental, cultural and heritage protections, Constitutional change, a comprehensive process of truth-telling, working towards treaties, or calling out racism—we must do it together.
For more than 60,000 years, Parramatta has been home to the Dharug peoples, the traditional custodians of the land we call the City of Parramatta today. The Dharug peoples have cared for and nurtured the habitat, land, and waters for thousands of generations, and maintain an ongoing connection to Parramatta and its surrounding areas.
Indigenous Australians continue to play a vital role in the ecological, economic, social and cultural life of Parramatta, while maintaining a distinct culture built on the principles of Caring for Country, the primacy of family, and the dignity and governance of Elders.
Emma Stockburn - Acting Team Leader - 2023
