Around the School

Walking for Reconciliation Week

On Wednesday the 29th of May, students and teachers at Moama Anglican Grammar held an assembly in the Moama Botanical Gardens to honour Reconciliation Week 2024. The theme this year for Reconciliation Week is Now More Than Ever, highlighting that the fight for justice and the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will - and must - continue. 

Reconciliation Week is a significant time in the nation’s history that calls for all people to acknowledge the past, understand the present, and forge a path to a more inclusive future and this is so important, now more than ever. 

Our morning began with the MAG Reconciliation Walk. This year the whole school gathered at the Undercover Area and then walked to the botanic gardens, a beautiful native setting for the assembly. 

We were honoured to have guest speaker, Aunty Neva Atkinson, a local Wollithica woman from the Bangarang clan, welcome the students and teachers to country with a smoking ceremony and share her knowledge of Echuca Moama’s native land. She told us about the eight clan’s that once lived on this land, the Kailtheban, Wollithica, Moira, Ulupna, Bangerang, Kwat Kwat, Yalaba Yalaba and Ngurai-illiam-wurrung clans. Aunty Neva talked about the importance of reconciliation and how Indigenous and non-Indigenous people can share and learn from each other.

At the assembly, we spoke about the importance of Reconciliation Week, discussing this year's theme, reflecting on key dates such as the 1967 referendum and High Court Mabo decision. We also led the students in a Yorta Yorta prayer and shared a story about the creation of the Dungala (Murray River), written by Ina Yillian.

This walk offered an opportunity to exhibit deep respect for the land, which is filled with profound physical and spiritual significance to the original custodians of the land on which we walked and celebrated Reconciliation Week. The assembly also provided a valuable learning experience about the importance of Reconciliation Week for First Nations Australians.

By Kiarra and Breanna