NAIDOC Week

NAIDOC Week Celebrations

There was so much to enjoy during our NAIDOC celebrations last week at Calrossy. In the Junior School everyone had the chance to contribute to a giant chalk rainbow serpent in the main quad. Students form Years 7 - 11 helped out by mixing up chalk paint and showing younger students traditional symbols that are used in Aboriginal art. Then, on Friday, a number of our Year 7, 8 and 9 Indigenous students visited junior school classes to read stories. Some of the students even had the chance to learn “Heads, shoulders, knees and toes” in Gamilaraay.

Our secondary students enjoyed the opportunity to experience culture by making skirts and headbands out of grasses and feathers. Yvonne (Evey) Sutton, who had recently been part of the NAIDOC debutant ball, showed students how to make items used for ceremonial dance. The students then prepared a performance based on the idea of a corroboree. During evening prep time, some of the students spent time in the boarding house, working on their weaving and sharing their experiences of culture.

The highlight of our week was the Whole School NAIDOC service held on Friday morning. Evey and Beau (Yvonne Sutton & Beau-Yana Watts) led the proceedings which included Welcome to Country by Uncle Lenny Waters. There were also students who shared about what NAIDOC is to them, the theme of Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! and the inspiration that we get from Aboriginal leaders such as Pastor Doug Nicholls and Ash Barty. The performance by students was a beautiful expression of culture. They entered the stage to the Gamilaroi Welcome song. We then had a dance performance prepared by some of the Secondary girls. Finally, students brought special items to the front of the stage to symbolise them sharing their culture with the school while father and son team, Alf and Alfred Priestley played didgeridoo and clap sticks.

At the conclusion of the service we had a moment of silence to remember all the history that has gone before us and to acknowledge those who have fought and suffered in the struggle for equality. Finally, we closed the service with a prayer written by Gomeroi leader Bianca Manning. Some of the words of the prayer were: “We honour First Nations peoples who have fought every day for the past 230 years for rights, culture and land. They reveal the true meaning of strength and survival… Lord, will you increase our capacity this NAIDOC Week to humble ourselves and listen afresh to truly hear the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We pray that Australian churches, communities, and governments at all levels would provide platforms for First Nations voices to be heard and taken seriously…We acknowledge and lament the injustices of the past and present, and ask for your mercy and healing. May the truth of history, of these lands now called Australia, be told in its entirety, and truth telling become a priority for our government and all citizens….You call us to love one another just as you have loved us. So we pray that this NAIDOC Week, love will increase and the call for Voice, Treaty, and Truth will be heard."

I’d like to express my special thanks to each of the people who got involved and showed leadership during NAIDOC week. I was so proud of our students as they boldly expressed and represented their culture. Thanks also to Uncle Lenny and Alf Priestly, who’s guest appearance on Friday was invaluable.

Hannah Pollard

Indigenous Coordinator