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Celebrating NAIDOC Week 4-11 July 2021 in Australia

AsiaFitnessToday.com acknowledges and pays respect to the past, present and future Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be aware that this website contains images or names of people who have passed away.

Team AFT (Australia Fitness Today) has compiled this article from published news releases, articles from websites and also music videos from across Australia in celebration of NAIDOC Week and to pay tribute to close to 30 years of Reconciliation Australia.

It’s NAIDOC Week in Australia and what does that mean?

NAIDOC Week 2021 is celebrated from 4-11 July 2021 around Australia. This year, NAIDOC Week will be celebrated differently to ensure those most vulnerable in the community such as Elders and those with pre-existing health conditions are protected from COVID-19.

History NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. Its origins can be traced to the emergence of Aboriginal groups in the 1920′s which sought to increase awareness in the wider community of the status and treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Before the 1920s, Aboriginal rights groups boycotted Australia Day (26 January) in protest against the status and treatment of Indigenous Australians. By the 1920s, they were increasingly aware that the broader Australian public were largely ignorant of the boycotts. If the movement were to make progress, it would need to be active. Read more about the history of NAIDOC in the official website.

Celebrating NAIDOC Week There are many ways to honour the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples during NAIDOC Week. The NAIDOC committee has come up with these 20 ideas to help celebrate NAIDOC Week 2021 in a COVIDSafe way.

This year’s National NAIDOC Poster, ‘Care for Country’ was designed by 21-year old Gubbi Gubbi artist Maggie-Jean Douglas from South East Queensland. Her entry was chosen from 260 entries in a nationwide competition. The artwork includes communities, people, animals and bush medicines spread over different landscapes of red dirt, green grass, bush land and coastal areas to tell the story of the many ways Country can and has healed us throughout our lives and journeys. Find out more about the story behind the 2021 National NAIDOC Poster and download your copy of the poster today.

  1. Virtually attend one of the many of the online events available in the NAIDOC Week Official Calendar
  2. Download and display this year’s NAIDOC Week poster or look through the previous poster gallery.
  3. Call someone in your community to have a chat about this year’s theme ‘Heal Country!’ and what it means to you
  4. Watch special NAIDOC Week programming on SBS/NITV and ABC
  5. Learn more about the Country on which you live and work using the AIATSIS Map of Indigenous Australia
  6. Find a book to read, written and published by Indigenous authors and illustrators through Magabala Books or suggest one for your next book club
  7. Check out some music and podcasts from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander creators on Indigitube.
  8. Take a look at how you can support Indigenous businesses through the Supply Nation Indigenous Business Direct.
  9. Learn more about how deliver an Acknowledgement of Country
  10. Find out more about the history of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags and how you can fly them.
  11. Get creative in the kitchen using Australian bushfood and native ingredients such as kangaroo, macadamia or lemon myrtle.
  12. Use this year’s theme to connect to Country by going for a walk (if restrictions permit), exercising outside, visiting a local park or gardening.
  13. Research Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history or start some family history research.
  14. Host an online quiz and test the knowledge of your friends and family on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures or histories.
  15. Be inspired by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art and crafts or get creative at home.
  16. Try colouring in the NAIDOC Week poster.
  17. Consider nominating someone for a National NAIDOC Award. While submissions for the National NAIDOC Awards are currently closed, you can begin preparing nominations for the 2022 awards for when they open later this year.
  18. Visit the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander exhibitions of museums and galleries in-person or online.
  19. Plan your Australian travel bucket list including Indigenous sites of significance or interest. 
  20. Join the conversation online using the NAIDOC Week hashtags #NAIDOC2021, #NAIDOCWeek and #HealCountry

For the latest advice on COVID-19 in Australia, visit www.australia.gov.au.

What is Reconciliation Australia 2021?

Reconciliation Australia celebrates close to three decades of Australia’s formal reconciliation process. It was observed from 27 May to 3 June and Australians are invited to acknowledge the traditional owners of the Country on which we live, work, learn.

WHY IS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY IMPORTANT?

Download PDF

This practice raises awareness of the histories and cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.

Acknowledging Country shows you accept and understand that no matter where you are across this nation, you are on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lands, and you acknowledge ongoing connection to Country.

WHO CAN GIVE AN ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY?
Everyone. It can be given by both non-Indigenous people and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

WHAT DO I SAY?
This suggested wording will help you capture your Acknowledgement of Country.

“This National Reconciliation Week, I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the Land on which I stand.  I acknowledge the (people) of the (nation) and pay my respects to Elders past and present.”

Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people may wish to also acknowledge their own families and Nations.

HOW CAN I DO IT VIRTUALLY?

Here are some ideas for how to Acknowledge the Land you are on and join in via social media.

At home

  • Record your Acknowledgement of Country via a video.
  • Take a photo of you or members of your household holding up a sign.
  • Make chalk art or signs on your driveway and upload photos or video.

At work

  • Record a video message at your workplace.
  • Ask and encourage your colleagues to take part to create a collage or compilation.
  • If working remotely, host a zoom meeting with colleagues and ask everyone to hold a sign Acknowledging the Land they are working on.

At school

  • Create paintings, drawings or signs with your students and upload photos or video.
  • Create video messages and encourage teachers and administration staff to get involved.

Remember to use the hashtag #MoreThanAWord #NRW2021

WHEN CAN I DO IT?

We will come together on social media at 9am (AEST) Thursday 27 May to make an Acknowledgement of Country.

It doesn’t need to be live, you can pre-record, pre-write or pre-create your acknowledgement however you like and post it at 9am.

If you are at an in-person event,  encourage everyone to Acknowledge Country at this time.

HOW DO I FIND OUT THE TRADITIONAL OWNERS OF THE LAND I AM ON?

Know whose Country you are on – resources like the AIATSIS Map of Indigenous Australia are a useful starting point, but go further.

TAKE ACTION

The Reconciliation Week committee has compiled 20 recommended ways to take action: not just know about it, but to take action. Read more here: https://nrw.reconciliation.org.au/actions-for-reconciliation/

HOW SOME OTHERS ARE TAKING A STAND

OXFAM AUSTRALIA is a non-profit organisation that believes all lives are equal and no-one should live in poverty. Oxfam started as the Oxford Committee for Famine Relief in England in 1942, a group of campaigners asking for food supplies to be sent through an allied naval blockade to starving women and children in enemy-occupied Greece during the Second World War. Oxfam Australia setup in 1953 was a merger between two leading Australian international development agencies — Community Aid Abroad and the Australian Freedom from Hunger Campaign.

According to Oxfam Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples are still not recognised in the Australian Constitution as Australia’s First Peoples. This needs to change. Ngarra Murray, Oxfam’s First Peoples’ Program National Manager and member of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria, says: “The establishment of the Yoo-rrook (Truth) Justice Commission by the Victorian Government is an opportunity for both the Aboriginal community and the broader Victorian community to begin to listen to each other and create a new relationship going forward.

“Our people will no longer have to carry the pain of our stories alone – our history and our truths become everyone’s history and truths. With this understanding, real change is urgent and inevitable. The burden is lessened and the healing can begin.

Ngarra Murray – Oxfam Australia

ZIGGY RAMO BURRMURUK FATNOWNA is an Indigenous Australian singer, songwriter and activist born in Bellingen NSW to an Aboriginal and Solomon Islander father and a mother of Scottist heritage. ZIGGY RAMO as he’s known, is a Hip-Hop artist and has become a catalyst in the music industry calling for, and inspiring change. Growing up in Perth, WA since the age of six, he started dabbling in music as a teenager and was inspired by the hip-hop genre from the US. After graduating from school, he embarked on a Pre-Medicine degree, determined to advocate for Indigenous health, before switching back to music, aiming to represent Indigenous Australian perspectives in rap.

ZIGGY RAMO: Black Thoughts ft. STAN GRANT (2016)

From ‘Black Thoughts Ep’ on Spotify: http://bit.ly/2b4kLJD
Director/Editor/ Co Producer: Jacqueline Pelczar
Cinematographer: Brandon Lee Weston
Producer: Elaine Smith
Follow Ziggy: https://www.facebook.com/ziggymusicaus https://soundcloud.com/ziggymusicaus https://www.instagram.com/ziggyfatnowna/
Black Thoughts Ep produced by JCAL & Palace JCAL: https://www.facebook.com/JCaLproductions
Palace: https://www.facebook.com/palacebeats

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers are advised that the film below contains voices and videos of deceased persons.

‘Making Little Things’ outlines the development of Ziggy Ramo’s “Little Things” featuring Paul Kelly. From the land-rights movement that inspired Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody’s 1993 original “From Little Things Big Things Grow” to top of the Sydney Opera House sails, the 10 minute film offers insight into the multi-generational collaborations that created this new work.

DOP: Tyron Seeto
Drone DOP: Bill Blair, Mat Chang
Editor: Miska Mandic Archival
News footage Courtesy of ABC Library Sales
Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody footage From Little Things Big Things Grow, 1993 directed by Trevor Graham.
Footage courtesy of Ned Lander and the National Film and Sound Archive
Sydney Opera House is an Australian icon and one of the busiest performing arts centres in the world. On this channel you will find performances, behind the scenes content and stories from beneath the sails. With over 40 shows a week at the Sydney Opera House there’s something for everyone. We’re not-for-profit and raise over 90% of costs from non-government sources. Learn more at https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/give

AsiaFitnessToday.com takes the affirmative action by sharing this article as our way to share appreciation of the history, culture and achievements of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, to spread awareness about NAIDOC and Reconciliation Australia objectives. We invite you to share this article far and wide. Thank you.

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