CULTURAL education and celebrating the achievements of our Aboriginal community will be at the heart of all Ballarat’s National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) events.
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The origins of NAIDOC week (July 3 to 10) can be traced back to the emergence of Aboriginal groups in the 1920s which sought to increase awareness in the wider community of the status and treatment of Indigenous Australians.
Ballarat and District Aboriginal Cooperative’s chief executive Karen Heap said the sentiments of the week are just as relevant today as they were decades ago.
“For us, it's about cultural education because a lot of people don't know what we do here,” Ms Heap said. “It’s a chance for us to open our doors to anyone in the city, put our faces out there in the broader community and celebrate the achievements of our own Aboriginal community.”
Ms Heap said dispelling negative stereotypes and challenging racist attitudes was a continual battle for the co-op.
“There is still a long way to go in that arena and we continually battle that,” Ms Heap said.
But she said events like the Mr and Ms NAIDOC Awards were empowering the next generation of Aboriginal young people. The event honours the achievements of remarkable young Indigenous people.
The week will be jam-packed with events aimed at showcasing the diversity and uniqueness of Ballarat’s Aboriginal community. The week will kick off on Friday with a Koori Youth Forum from 10am until 3pm at the Koori Hub, 403 Main Road Ballarat. It will be followed by the annual Mr and Ms NAIDOC Awards ceremony which will be held at the Trench Room at the Ballarat Town Hall from 4pm on Friday.
On Monday, there will be a Mullawallah Memorial Walk and smoking ceremony which will leave from 5 Market Street along Lydiard Street at 10am. The walk will be followed by a flag raising ceremony at Queen Victoria Square opposite the Town Hall at Sturt Street from 2pm. A celebration day will be held in Market Street on Wednesday with a range of stalls, an Indigenous hip hop dance workshop, Aboriginal singers and dancers and a smoking ceremony led by Elder Ted Lovett.
On Thursday, a special screening of Child and Family Service’s film Wind and Sky will be showcased at the new heritage and learning centre at 115 Lydiard Street North. The screening will begin at 10am. Next Friday (July 7) the NAIDOC Cabaret will be held from 7pm at the Mechanics Institute, 117 Sturt Street.
For more details visit: www.badac.net.au
Melissa Cunningham
City of Ballarat and Social Affairs Reporter
City of Ballarat and Social Affairs Reporter
