NAIDOC 2022
Monday 4 July @ 11am
UNE began NAIDOC Week on Monday 4 July with a flag-raising ceremony on the grounds of Booloominbah - on Anaiwan lands.
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Welcome to Country was offered by Uncle Steve Widders and an address by Brigid Heywood, UNE Vice-Chancellor and CEO. Kyia Eveleigh, a UNE student and staff member, spoke to the crowd about his experiences with racism and how he only recently found the courage and support to be publicy proud of his Worimi heritage and culture; and Fiona Lovelock, of the Aboriginal Services Unit at Armidale Local Court, talked of the need to speak the truth about the past and present injustices, then walking forward united.
Angus Weatherall played the didgeridoo for the ceremony - and afterwards, speakers and attendees were invited to the Oorala Aboriginal Centre UNE for a hot lunch of soup and damper.
2022's NAIDOC theme is ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐จ๐ฝ! ๐ฆ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐จ๐ฝ! ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐จ๐ฝ! and is a call for genuine commitment to support and secure institutional, structural, collaborative, and cooperative reforms. Following the ceremony all are invited to warm lunch of soup and damper at the Oorala Aboriginal Centre.
Read the speeches of Fiona Lovelock and Kiah Eveleigh.
Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! 2022
We have a proud history of getting up, standing up, and showing up.
From the frontier wars and our earliest resistance fighters to our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities fighting for change today—we continue to show up.
Now is our time. We cannot afford to lose momentum for change.
We all must continue to Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! for systemic change and keep rallying around our mob, our Elders, our communities.
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.
It must be a genuine commitment by all of us to Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! and support and secure institutional, structural, collaborative, and cooperative reforms.
It’s also time to celebrate the many who have driven and led change in our communities over generations—they have been the heroes and champions of change, of equal rights and even basic human rights.
Getting Up, Standing Up, and Showing Up can take many forms.
We need to move beyond just acknowledgement, good intentions, empty words and promises, and hollow commitments. Enough is enough.
The relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and nonโIndigenous Australians needs to be based on justice, equity, and the proper recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights.
Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! with us to amplify our voices and narrow the gap between aspiration and reality, good intent and outcome.
Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! (excerpt from NAIDOC wesite)
