NAIDOC 2023

For Our Elders

Monday 3 July 2023

Ceremony at 11am
Oorala Aboriginal Centre & Booloominbah

This year the ceremony was themed For Our Elders and held on Monday 3 July at the Oorala Centre at the UNE campus in Armidale.It had been planned to be outside on the lawns of Booloominbah but with rain sprinkling the town we moved it to the Oorala Centre.

Opening with a Smoking Ceremony facilitated by Steven Ahoy the Elders particularly enjoyed being out of the chilly July morning as they filled the Oorala Centre.

Master of Ceremonies and Student Engagement Officer at Oorala Aboriginal Centre, Cassandra Strong introduced this year’s theme For Our Elders and called for a minute’s silence in memory of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that have passed.

Anaiwan Elder Uncle Steve Widders spoke in the spirit of goodwill, friendship and cooperation as he delivered the Welcome to Country for the crowd.  Uncle Steve also paid tribute to all the Elders  the Aboriginal Elders and the non-Aboriginal Elders present saying "We we live here together, we have in many ways a shared history. Non-Aboriginal Elders may not have experienced some of the things that  Aboriginal Elders did but by turning up today you're showing that you want to understand  and have some empathy towards our original history."

UNE CEO and Vice-Chancellor (Interim), Professor Simon Evans shared that the UNE Executive affirm their support for the implementation of the Uluro statement from the Heart and that UNE stands with the Elders who've had a long association with this University. With too many to name directly he highlighted Elders, Uncle Colin Ahoy, Uncle Jack Beetson and Aunty Dianne Roberts.

Guest Speaker Aunty Rose Lovelock, Director of  the Armidale Regional Cultural Centre & Keeping Place, community member and Local Elder of the Year framed her talk around this years NAIDOC project description For Our Elders. And finished with saying that she had be trained her whole like for this role " In reflection my my transition into becoming an Elder made sense of my younger life as I looked back and I had been taught, told and prepared for this role throughout my life."

Proceedings wrapped up with performances by the Lyāmbay Dance Group.

We then stepped out into the cold July weather and  watched the raising of the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander flag above Booloominbah.

Following the ceremony guests enjoyed a warm lunch in the Booloominbah Dining Room where local musician Anthony Green performed. In line with this years theme, For Our Elders, we filled the walls of Booloominbah with images of the local Aboriginal Community and offered these memories to the many Elders and family members in attendance.

images - top: NAIDOC Guest speaker, Aunty Rose Lovelock;  middle: Uncle Steve Widders: bottom: Lyāmbay Dance Group

For Our Elders

Across every generation, our Elders have played, and continue to play, an important role and hold a prominent place in our communities and families.

They are cultural knowledge holders, trailblazers, nurturers, advocates, teachers, survivors, leaders, hard workers and our loved ones.

Our loved ones who pick us up in our low moments and celebrate us in our high ones. Who cook us a feed to comfort us and pull us into line, when we need them too.

They guide our generations and pave the way for us to take the paths we can take today. Guidance, not only through generations of advocacy and activism, but in everyday life and how to place ourselves in the world.

We draw strength from their knowledge and experience, in everything from land management, cultural knowledge to justice and human rights. Across multiple sectors like health, education, the arts, politics and everything in between, they have set the many courses we follow. 

The struggles of our Elders help to move us forward today. The equality we continue to fight for is found in their fight. Their tenacity and strength has carried the survival of our people.

It is their influence and through their learnings that we must ensure that when it comes to future decision making for our people, there is nothing about us - without us.

We pay our respects to the Elders we’ve lost and to those who continue fighting for us across all our Nations and we pay homage to them.