VOICES FOR CHANGE Indigenous leaders see truth as pathway to reconciliation
VOICE, treaty and truth are in the spotlight this NAIDOC week, with a whole host of Townsville events hoping to further the community’s path to reconciliation.
Local indigenous leader Gracelyn Smallwood said this year’s theme “Voice. Treaty. Truth. Let’s work together for a shared future” was important as reconciliation couldn’t be solved without truth.
“I’m optimistic that once non-indigenous people find out the true history there will be less racism, racism stems from ignorance and lack of understanding,” she said.
“The true history will be in the education curriculum next year … we are hoping this year will be very positive.”
Voice, treaty and truth were three key elements to the reforms set out in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, a national indigenous consensus position on indigenous constitutional recognition.
Ms Smallwood hoped the message of NAIDOC would be spread not just this week but every week.
“We need to start bringing the country together to deal with the unresolved grief from the past and not put the blame on the present day,” she said.
“If you don’t know the past, you won’t know the future history.”
Ms Smallwood said she was delighted to see such a broad range of indigenous and non-indigenous people attend yesterday morning’s NAIDOC corporate breakfast.
“About 60 per cent were non-indigenous and we were pretty pleased about that,” she said.
“They get to understand what the theme is and why people are talking about it, we can reconcile if the true history is talked about.”
She said she was also very impressed by a Q&A event held at James Cook University last week.
“A non-indigenous lawyer, indigenous lawyer, a couple of Maori sisters, academics, there was a wide variety of people from different backgrounds talking about the theme,” Ms Smallwood said.
“Not everyone is going to agree but it was great for people to find out more about the topic, have a debate about it.”
More than 500 people also took part in a range of events held at the Townsville Aboriginal and Islanders Health Services in Garbutt yesterday.
Executive assistant and NAIDOC co-ordinator Barbara Wilson said it was a very inclusive day.
“It was more about a community celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures,” she said.
“There were a diversity of cultures too, we have a lot of cultures in our organisation. It’s about having that connection with all cultures, coming together.”
The day included performances from Wulgurukaba and Komet dancers, traditional music and games as well as weaving, face painting, boomerang painting.
“NAIDOC Week is about educating children what indigenous people have gone through, to acknowledge a tradition we need to carry on,” Ms Wilson said.
“We invite the non-indigenous community to join us, NAIDOC is for everybody.”
The NAIDOC march and “Deadly Day Out” events will be held this Friday.