Last week Pathfinders along with locals from the Inverell and Tingha communities took to the streets of Inverell to march and celebrate Naidoc Week and what a celebration it was!
Congratulations to the Inverell Naidoc Committee for organising this years celebration.
NAIDOC Week is a time when we take the opportunity to celebrate our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples; their culture, and their heritage. We also acknowledge and recognise the struggles that these peoples face to maintain their identity and we support the call for stronger measures to recognise, protect, and maintain all aspects of their culture and heritage.
This year’s Naidoc Week celebrations focus on the theme ‘Heal Country’. Within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples cultural connection is important and is about more than connecting between each other, families, and homelands; it is also about the landscape and how we all take care of country. To aid with healing it’s important culturally that Aboriginal and Torris Strait Islander peoples are able to see themselves and their families in the stories that are told connecting their own stories to the land to maintain their identity.
Heal country, heal our nation.
This year to celebrate NAIDOC Week Pathfinders Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers and young people have worked together to design and initiate our new Bush Tucker Walk, located at Tilbuster Station near Armidale NSW.
Pathfinders have purchased native trees and bush tucker shrubs in consultation with Landcare Australia. The 150 trees and shrubs selected all have a role in Aboriginal culture and learnings. Pathfinders would like to acknowledge the support of Aboriginal Affairs NSW for project.
Aboriginal Elders will work with Pathfinders to provide cultural knowledge and teach the significance of the planting of the native trees and shrubs to our young people. With the guidance of the elders the young people will have the trees growing and flourishing soon.
In the spirit of reconciliation Pathfinders acknowledges the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia and their connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging and also extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Islander peoples today.
