“For us, Country is a word for all the values, places, resources, stories and cultural obligations associated with

that area and its features. It describes the entirety of our ancestral domains.”     Professor Mick Dodson

This Week Let us include in our prayers…..

• We pray that we will work collaboratively with others for the good of all.
• We pray that we understand that we are invited into God’s work.
• We pray that we remember that you are always with us.
• Students and families as they prepare to return to learning at schools in Queensland. We give thanks to resilient and patient parents, creative and kind educators and courageous and caring students.

This week let’s explore why is Country so important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples?

“Our country is like our garden – we need to look after it. There are trees, birds, waterways, fish, mammals and reptiles, and they are all important. We keep country healthy and country keeps us healthy.” Dhimurru Senior Ranger Fiona Yupunu Marika

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander society is interconnected with land, sea and Country. Identity, cultural practices, social systems, traditions and concepts of spirituality are all drawn from, and depend upon, connection to Country. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are uniquely affected by accelerating climate change and it is with increasing urgency that we must consider connection to Country.

In 2017 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people came together at Uluru, from all points of the Southern Sky, to make a statement that we know as the Uluru Statement of the Heart. This statement reminds all Australians that “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs.” These laws and customs include an unbroken connection to country, seas and skies.

National Reconciliation Week

At its heart, reconciliation is about strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, for the benefit of all Australians.

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) started as the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation in 1993 (the International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples) and was supported by Australia’s major faith communities.  In 1996, the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation launched Australia’s first NRW. In 2000, Reconciliation Australia was established to continue to provide national leadership on reconciliation. In the same year, approximately 300,000 people walked across Sydney Harbour Bridge as part of NRW, to show their support for reconciliation.

Today, NRW is celebrated by businesses, schools and early learning services, organisations, and individuals Australia-wide. Hundreds of NRW events are held each year.

This week students will be engaging in some simple lessons to develop their understanding of the importance of Reconciliation in our country and the important part we all collectively play in building relationships with communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories and cultures. 

There are Five Dimensions of Reconciliation (from What is Reconciliation?)

1. Race Relations: All Australians understand and value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous cultures, rights and experiences, which results in stronger relationships based on trust and respect and that are free of racism.
2. Equality and Equity: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples participate equally in a range of life opportunities and the unique rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are recognised and upheld.
3. Institutional Integrity: The active support of reconciliation by the nation’s political, business and community structures.
4. Unity: An Australian society that values and recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and heritage as a proud part of a shared national identity.
5. Historical Acceptance: All Australians understand and accept the wrongs of the past and their impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Australia makes amends for  past policies and practices ensures these wrongs are never repeated.

Perhaps this week at home you could listen to the song “Rise Up” by Andra Day and sing along at home or in the car and join in sending a message of hope and unity. In this together good news story saw members of Gondwana Choirs, including the Indigenous Children’s Choir and the Sydney Children’s Choir, virtually collaborate with choirs internationally (the Boston Children’s Chorus, the Denver Children’s Choir, the Children’s Chorus of Washington DC and the Cincinnati Boychoir) this represents an innovative example of how to bring students and children together even while distanced from physical classrooms and communities of practice. Why not join in?

May St Joseph smile on you,

Meg Newell