AS part of the National Reconciliation Week celebrations taking place nationwide from May 27 to June 3 an action day was held at James Cook University in Townsville yesterday.
The event saw a plethora of activities take place including a traditional welcome and reconciliation speeches, traditional dance routines featuring students from Kirwan State High School, boomerang, spear throwing and bocce demonstrations a traditional lunch and a cultural walk around the campus grounds which included a visit to the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library.
The action day was organised by Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mentor Program and the JCU Student Mentor Program which are both part of the universities’ Student Association.
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mentor Amanda Cooms said Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements, and to contribute to continue building a reconciled Australia.
She got to the crux of race relations in Australia by saying “if we don’t challenge the mindset many of us were raised with we’ll pass it onto the next generation and the cycle will repeat”.
“Cross cultural conversations are highly important for us to understand the differences between our cultures and to drive positive change for the future,” she said.
“We must set an example for others to follow and challenge the status quo, only then will we truly be united as a nation.”
Visitors at the action day wrote on pledge cards which detailed how they individually will strive towards reconciliation.
Josephine Smallwood gave the traditional welcome speech and praised the work being done within the mentor program.
“The program aims to assist and support first year Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students settle in at JCU,” Josephine said.
“They focus on providing holistic support that specifically targets the academic and cultural needs of students to improve student participation, retention and strengthen an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community on campus,” she said.
National Reconciliation Week started as the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation in 1993 and was supported by Australia’s major religious groups. Under the guidance of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (now Reconciliation Australia), it evolved into the week-long celebration that it is today.
The two dates celebrate landmark achievements in Australia’s shared history with May 27 being the anniversary of the 1967 referendum in which more than 90 per cent of Australians voted ‘Yes’ to count Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the census and give the Australian Government the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
June 3 marks the historic 1992 Mabo decision in which the High Court of Australia recognised native title – the recognition that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights over their lands did survive British colonisation.
