Heal Country! Region comes together to raise flag to NAIDOC Week
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NAIDOC Week 2021 is in full swing across the Region with Toowoomba Regional Council (TRC) taking part in a special community event to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
TRC joined Toowoomba NAIDOC Committee in hosting a flag raising ceremony and Mayor’s Breakfast, followed by a NADIOC Week March from the Village Green in Toowoomba’s CBD to Queens Park on Monday, 5 July.
Toowoomba Region Mayor Paul Antonio said NAIDOC Week is a time to acknowledge the lived experiences, history and ongoing contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
“NAIDOC Week is one of the most significant observances on our nation’s annual calendar,” Mayor Antonio said.
“To fully celebrate diversity and to be genuinely inclusive is to move towards a better future and acknowledge the remarkable contributions of Australia’s First Nations peoples — the world’s oldest living culture.
“NAIDOC Week tells the story of struggle and determination, and rights and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It helps us better recognise the special role they play in our community and the unique ways in which they contribute to not only the fabric of the Toowoomba Region but our national identity.
“There are a number of NAIDOC Week events being held across the Region and all community members are invited to join in celebrating.”
The NAIDOC 2021 theme – Heal Country! – calls on everyone to continue to seek greater protections for Australia’s lands, waters, sacred sites and cultural heritage from exploitation, desecration and destruction.
NAIDOC 2021 invites the nation to embrace First Nations’ cultural knowledge and understanding of Country as part of Australia's national heritage and equally respect the culture and values of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders as they do the cultures and values of all Australians.
Mayor Antonio said the theme, Heal Country! begs us to better understand what Country means to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, to embrace their cultural knowledge and understanding to acknowledge the deep connection they have to their land.
“Aboriginal people inhabited the Darling Downs for at least 40,000 years before European settlement. From the first peoples who came across southern Queensland to the Bunya Festivals, this Region has been a place where languages and cultures meet,” Mayor Antonio said.
“The very first footprints in this Region and on this continent were those belonging to First Nations peoples.”
NAIDOC Week 2021 is being held across the country from 4-11 July. For a full list of NAIDOC Week events across the Toowoomba Region visit the Toowoomba Regional Council website. For more information on NAIDOC Week visit naidoc.org.au.