NAIDOC Week, running from July 2 to July 9, is a time for celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Jennifer Pittorino finds out the week will be marked in the west.
NAIDOC (National Aboriginals and Islanders Day Observance Committee) Week is a time of reflection, celebration, history, culture and excellence.
This annual celebration acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Kirrip elder Peter Webster said it is uniting for the community.
“It’s for our people, so we can come together and celebrate our history and our culture and who we are,” he said.
“… It celebrates where we have come from and recognises the fantastic things those who came before us, our ancestors have achieved for us.”
Peter is referred to as Uncle Peter by his community, as a sign of respect for who he is given his position in the work he does as chief executive of Kirrip, an organisation he joined in 2016.
Kirrip Aboriginal Corporation began in 2007 as a safe place for community to connect socially and culturally, to celebrate culture, and to promote self-determination and healing.
“We have a housing worker, a justice worker, a food bank, we run elders, men’s, women’s programs , homework clubs, a playgroup and more,” Peter said.
“In my role here I sit as an elder to advise and support , I personally don’t consider myself an elder but my community do.
“I consider myself a community leader because of the position I am in, an elder is someone who has been given this position by their community to hold knowledge.
“Elders share their knowledge, they are someone the community can go to to confide in and be someone they trust, which is what NAIDOC week is all about.”
Peter said he has had many previous jobs, but nothing has made him as happy as what he does now.
“My wife says I forget to come home at times, she needs to send me a text sometimes to remind me where I live,” he said.
“For me it’s about giving back to the community. If someone told me 10 years ago that I would
be doing what I am, I would’ve laughed at them, but I love what I do.
“I am Stolen Generation so I didn’t grow up culturally or with my community. I look at this as my way of paying back those people who have supported me and given me the connection to my community and culture that I didn’t previously have.”
NAIDOC week comes at a time when Peter feels there is still great racism.
“We still see racism towards people who have come from other cultures, we still see it far too much,” he said.
“People forget we are a multicultural country, we will always have our own cultures but we can become one Australia.
“NAIDOC is about all of us coming together, regardless of whether you are on traditional country; all of us standing together and being one people.”
Kirrip will mark NAIDOC Week with the ‘Western NAIDOC ball’ for its elders.
“These events are about passing on cultural knowledge and giving our youth the chance to see we are not a forgotten culture, we are still here,” Peter said.
“We are the oldest surviving culture on earth and we are very proud of it, NAIDOC is the time for us to stand up proud and let everyone know we are still here and not going anywhere.”
Youth Support and Advocacy Service’s (YSAS) Scott Krakouer said its upcoming NAIDOC week celebration will bring together the large Aboriginal community in the west.
“The western suburbs Aboriginal community have been crying out for a big event like this for years,” he said.
YSAS works with 10-17 year olds across the west who are having contact with police to try and steer them away from the justice system.
‘Mob Run This’ is a running festival expected to bring together 700-800 people from all over Victoria, to get the community moving. It will be held at Presidents Park, Wyndham Vale, on Sunday, July 9 at 10am.
“I know from when I was young, connection to sport and connection to health and wellbeing are two things that helped me keep out of trouble, that’s why we are doing a fun run,” Scott said.
Scott said the last 230 years of colonisation have left the community disconnected from their culture.
“The events at NAIDOC week like the welcome to country, smoking ceremonies and traditional activities will help the healing and help connect them to the culture that might be disconnected from,” he said.
“There is a myth that the majority of Aboriginal people in Melbourne live in the northern suburbs but there is a huge growth of Aboriginal people in the west, in particular in Wyndham and Melton.”
“NAIDOC week allows us to bring them all into one spot and get all the services that work with Aboriginal people in the west together.”
