NAIDOC Week 2021 ended with a sensational bang on Sunday with Ngarigo woman and tennis champion Ash Barty winning the grand slam at Wimbledon.
The Evolve team were certainly having a Barty Party on Sunday night as we celebrated her incredible achievement and were inspired by her strength, grace and humility. As one of only three Australian women to take the title, and the second Indigenous woman, it was the most fitting way imaginable to end a week dedicated to celebrating the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
We were also celebrating the success of our Heal Country On Demand Webinar which was made available to thousands of people last week, helping us get closer to our goal of inspiring ten million allies.
In the webinar, Aunty Munya shares why Country is so important to Indigenous people and Carla shares the five actions all Australian’s can take to connect to, care for and Heal Country!
Here are our Five Actions For Allies:
- Acknowledge Country – whether at home, work or travelling in Australia, take moment to recognise the Traditional Owners continued connection to the land, thank them and pay your respects to their elders, past and present. Start here: Acknowledgement of Country Cards
- Find out about the Traditional Owners, Place Names and Sacred Sites near where you live. Learn how to pronounce the names correctly and to appreciate their significance. Start here: Indigenous Map of Australia
- Seek to understand what connection to Country means from an Indigenous perspective. Start here: What’s so important about Country?
- Heal your Country – change starts with you, what can you do to help care for your local environment? Ten Things You Can To To Help Conserve Australia’s Biodiversity
- Support actions that protect Country nationally – find out about the many efforts currently underway throughout Australia to protect sacred sites and areas of significance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Start here: Indigenous Protected Areas
So, what action will you take?
- If you haven’t already, you can access our Heal Country On Demand Webinar
- Develop the skill to feel confident living with, working with and supporting First Nations people with our seven step guide Practical Reconciliation.
- And please, share your commitments in the comments.
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4 Comments. Leave new
The highlight of Naidoc week? I was part of an event with the artist Jeremy Donovan who shared his journey and just hearing how many foster families he went to before age 5 acutely illustrated the privilege I have and how grateful i can be for that stability in my childhood. And a bushwalk in my area with lots of touchpoints and information on its heritage allowed me reflect on my learnings and what to do next as I am part of the RAP group in our organisation.
The highlight of NAIDOC week for me was going down to the Rundle Mall event and feeling the love between all the people there.
Ooo! 2 big highlights!
1. At the Vixens netball game on Saturday. Aunty Joy Murphy did the Welcome to Country. AND (I’ve never seen a team do this before) as they announced each player coming onto the court, they said what Country they were from. Gave me goose bumps.
2. Watching Ash Barty win Wimbledon. Best end to NAIDOC week ever!
In terms of my NAIDOC highlights it would have to be Ash Barty winning Wimbledon partly because she’s such a lovely young woman and partly because of her relationship with Evonne Goolagong-Cawley who I watched win Wimbledon twice when I was a tennis mad tween and young adult.
The other highlight was the amount of great indigenous content on Radio National and ABC tv. I listen to a lot of RN and it was such a delight to listen to so many inspiring indigenous stories.