NAIDOC 2015 celebrations at Maitland Grossmann High School

Maitland Grossmann High filled the sky with 900 red, black and yellow balloons to kickstart NAIDOC Week celebrations in 2015.

The day of celebrations included a smoking ceremony, Acknowledgement of Country, lunch and a performance by Indigenous band The Last Kinection.

The day was of significant importance for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members of the school community. The increasing recognition and significance placed on NAIDOC Week reaffirmed the position of Indigenous culture and is just one way to celebrate and display the culture. “It was especially delightful to teach the wider school community the function of the smoking ceremony at the morning assembly,” said Aboriginal education officer Pauline Mitchell, “It’s cleansing; it cleanses places and people of negativity”.

The theme of the day was We all Stand on Sacred Ground: Learn, Respect and Celebrate“, meaning, ‘it’s up to me to help you learn about my culture and it’s up to you to respect it’.

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We all Stand on Sacred Ground: Learn, Respect and Celebrate

Story contributed by Karen Blatchford from Maitland Grossmann High School. Published in 2015.