Last week’s official NAIDOC celebrations were very successful.
Things got underway on Monday July 5 at the Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC) with a Welcome to Country by Uncle Allan Hall, followed by a welcome in traditional language by Rhonda Ashby and Jenaya Nagy along with traditional dances by Leo Hooper, Billy Nagy and Timhana Young.
Auntie June Barker and Auntie Liz Wallace raised the flag.
This year the LALC presented awards to the people who have helped out the community, as well as for sporting and academic achievement.
The award for the Elder of the Year went to Auntie May Kennedy.
There were four Past Achiever awards: Kerry McBride for her work with Barriekneal Housing and Aboriginal Affairs; Donald McBride for his work with Barriekneal Housing, the building programs and trainees; Brenda McBride for her contribution to Aboriginal culture and heritage; John (Willy) Ferguson for his contribution to Aboriginal Affairs, working with youth and campaigning for the rights of Aboriginal people over the years.
There were two Community awards: Cindy Brown for her service to the RSL ladies auxiliary, Cancer Day, raffles and fundraising; Lawrence Walford for service to the community by supporting rugby league and other sporting events.
The other awards went to: Marnie Jones and Tenielle Hill for their contribution to sport; Zarleigh Jones and Emily Walford for their dedication to their studies at school.
Barry Krause cooked a barbecue lunch. Many thanks must go to James Mitchell for the lovely custard he brought for dessert, to Madison Raveneau and the other young girls who showed a lot of respect as they served the Elders their lunch and to all the ladies who helped to make the day a success.
It was good to see some non-Indigenous people joining us, especially as we are trying to help close the gap - one this year’s themes for NAIDOC Week
On Tuesday some fun activities and a disco was held for the kids. A big thanks to George McCormick and the youth workers, Kylie Smith, Kimberly Wood and Grassy for helping to organise this.
On Wednesday, an event held at the Ella Nagy Youth Hall was a huge success. There was a great turnout of both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Elders.
A DVD about the Narran Lake entertained everybody before they tucked into a camp oven dinner which was provided by John Brown. Everybody enjoyed the curry chicken and lamb stew. Many thanks to John for donating his time to cook for us all.
Auntie May Kennedy and Michael from National Parks and Wildlife cut the cake.
Trina and John Brown entertained after lunch.
It was nice to see some of the Elders from Collarenebri travel over and join us for the day. Thanks to everyone who put so much effort into making it such an enjoyable day.
Thursday saw the opening of the NAIDOC Week Art Exhibition at the Arts and Craft centre.
There was a barbecue lunch, traditional dancing, a Welcome to Country by Auntie June Barker and an official opening address by Outback Arts Regional Indigenous Cultural Development Officer (RICDO) from Warren Peter Browne.
The exhibition will be open until Sunday July 18. Votes are currently being taken for a popular choice award.
It costs 50 cents to vote and the proceeds will go to the winning artist to help them buy art supplies. Special thanks must go to Karin Thurston who worked so hard to put the exhibition of 65 entries together and did so much to make it a great day.
Friday saw the celebrations finish with a bang. A huge number of people attended an expo held at Spider Brown Oval.
NSW Sport and Recreation and Country Rugby League (CRL) provided activities for the kids. There were also a number of local service providers, who came along and provided give-a-ways for the kids.
Many thanks to them: Ngangana Home Care, LALC, Yawarra Meamei, Centrelink, Safe Families, RTA, Outback Division of General Practice, Mission Australia for face painting, and Auntie Noelene Brietkopf and Anna Vastag from the TCC Migrant Information and Referral Service for helping in the canteen.
Thanks must also go to Barriekneal Fuel for donating six bags of ice during the week, the Ridge Butchery for giving us a discount on the meat and Khans for donating drinks.
It was a special week for special people of all ages. The LALC would like to thank everyone who helped make NAIDOC Week 2010 a memorable one for all.
A special thanks to Trinette Simms who worked tirelessly all week, along with Paula Walsh, Lester Sharpley, Willy Ferguson, Barry Krause, John Brown, Allan Cobb (LALC Chairperson), Tony Flick (LALC CEO) and James Mitchell. These people were the backbone of everything achieved during the week.
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