All families are warmly welcomed to join staff at TOMORROW’S COMMUNITY MASS, Wednesday 27th June, from 8.00am to 8.30am.
We will be offering this Mass in thanksgiving for the term we have just shared together, and as we celebrate NAIDOC WEEK we will especially hold our Aboriginal and Torres Islander brothers and sisters in our prayers.
What a great way to start the day and what a powerful example for your children! We would love to see you there!
A little bit about NAIDOC …
NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee: the group responsible for organising activities nationally.
NAIDOC has its origins in the fight for Aboriginal citizenship rights and better living standards, going back to the 1920s and 1930s.
It’s been called many things over the years – including Day of Mourning and Aborigines Day. The first Day of Mourning was held on Australia Day 1938 — 150 years to the day after the arrival of the First Fleet in Sydney. This day of observance moved to July in 1955.
In 1991, Torres Strait Islanders were included; the group became NAIDOC, and the focus shifted to celebrating and promoting a greater understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and culture.
NAIDOC has been a week-long national celebration ever since. As NAIDOC week falls in the school holidays we will be celebrating this week before school closes for the holidays.
About the 2018 theme…
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have played – and continue to play – active and significant roles at community, local, state and national levels.
As leaders, trailblazers, politicians, activists and social change advocates, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women fought and continue to fight, for justice, equal rights, rights to country, for law and justice, access to education, employment and to maintain and celebrate their culture, language, music and art.
They continue to influence as doctors, lawyers, teachers, electricians, chefs, nurses, architects, rangers, emergency and defence personnel, writers, volunteers, chief executive officers, actors, singer songwriters, journalists, entrepreneurs, media personalities, board members, accountants, academics, sporting icons, Olympians, and more.
For at least 65,000 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have carried dreaming stories, songlines, languages and knowledge that have kept the Aboriginal culture as the oldest continuing culture on the planet.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women were there at first contact.
They were there at the Torres Strait Pearlers strike in 1936, the Day of Mourning in 1938, the 1939 Cummeragunja Walk-Off, at the 1946 Pilbara pastoral workers’ strike, the 1965 Freedom Rides, the Wave Hill walk off in 1966, on the front line of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in 1972 and at the drafting of the Uluru Statement.
They have marched, protested and spoken at demonstrations and national gatherings for the recognition of Aboriginal rights and called for national reform and justice.
Their achievements, their voices, their unwavering passion, has empowered past generations and paved the way for generations to come.
Because of her, we can!
Dear Families,
