NAIDOC Week has been both busy and special for the recently founded Mulwaree Aboriginal Community Inc.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The group was registered in April. Sunday was the community's first get-together: a celebration at Marsden Weir.
Community members brought plates of food; children and youths had a fantastic time playing and exploring the river area, and learning how to rock paint, the group's Public Officer Jennie Gordon said.
"It was a really fabulous day - great food and sunshine in a culturally significant space next to the river," Ms Gordon said. "A wonderful start to NAIDOC 2020 in Goulburn."
READ ALSO:
On Tuesday, the Goulburn Multicultural Centre held a surprise celebration for the local Aboriginal health group, Goulburn Goannas. For the last 10 weeks, Rick Shipp and Marion Knight from Southern NSW Health had taught weekly health and exercise classes.
On Thursday, Ms Gordon - along with Jennifer Lamb, Wendy Allen, and Margaret Kendal from the Goulburn 2020 project - delivered lomandra seedlings (a native plant used traditionally for weaving and food) to preschools to plant in their Indigenous gardens.
Ms Gordon represented both the Mulwaree Aboriginal Community and the Goulburn 2020 project, and spoke about the cultural uses of the grasses.
"Every preschool in Goulburn has done the most phenomenal displays for NAIDOC, with lots of Aboriginal education projects for the children," Ms Gordon said. "They were so proud to show it and share it with me."
Educating children about Aboriginal culture and history is particularly important to Ms Gordon. Three years ago, she represented the Ngunnawal people at the Uluru convention for the Statement from the Heart in 2017, which called for a "First Nations Voice" in the Australian Constitution.
"The three pillars are voice, treaty, and truth," Ms Gordon said. "I'm passionate about the truth part - the truth of Aboriginal history in Australian history.
"It would be lovely if every school - regardless of whether they're preschools, primary schools, or universities - has a curriculum which reflects the true history of Aboriginal Australia, and the fact that we're the oldest living culture in the world."
The Mulwaree Aboriginal Community was set up to be an inclusive Aboriginal community accepting people who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, Ms Gordon explained. The organisation's objects are to give residents choice of membership to Aboriginal organisations; advise government and non-government organisations about Aboriginal culture and information; lead and support Aboriginal projects; and provide support and referral for families.
Goulburn has one of the highest Indigenous populations in the region. According to the 2016 Census, 1190 people 1190 people in Goulburn Mulwaree identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander - 4.3 per cent of the local population. (By comparison, Bowral's Indigenous population is only 1.0 per cent, Canberra's 1.8 per cent, and Yass's 3.9 per cent.)
Although the traditional custodians are Gundungarra and Ngunnawal people, Ms Gordon said, the population is now made up from many of the Aboriginal nations of Australia.
Ms Gordon thanked Wendy Tuckerman and Angus Taylor's offices for their support, particularly for the provision of the Aboriginal flag.