NAIDOC Week explained

NAIDOC Week
Dates:First full week in July each year
Years Active:1975–present
Location:Australia

NAIDOC Week is an Australian observance lasting from the first Sunday in July until the following Sunday. The acronym NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee.[1] [2] NAIDOC Week has its roots in the 1938 Day of Mourning, becoming a week-long event in 1975.

NAIDOC Week celebrates the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia. The week is observed not just by Indigenous Australian communities but also by government agencies, schools, local councils, and workplaces.

In 1984, NADOC (the forerunner of NAIDOC) requested that National Aborigines Day be made a national public holiday to help celebrate and recognise the rich cultural history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia.[3] There is no national public holiday in NAIDOC Week, but there have been calls by some Indigenous leaders to create one.[4] [5]

History of the observance

Day of Mourning (1938)

The idea behind NAIDOC goes back to a letter written by William Cooper that was aimed at Aboriginal communities and at churches. It was written on behalf of the Australian Aborigines Progressive Association, an umbrella group for a number of Aboriginal justice movements, and endorsed by around 100 Aboriginal delegates.[6] [7]

The association gathered together a wide circle of Indigenous leaders including Douglas Nicholls, William Ferguson, Jack Patten and Margaret Tucker. In 1937 they organised the Day of Mourning. This day was called to:[8] The organisers requested that all Christian denominations would observe the day and that:

The Day was discussed in newspapers, with David Unaipon arguing against it, stating that the "most effective way of helping the natives is not by weeping and bemoaning the past, but by acting in the level present" and that instead the day should be celebrated with "a national programme, by which all the privileges of the dominant race ... be given to the blacks".[9] Subsequently, members of the Australian Aborigines Progressive Association met with then prime minister Joseph Lyons to argue for representation in the federal parliament by a non-voting member to represent Aboriginal people.

The message to the churches was eventually heeded, with Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane William Wand commending the proposal in 1940[10] and the day was nationally observed by at least 1946.[11]

NADOC day of remembrance (1957)

By 1957, the leaders of the movement decided to change the date from January to July. The National Aborigines Day Observance Committee (NADOC) formed and the first Sunday in July became a day of remembrance and celebration for Aboriginal people and heritage.[12] [13]

NAIDOC Week (1991)

In 1991 NADOC became NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee), to recognise Torres Strait Islanders and to describe a whole week of recognition, rather than one day.[14] [15]

The committee's acronym has since become the name of the week itself.

COVID-19 impact

In 2020, NAIDOC Week was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, and postponed from July[16] to 8−15 November 2020.[17] However the national NAIDOC Awards, due to take place in Mparntwe / Alice Springs, were cancelled owing to continuing uncertainties.[18] The 2021 National NAIDOC Awards ceremony was scheduled for 3 July 2021, but again cancelled.[19] An event was then planned for 3 July at the Sydney Opera House. However, by July Sydney was in COVID-19 lockdown, and the Sydney ceremony was postponed.[20] [21] Due to the continuing pandemic, NAIDOC Week 2021 was also postponed; events for it in the Northern Territory were rescheduled to start on 11 July, but some events were cancelled.[22]

NAIDOC Week activities

NAIDOC activities are held across Australia, activities include cultural and educational activities in schools and workplaces and public displays.

NAIDOC Week activities might include listening to Indigenous Australian music, reading dream time stories, visiting Indigenous Australian websites on the Internet, organising an art competition and watching programmes on both Australian television (and their streaming services) related to the week.[23]

Television stations such as the ABC and SBS structure programming across the week to celebrate events, actors and more on their various channels (as well as their streaming services).

Major celebratory events take place in Australia's major cities as well as in larger rural Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, including Alice Springs, Hermannsburg, Shepparton and Mildura.

National NAIDOC Awards

See main article: NAIDOC Awards. The National NAIDOC Awards Ceremony and Ball, celebrating the end of NAIDOC Week festivities is held in a different host city each year. The Ball features Indigenous food and live bands.[24]

NAIDOC Poster Competition

The first NAIDOC poster was created in 1972 to promote "Aborigines Day". The protest nature of the poster continued until 1977 with titles like "Self Determination" and "Chains or Chance" publicising political change and a day of remembrance.[25] [26]

National NAIDOC themes and host cities

Football

In Western Australia, an Australian rules football match between and in the West Australian Football League has been played during NAIDOC week since 2007, with the winner being awarded the Jimmy Melbourne Cup, in honour of the first Indigenous Australian player to play senior football in a major Australian football league.[33]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: NAIDOC history NAIDOC . 2023-07-07 . www.naidoc.org.au/about/history.
  2. Web site: Commonwealth of Australia . 19 November 2021 . National NAIDOC Committee . directory.gov.au.
  3. Web site: NAIDOC history NAIDOC . 2023-05-31 . www.naidoc.org.au.
  4. Web site: Manyweathers . Shaun . 2022-07-07 . Get involved and show your support for a "NAIDOC Day" public holiday . First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria . en-AU.
  5. Web site: 2022-07-08 . Call for NAIDOC Week public holiday in Vic . . en-AU. subscription.
  6. News: Aboriginals commemorate Day of Mourning. ABC News. 26 January 2008. Australia. 5 June 2013.
  7. Web site: More information about Cyprus Hellene Club – Australian Hall. Australian Government. 5 June 2013. Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. https://web.archive.org/web/20121008202745/http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/cyprus-hellene/information.html. 8 October 2012. 20 May 2008.
  8. Andrew Markus (ed), Blood From A Stone: William Cooper and the Australian Aborigines League (Monash Publications in History, Department of History, Clayton, 1986).
  9. News: Aboriginal May Sit in Federal Parliament . . Burnie, Tas. . 18 January 1938 . 7 July 2015 . 7 . National Library of Australia.
  10. News: Archbishop Wand Commends Aborigines' Sunday Proposal. . . Brisbane . 22 December 1939 . 6 July 2015 . 10 . National Library of Australia.
  11. News: Aborigines Sunday . . Brisbane . 2 February 1946 . 7 July 2015 . 5 . National Library of Australia.
  12. Web site: NAIDOC Week. Australian Government. 5 June 2013. Australian Government. https://web.archive.org/web/20130503183236/http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/naidoc-week. 3 May 2013. 14 February 2011.
  13. Web site: History of Naidoc . Australian Embassy, France . 13 February 2008 . 24 October 2022.
  14. Web site: 4 July 2022 . NAIDOC Week . 4 July 2022 . NAIDOC.
  15. Web site: Working with Aboriginal People and Communities. NSW Government. 5 June 2013. NSW Department of Community Services. https://web.archive.org/web/20130409084921/http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/docswr/_assets/main/documents/working_with_aboriginal.pdf. 9 April 2013. 37. February 2009.
  16. Web site: NAIDOC Week 2020 Postponed . naidoc.org.au . National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee . 7 July 2021 . en-AU . 18 March 2020.
  17. Web site: Countdown is on to NAIDOC Week 2020 . naidoc.org.au . National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee . 7 July 2021 . en . 3 November 2020.
  18. Web site: Cancellation of the 2020 National NAIDOC Awards and the 2020 Awards Ceremony . naidoc.org.au . National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee . 7 July 2021 . en . 14 August 2020.
  19. Web site: Cancellation of National NAIDOC Awards ceremony in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) . naidoc.org.au . National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee . 7 July 2021 . en . 4 June 2021.
  20. News: Nguyen . Kevin . Sweeping COVID restrictions to be introduced in Sydney today as 16 new cases confirmed . 23 June 2021 . ABC News . Australia . 23 June 2021 . en-AU.
  21. Web site: Postponement of the National NAIDOC Awards 2021 . naidoc.org.au . National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee . 7 July 2021 . en . 25 June 2021.
  22. News: Sydney lockdown to be extended and plans to boost vaccine rollout. Here's the latest COVID-19 news across Australia @ The Northern Territory has rescheduled NAIDOC week . 7 July 2021 . ABC News . Australia . 6 July 2021 . en-AU.
  23. Web site: Celebrating NAIDOC Week. Australian Government. 5 June 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130428120354/http://www.naidoc.org.au/celebrating-naidoc-week/. 28 April 2013.
  24. Web site: NAIDOC Awards. Australian Government. 5 June 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20130428120322/http://www.naidoc.org.au/naidoc-awards/. 28 April 2013.
  25. Web site: NAIDOC Poster Competition WINNER ANNOUNCED!. TEABBA, via WayBackMachine. https://web.archive.org/web/20170623031015/http://teabba.com.au/naidoc-poster-competition-winner-announced/. 5 July 2021. 23 June 2017.
  26. Web site: Poster Gallery. NAIDOC Week. 20 July 2015.
  27. Web site: NAIDOC Week 2024. 1 July 2024.
  28. Web site: NAIDOC Week 2023 – For Our Elders . NAIDOC.org.au . 26 June 2023.
  29. Web site: NAIDOC Week 2022 – Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! . NAIDOC.org.au . 25 May 2022.
  30. Web site: 2021-01-20. 2021 theme. 2021-05-19. NAIDOC. en.
  31. Web site: 2020 NAIDOC Week theme announced: Always Was, Always Will be. NAIDOC. 17 December 2019. 16 May 2020.
  32. Web site: Theme and Host City. NAIDOC. Australian Government. 22 July 2015.
  33. News: Greats gather to celebrate NAIDOC. Shayne . Hope. The West Australian. 1 July 2011.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "NAIDOC Week".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.