During NAIDOC Week St Clare’s hosted ‘Being an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander for the Day’ for ATSI students and their friends from schools in the Archdiocese.

St Clare’s joined students from St Edmund’s College, John Paul College, St Thomas the Apostle, St Matthew’s Primary School, Holy Spirit Primary School, St Vincent’s Primary School, Sacred Heart Primary School, St Francis of Assisi Primary and St Anthony’s Primary School.

Developed by Cultural Infusion, the program was led by Alan an elder from the Noonga tribe, near the Margaret River. The students participated in three cultural activities: dance, art and a historical/cultural session. In the cultural dance activity the boys learnt the emu dance while the girls learnt the eagle dance. During this session students were exposed to ATSI words and their meanings, as well as the significance of dance moves in ATSI culture. In the traditional art session students learnt to draw ATSI tracks and symbols and a picture of their own journey or story.

The highlight of the day was the historical/cultural session. In this session Alan discussed the difference between Indigenous (inhabited this land for 65,000 years) and non-Indigenous Australians (inhabited for 230 years), but more importantly with the understanding that all of us belong to Australia.  The students did renditions of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie Oi, Oi, Oi” to celebrate this unity. He explained the 324 tribal groups among ATSI today, each tribe having their own unique culture, language, dress, laws, customs and food.

Alan is an elder and custodian for his tribe. Each year he makes a journey with other elders to talk about the history of the tribe and he records every school and contact teacher as wall art. He discussed the importance of ancestors. Alan then related his own story, as part of the Stolen Generations, he was a foster child and later came to the realization that education has been the key to his success. He gave a very heartfelt message to the audience that healing is ongoing. Each student has to realise that they can change the world, to not waste your schooling, more importantly that they are the future. Alan thoroughly engaged the students throughout his discussion. They responded to his questions and affirmations. His message was a powerful reminder to the students about doing their best at school and taking advantage of all that they have. The session concluded with students performing the dances they had learnt and a recap of ATSI History and Culture.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday all students across the College were invited to watch the movie, The Sapphires in the Flexible Learning Centre. This wonderful movie based in 1968 is a true story. It celebrates four young, extremely talented Australian Aboriginal girls as they learn about love, friendship and war when they combine to form the all-girls group the Sapphires and travel to Vietnam to entertain the US troops. This movie provides a positive affirmation of the talent of these four girls and they are a great role model for all females and our students.

On Friday all students were provided with the opportunity to sample wattle seed scones which were made by our talented hospitality students. This sensational sampler is an example of ATSI foods, the richness of their culture and a reminder of the diversity and harmony they experienced over the many generations that they lived over this land.

NAIDOC Week was a wonderful opportunity for all of our students to reflect on the importance of the culture and traditions for the of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.