NAIDOC Week is one of the best opportunities to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island culture, talent and resilience.
NAIDOC week, which is celebrated annually in the full first week of July, stands for ‘National Aboriginal and Islanders Day of Observance Committee’. The week began in the 1957 when Aboriginal organisations, state and federal governments and a number of church groups came together to support its formation. However, its roots can be traced back to the 1920s and the 1938 Day of Mourning march and conference.
It’s a week when Australia celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, cultures and communities and recognises the valuable contributions that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people make to our country. Amnesty activists across the country get out into communities during NAIDOC week to support community events, celebrate culture and build valuable relationships.
The National NAIDOC Committee has announced the 2017 National NAIDOC theme – ‘Our Languages Matter’.
“The 2017 theme aims to celebrate the essential role that Indigenous languages play in both cultural identity, linking people to their land and water, and in the transmission of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, spirituality and rites, through story and song,’ the Committee says.