MUSWELLBROOK will celebrate Reconciliation Week on May 27 with an Aboriginal Flag Raising ceremony in Simpson Park.
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The theme this year is ‘It’s time to change it up’.
National Reconciliation Week, which runs from May 27 to June 3, is a time for all Australians to focus on the history, culture and achievements of this nation’s traditional custodians.
It’s also a time to be mindful of two major anniversaries in the life of Aboriginal Australians.
The first is May 27, 1967 when Australians voted overwhelmingly to amend the constitution to include Aboriginal people in the Census and to allow the Commonwealth to create laws for traditional custodians.
The second is the landmark Mabo High Court decision which was handed down on June 3, 1992.
The Mabo decision was named after Torres Straight Islander, Eddie ‘Koiki’ Mabo, the man who challenged the Australian legal system and fought for recognition of the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional owners of their land.
The Mabo case ran for 10 years and, sadly, Eddie Mabo never found out the result of his legal case.
He died in January 1992, just five months before the High Court handed down its decision.
On Wednesday next week everyone is invited to gather at Muswellbrook’s Reconciliation Mural in Simpson Park shortly before 10am.
Muswellbrook Shire Council’s Aboriginal Reconciliation Committee will host the flag raising ceremony.
Following the ceremony there will be a family fun day, Picnic in the Park, with story-telling and other activities.
RSVPs for the Aboriginal Flag Raising can be made by phoning 6549 3764 or send to council@muswellbrook.nsw.gov.au