Nine primary schools across the Macleay Valley have come together for the tenth year in a row to celebrate NAIDOC week with a day of sports, art and traditional cultural activities.
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Kempsey South Public School started the tradition with the small schools of the area in 2013 and on Tuesday, June 20, the primary school hosted schoolchildren from Bellbrook, Willawarrin, Gladstone, Greenhill, Smithtown, Kinchela, Frederickton and for the first time, Telegraph Point.
Aunty Cheryl, Aunty Eileen andd Aunty Nancy performed the Welcome to Country, followed by the lighting of the candles by Aunty Milly, Aunty Caroline and student Raymon Kennedy.
Uncle Neville and Aunty Madeline Donovan did a smoking ceremony for students and special guests from Macleay Valley ACG, community Elders and Kempsey Mayor Leo Hauville.
A cake decorated with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags was cut by Elder Aunty Eileen, Dwayne Strong and young student Jo-Leigh Holten. With the formalities complete, the schoolchildren began their day of activities.
Each school rotated through five activities throughout the day, from totem pole painting, bird mask and badge making, and sand art to cricket, netball, Figtree dancing, and drum beats, cooking, and storytelling. The kids even got to play with robots.
Principle of Kempsey South, Mr Paul Byrne, made note of this year's NAIDOC theme 'for our Elders' and said the day was important for the schoolchildren to interact with the community leaders and show respect to the Elders.
"[The Elders] are the keepers of our knowledge, the people that are able to trail blaze our pathways so that we can follow in their footsteps as we move forward as a community and as a nation," Mr Byrne said.
Vicki Willioughby, one of the main organisers of the day, spoke of the importance of acknowledging the Elders of Kempsey Shire for their "unwavering strength" and "resilience".
"They are the vital bridge between our modern world and our Aboriginal culture," she said.
"They are the leaders of our community, and the knowledge holders...we need to listen to our Elders, not because they're always right, but because they have more experience in being wrong.
"We need to learn from their mistakes, and we need to seek their guidance to move forward and create a better Australia for everyone".
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