Celebrating NAIDOC Week 2016
Children and young people with cancer are celebrating the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as part of NAIDOC Week 2016.
Teachers and young learners at The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne celebrated NAIDOC Week 2016 by creating a nest for Bunjil the wedge-tail eagle.
Bunjil is the spirit creator of the Kulin nation – the land on which The Royal Children’s Hospital sits. Children were asked to write messages of hope and place them in Bunjil’s nest.
Young learners will also have an opportunity to look at a range of Indigenous art and styles during group sessions over three days.
The National NAIDOC theme for 2016 is ‘Songlines: The living narrative of our nation’. Songlines are intricate maps of land, sea and country, tracing the journeys of indigenous ancestral spirits as they created land, animals and lores these Songlines are recorded in traditional songs, stories, dance and art.
Young learners at the Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick enjoyed a traditional Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony, and a BBQ feast with special entertainment on Thursday 7 July.
The Children’s Hospital at Westmead will also host NAIDOC Week celebrations on Wednesday 13 July with a Welcome to Country ceremony, flag raising ceremony and an exciting music performance followed by a BBQ lunch featuring special bush jams, storytelling and Darug Song production with children.
