NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all backgrounds.
NAIDOC originally stood for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’. This committee was once responsible for organising national activities during NAIDOC Week and its abbreviation has since become the name of the week itself.
This year’s NAIDOC theme is ‘Heal Country!’, which calls for all of us to continue to seek greater protection for our land, water, sacred sites and cultural heritage from exploitation, desecration, and destruction.
Each year a poster competition is held around the annual theme, and this year NAIDOC organisers received a record 260 entries. The winner this year was Maggie-Jean Douglas, whose mob is Gubbi Gubbi from the Sunshine Coast region of Queensland. However, Maggie grew up on Goreng Goreng Country (in Queensland) and has been living on Ngunnawal Country (in NSW and the ACT) for the past three years.
Maggie-Jean entered the competition for the first time this year as she “felt really strongly about the theme and what it represents for our community”.
Her artwork, Care for Country, is about how Country has cared for and healed First Nations people in all senses of the meaning for so long.
“I think the past few years have felt particularly draining for our community and I agree that it’s time for healing and repairing”, she said.
“When creating Care for Country, I kept in mind that this meant spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially and culturally.”
Her bright and vibrant artwork includes the different colours of landscapes around Australia to show how “they come together in our beautiful country and to make people feel hopeful for the future”.
The week is a great opportunity to participate in a range of COVID-safe activities and support your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. To find NAIDOC events near you, please go to: NAIDOC Week Events | NAIDOC
