Break Thru NAIDOC Week Celebrations – Dubbo

TTW/CP Dubbo NAIDOC Day - Celebration, Community & Cultural Awareness

On Wednesday, the 7th of July 2010 Break Thru Dubbo held their third annual NAIDOC Day, and, in our opinion was the best celebration so far! The day was well supported by Break Thru staff, local Aboriginal Elders and community alike.

The day began the day with two visitors from the Department Of Environment and Climate Change, Country Cultural & Heritage Division. These men gave an informative talk on Sacred Sights and Sacred Caves with Aboriginal Stories engraved on them. Our service users thoroughly enjoyed the talks, warming immediately to the visitors.

One of the Break Thru client’s parents, who is a talented Aboriginal artist in his own right, took the day off work to do a large painting of the client’s hands in Aboriginal colours. The painting turned out to be spectacular and will now be displayed prominently in the Break Thru building.

These activities were followed by a welcome by an Aboriginal elder and a speech about the meaning of NAIDOC Week and respect for the Aboriginal culture, as well as the protocols used when with elders. The elders would like to contribute to our programs in further ways, so it was a great way to meet and share information that will forge future collaborations.

The day also featured a special lunch, which consisted of an Aboriginal-style damper with treacle and honey, native bush stew with bush spices, barbeque rissoles, lemon myrtle cordial and billy tea. Seventy people joined in the feast and some great networking took place between clients, their parents, guests and staff.

Afternoon tea was also served with traditional Australian macadamia nut cookies and more billy tea.

The afternoon saw everyone enjoy some great fun Aboriginal art activities that were run by two Aboriginal aunties. They supervised the clients with boomerang & didgeridoo painting, garnering some very impressive results.

The celebrations were an extension of positive relationships within our community across all cultures. The energy and overall participation brought a great sense of community.

Everyone was disappointed to see the day end, but it was a fantastic success and we definitely look forward to the next NAIDOC Day!