NAIDOC WEEK 1 Last week, my school celebrated NAIDOC Week.

. I knew it was held every year during June or July and was about celebrating Indigenous culture, but I learnt a lot more about it during the week.
NAIDOC originally stood for National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance Committee. It has a long history! In the 1920s and 1930s, there were lots of attempts by Aboriginal Australians to raise awareness of the problems suffered by their people like poor living conditions, their lack of rights concerning land and the fact they were not considered to be Australian citizens! Two organisations that drew attention to issues like these were the Australian Aborigines Progressive Association and the Australian Aborigines League. Then, in 1937, a group of people led by a man named William Cooper presented a petition to the federal government, which asked for Aboriginal representation in federal parliament. It had taken Cooper years to gather the signatures on the petition. (He must have been busy there were about 2000 of them!). But the government did nothing, so Cooper decided to try something else. Along with a man named William Ferguson, he planned a Day of Mourning to be held on 26 January Australia Day 1938. The men chose this day because it was the 150th anniversary of British settlement in Australia. They hoped it would make non-aboriginal Australians think about how Aboriginal people might have suffered since 1788. About 1000 Aboriginal people went to a conference on the day. Afterwards, the National Missionary Council of Australia helped to promote the day as an annual event and, in 1940, the Sunday before the Australia Day weekend (later the first Sunday in July) became known as Aboriginal Sunday. Soon afterwards, a committee was formed to promote Aboriginal Sunday. It was known as NAIDOC (National Aborigines Day Observance Committee) and had the support of federal and state governments, churches and Aboriginal organisations. In the 1970s, the committee changed Aboriginal Sunday to National Aborigines Week. In 1988, the committee became known as NAIDOC, to include Torres Strait Islanders. Now, NAIDOC refers to the whole week of celebrations. Every year, a national focus city or town is chosen, along with a theme and awards for Indigenous achievers. NAIDOC is also celebrated in local communities so people can learn about Indigenous culture, history and achievers. Our schools celebrations included lessons about Aboriginal music, dancing, painting and Dreamtime stories. I think NAIDOC Week is really important. Not only is it fun, it also helps nonAboriginal Australians to have a better understanding of Aboriginal people and their culture.

NAIDOC Week 2
Use the text on the previous page to answer these questions. 1) Name two problems Aboriginal Australians were concerned about in the 1920s and 1930s

2) Complete the time line. 1938_______________________________________________________________

1940_______________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ 1970s______________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________________ 1988_______________________________________________________________

3) Mention something not included in the text that your school could do to celebrate NAIDOC Week.

4) Do you think it was a good idea for Cooper and Ferguson to have chosen Australia Day as the Day of Mourning? Why/Why not?