This week both schools in Braidwood celebrated NAIDOC week. National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee had its origins in the 1920s, but only since the 1990s has it become a national week for acknowledging and celebrating Indigenous culture and history.
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The ceremonies held by our local schools were respectful and inspirational. Our young people have a far greater knowledge and understanding of our pre-European settlement culture and history than their parents or grandparents. Through this they are able to view Australian history, not in two parts – pre-1788 and post-1788, but as a continuum. They are able to recognise the wrongs perpetrated through colonial ignorance on aboriginal people and are taking giant steps towards reconciliation: succeeding where governments have faltered.
Over the recent Queen’s Birthday weekend, the state Labor opposition announced that if elected in 2019, they will replace the Queen’s Birthday holiday with one recognising Indigenous people. Surprisingly, a lot of local people responded to this announcement with disappointment or anger (you know, the little angry face emoticons on social media). Given that the birthday of the current monarch is in April, not June, it is not even a relevant date.
What we actually celebrate on the second weekend in June is the birthday of King George V. That’s right, grandfather of Queen Elizabeth II. He died in 1936, but the Australian government at the time decided to maintain the holiday in June as it spaced out the public holidays conveniently.
How many of us actually celebrate the monarchy on Queen’s Birthday holiday? Union Jack bunting in the streets? God Save the Queen sung on school assemblies? Humming a few bars of Land of Hope and Glory in the shower? Probably none of the above. We do, however, have a spirited and inclusive celebration of Indigenous culture during NAIDOC week.
Even though NAIDOC week officially falls next week, from 8 July, the schools have taken it on board as an important celebration of who we are as a nation and a people. Far more important than celebrating the natal anniversary of a monarch who died 82 years ago on the other side of the world.
Our young people are leading the way to the future: an inclusive and informed future. Perhaps it is time to change the designation of that holiday and move forward instead of looking back.
