Happy NAIDOC Week 2020, USyd Students and USU Celebrate Indigenous Culture

Irene Higgins

NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) celebrations have been well underway this week at the University of Sydney. After being postponed in an effort to help protect communities from COVID-19, people were eager to embrace this opportunity to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their magnificent culture.

To mark the occasion, the USU kicked off the week by bringing the USU Food Truck back on campus! Partnering with local Indigenous apprentice chefs from Serendib Social, the menu featured native ingredients including kangaroo, bunya nut, and wattleseed. Usually falling during the university’s winter break, the opportunity to celebrate NAIDOC Week on campus in this way was incredible - and the free Johnny cakes were pretty great too!

This year’s NAIDOC Poster of the Year is by Noongar and Saibai island man, Tyrown Waigana, and features the Rainbow Serpent coming out of Dreamtime. The Rainbow Serpent is known by many Indigenous communities as the creator. 2020 NAIDOC Week celebrations will continue from 8 to 15 November 2020. 

As a proud Wiradjuri student, I was excited to have an opportunity to connect with mob on campus and celebrate as a community. I had the opportunity to participate in a panel with other First Nations youth, and attended many other NAIDOC Week events both on and off campus. 

In my excitement to celebrate this year’s NAIDOC Week, I decided to have a yarn with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and staff on campus to gather their perspectives on what NAIDOC Week has meant to them. Given the sensitive nature of the issues discussed, their names and privacy are protected.

What does the 2020 NAIDOC week theme, ‘Always Was, Always Will Be’ mean to you?

M: I’ve been thinking a lot about this question…and I wanted to answer it with depth. To me, this theme means that this land where we all live today, was ours in the beginning and still is. Always was, and always will be. The First Nations People have been here forever. I think this theme is educational to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. For those who have lost their culture through the stolen generations, it is a chance to learn and regain knowledge. That knowledge builds strength. 

N: This will always be an important statement that gives power to the oldest living culture in the world. To be a part of that culture is to give us future holders of that culture the strength to continue what our ancestors have been practicing and fighting for, to get us where we are today. 

S: Always Was, Always Will Be reaffirms something that we as Indigenous Australians always know. It feels more like a protest or stance taken by the NAIDOC team to state that this always was and always will be Aboriginal land. It is nice to see that acknowledged in mainstream media and in corporate spaces, but for me personally it reaffirms something I've always known. 

T: I think this theme is kind of an ode to how Indigenous Australians are part of the longest continuing culture in the world and that our identity is so well ingrained in nature and in the essence of our community that you cannot separate one from the other. Despite everything we've been through as a culture and as a people, we are still here. We are still fighting and we are not going to be silenced. What we hold dear will not be taken away from us. I remember hearing the phrase ‘Always was, always will be,’ when I was younger. It was always well known to me that we as a people have been here for thousands of generations and tens of thousands of years. Despite what happened in the last couple of hundred years, we are still fighting to maintain that culture. 

I think this theme also has a lot of performative meaning as well. The Senate’s refusal to display the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags in Parliament, is a huge example of this. The refusal by a governing body to acknowledge that this is stolen land and recognise the value of First Nations peoples is such a slap in the face. People are not upset because of a flag; they’re upset because it is a baby step in a mile long journey that we have ahead of us to reach reconciliation. When even the smallest of baby steps cannot be taken, it makes you feel defeated. How are we supposed to get anywhere when during NAIDOC Week our government refuses to take even the smallest steps toward Indigenous recognition? 

Despite this, 2020’s NAIDOC Week theme to me shows that we will keep fighting when things go against our morals and values. It’s a statement that holds true in spite of what has happened, is happening and what will continue to happen in the future unless proactive, positive steps are taken towards reconciliation. 

NAIDOC Week is always an exciting time of year, and is a fantastic opportunity to recognise the valuable and important contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to this university, and to Australian society as a whole. 

Check out the official NAIDOC website to find in-person and online events happening in your area! If you cannot attend a NAIDOC Week event, I strongly encourage you to show solidarity by supporting an Indigenous charity, business or organisation. 

As a Wiradjuri woman, I would like to acknowledge that I live, study and work on the unceded lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. They always were and always will be the traditional custodians of this land. I wish to pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples studying and working at the University of Sydney. Your knowledge, cultural contributions, and community involvement is incredibly valuable. I would like to thank the five amazing, deadly people that contributed to this article, and I hope that this serves as a recognition that the voices of Indigenous people on campus will always be valued.