26/05/2022
Each year on May 26, National Sorry Day is a time to remember and acknowledge the mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were forcibly removed from their families and communities as a result of past government policies and Indigenous assimilation.
Thousands of children were taken and placed in institutions, fostered out or adopted by non-Indigenous families and are known today as ‘The Stolen Generations'.
In 1997, the Bringing them Home Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their families was tabled in Parliament and among its many recommendations was one that the Prime Minister of Australia apologise to the Stolen Generations.
It wasn’t until 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a formal apology to the Stolen Generations on behalf of the Australian federal government.
However- Sorry Business according to Aboriginal teachings is more than just a moment of a figurehead saying “sorry.”
We have a very long way to go, and culturally, through colonialism woven through all of our thinking, our eduction and more, we need to LISTEN deeply to our First Nation people when possible.
The dialogue is far from over-it’s not a day and “she’ll be right mate.”
No.
It’s a day for grieving.
To understand that generations of our First Nation people have been wiped out, many languages, a rich tapestry of knowledge of the land, stories, history, and wisdom-broken.
Some Songlines yearning to be sung again.
Bloodlines and teachings disrupted from a culture over 60,000 years old.
Sorry simply isn’t enough.
It’s only a beginning to the path of healing and understanding.
The traditional custodians of the Samford Valley are of the Yuggera nation. Clan relations may well have extended into and from the Jinibara, Kabi Kabi and Waka Waka clans neighbouring this region as well.
We acknowledge and pay our respect to Elders both past, present and future.
