National Reconciliation Week is celebrated across Australia each year between 27th of May and the 3rd of June. The dates represent two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey.
27th of May – Marks the anniversary of the 1967 referendum which gave the Commonwealth the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and recognise them in the national census.
3rd June – Is the anniversary of when The High Court of Australia delivered the Mabo decision in 1992 which legally recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a special relationship to the land.
Below are two BTN stories, the first is explaining who Mabo actually was and what he did for Indigenous people. The second video was from this weeks episode explaining how some Indigenous Australians are using dance and music to fight back.
The week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements.
We worked with our Year 3 CAT Buddies to create Aboriginal dot paintings using an outline of our hands and the colours of orange, white, black and yellow which are most commonly seen in Indigenous Australian Art.
It was a great way to honor the Indigenous Australian people along with getting to know our buddies by working together with them to create a piece of art work.
What do you think Reconciliation means?
Why do you think it is important to recognise everyone no matter their culture or background?
What do you know about Indigenous Australians and their culture?
Dear mrs Baldwin ,I think those Aboriginal art paintings are great !
I liked that all of them are different but show the same type of art.
From my opinion I think that everyone did a fantastic job and were so creative with the art.
I also liked the idea of making them with our buddies and that works very well because reconciliation
means fitting in and working as a team. From Fate
Dear Mrs Baldwin,
I had fun with my cat buddy making all the wonderful paintings. It was interesting learning about reconciliation and the impact it had on the Aboriginal people. It is important to recognize that all races are equal!I enjoyed the Dream time stories to.
From Elena.
Dear Elena
That sounds like a good comment
from Lachie
Dear Mrs Baldwin,
I liked it when we did the Aboriginal dot paintings because we worked together to accomplish
it. Like when the Aboriginal and English people came together to stop what was happening.
Reconciliation is giving respect to each other and every one around you. It means to respect other peoples cultures and what they do for a living and maybe you can take some thing from it and bring it in to your own life.
From Anika
Dear Anika, that is good that you enjoyed working together sadly I was away. But i’m still glad most people had a good time with their buddies.
From Megan
Dear Mrs Baldwin
I really liked making the hands with my cat buddy. Why is red on the flag and you can’t put it on the art?
from Luke
Dear Luke
Why did you like doing hands with our buddies.
From Charlie w
Dear Mrs Baldwin
My mum and I sat tonight and watched the videos on Mabo and Noongar Pop culture and I hope those kids can bring their culture back. Maybe we can do that in class one day to help bring the language back. Mum and I are going to try and watch some more soon.
from Charlies
Dear Charlie,
That is terrific that you and your mum watched the episode. Its also great to hear that you learnt a lot from the story and feel passionate about making a difference. Perhaps this is something we can look into further in class. Please let me know if you find any more videos and we could share them with others.
From Mrs Baldwin
Dear Mrs Baldwin,
This is a way to recognise the aboriginal people. Because they were here before us so we respect them.
From Charlie w
Dear Mrs Baldwin,
I had a great time making the hands it was really fun.
I think reconciliation means respecting the aboriginals that were on the land before we were here. It is a really good idea.
Its important to recognise everyone even if there skin looks like a different colour plus looks and shapes to yours.
From Gracie