We packed a lot into this year’s NAIDOC Week celebration at North Lake.
Dean’s music group entertained the crowd prior to the main event.
Our special guests were the crew from Tidal Moon based in Shark Bay. They have created a business that revives Australia’s first export – sea cucumbers.
Sea cucumbers are considered a delicacy in parts of Asia and as well as being a food source they serve as an important environmental asset in the waters they inhabit. Tidal Moon is committed to train and employ local Indigenous people in the business.
Before telling us their story the Tidal Moon team took part in a three-on-three basketball game in the gym.
Many students contributed to the Sea of Hands project and, in another art enterprise, Nadia’s IEC Art class painted a dead tree outside the north side of the library.
The tree painting came with this artists’ statement:
The colours of Aboriginal flag have been painted at the bottom of the tree to represent our beginnings here on this land. The colours of the Australian flag follow the Aboriginal flag. As the branches extend skywards the colours vary to represent the multicultural nature of the Australian population.
The tree has been painted to remind us of the custodians of this land. The black symbolises the Aboriginal people, the yellow represents the sun, the constant re-newer of life and the red depicts the earth and people’s relationship to the land. It also represents the ochre which is used by Aboriginal people in ceremonies.
As you pass this tree give gratitude and pay respect to Elders past and present.
We celebrated the completion of our activities with a lunch of kangaroo stew and damper.
Congratulations to all involved.
