Crowds share NAIDOC vision

The region’s indigenous leaders and organisations were honoured at an awards ceremony on Saturday.

A full evening of NAIDOC Week celebrations were held in the South Hedland Town Square with the event culminating in a lantern parade featuring a nine-metre-wide paper mache eagle.

Organised by the Bloodwood Tree Association, in conjunction with the Town of Port Hedland, NAIDOC Week award winners were announced in categories including youth of the year, scholar of the year, sportsperson of the year, person of the year and male and female elder of the year.

Bloodwood Tree events co-ordinator Delany Delaney said this year’s NAIDOC awards were particularly special because of their public nature and it was fantastic to see the wider community celebrate the indigenous milestone. “This was an opportunity for us to celebrate some of the wonderful things the indigenous people of this area do…and show that there are many facets to the indigenous population and inspire the kids,” she said.

“It exceeded all expectations – the attendance was amazing and apart from the Welcome to Hedland event it was the biggest audience that has been in the town centre. “Throughout the day 3500-4000 people came through and at times there were hundreds of people sitting on the grass – it was quite stunning.”

The eagle-shaped lantern, which was created during workshops run by Melbourne- based artist Margie Mackay, embodied the spirit of NAIDOC Week. “When we looked at the eagle and what NAIDOC was about – sharing the vision – the eagle is such an amazing bird because it flies and sees the big picture but it has this incredible vision to pinpoint right down to minute detail,” Ms Delaney said.

Ms Delaney said the whole week of NAIDOC celebrations were a great success. “The pride of everybody and the happiness was amazing,” she said. “Through the week some of the magic that went on and the interactions that occurred from the kids who were engaged in the dance and lantern making workshops – it was just fantastic.

“The film project and the young people who worked with Curtis Taylor did an outstanding job… these activities have really impacted on their lives.” Saturday’s event featured performances from local Aboriginal singer-songwriter Theona Councillor as well as traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dancers.