It’s NAIDOC week, a time to celebrate First Nations Australians. A time to reflect, keep learning and understanding. A time to speak, to show support, to come together. A time to say ‘Yes’ the Uluru Statement from the Heart . Absolutely. It’s time for the Truth.
I was away this weekend at the beautiful Megalong Valley. I got up early so I could sit outside at the veranda, all rugged up and with a warm cuppa, just watching the valley around me, the fog lifting bit by bit. A reflective space, noticing the trees around and the birds, feeling the reality of what we share, knowing that the life force that allows that tree to be alive and its leaves to be moved by the wind, is the same life force that runs through the magpies who were conversing on the right corner and the same that runs through me. It’s also the same life force that allows us to heal from trauma when we ‘get out of the way’ and let the body heal as it knows how to.
As I sat with that, I was thinking of First Nations people, both from Australia and from other lands, who knew in their bones that we are no different to the trees or the birds or the rocks and that in destroying nature we destroy ourselves. What a loss to not understand this, to have lost that connection, to separate people from the land they belong to. So much damage was done in breaking connections with land, community and family. And to think that we’re not damaging ourselves too in the process only speaks further about our own disconnect. Just as the bird and the tree collaborate and need each other, so do we human beings need community cohesion.
I am currently reading Growing up Aboriginal in Australia, getting another small glimpse into the vary many realities of what First Nations Australians experienced, and the impact so many generations down the track. Wanting to know more, wanting to be part of the healing process, in whatever humble capacity I can contribute. I know I will make mistakes, but I trust I’d be corrected and I can learn. I remain open, committed and trying, it’s the only gift I can offer.
May you find your own way to mark and celebrate NAIDOC week