NAIDOC Week & Alkira Compass - We all Stand on Sacred Ground: Learn Respect and Celebrate
As part of the NAIDOC week celebrations WorkPac is proud to announce our new business Alkira Compass. This business is a partnership with Albert Bowie (featured above) and his family, created to partner with organisations and communities to facilitate Indigenous employment outcomes.
Image: Albert Bowie with local elder Uncle Des Sandy at Musgrave Park Family Fun Day 2014
What is NAIDOC Week?
NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. Its origins can be traced to the emergence of Aboriginal groups in the 1920′s which sought to increase awareness in the wider community of the status and treatment of Indigenous Australians. Originally it was the acronym for National Aborigines Day Observance Committee to commemorate the Day of Mourning established in 1938 with a protest march held on 26th January of that year.
Over the decades with legal and political progression, including the outcomes of the 1967 Referendum, NAIDOC grew to include the Torres Strait Islander people (as Australia's other first-nation peoples group), eventually becoming a celebratory event held over an entire week.
NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life. The week is a great opportunity to participate in a range of activities and to support your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
Every year cities, towns and communities across Australia hold annual events to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, history and culture.
We all Stand on Sacred Ground : Learn, Respect and Celebrate
This year’s theme highlights Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ strong spiritual and cultural connection to the land and sea. The theme is an opportunity to pay respects to country, honour those who work tirelessly on preserving land sea and culture and to share the stories of many sites of significance or sacred places with the nation.
As the oldest continuing culture on the planet, the living culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is intrinsically linked with these sacred places. Sacred places can be a geographic feature like a river or lake, a beach, bays, inlets, hills or a mountain ranges or ceremonial grounds, galleries of rock art or engravings or places used for gathering for cultural practices.
This year’s theme was also chosen specifically to highlight and celebrate the anniversary of the “Handback” of Uluru to its traditional owners 30 years ago.
The National NADIOC committee encourages all Australian, young and old, to embrace this year’s national NAIDOC theme.
Who is Alkira Compass
Alkira Compass is a unique partnership between an Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander family – the Bowie Family, and the WorkPac Group, one of Australia’s largest privately owned recruitment companies.
Alkira Compass is the result of a friendship and a shared vision –
to develop Indigenous Landowners to become responsible, reliable, and adept at transitioning between social realities in contemporary Australia.
By combining their strengths and establishing Alkira Compass, the partnership empowers individuals to maintain commitment to employment endeavours, whilst developing pride and understanding of their heritage and identity as Landowners.
The pastoral care method utilised by Alkira Compass encourages active participation in community events from all levels of the community, government or private sectors. Acknowledging commemorative events fosters awareness and gives Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities an opportunity to strengthen identity aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture on a public platform.
For further information on NADIOC week & Australia wide celebrations:
http://www.naidoc.org.au/
http://www.musgraveparkffd.com/
https://www.facebook.com/NAIDOC
For further information on Alkira Compass:
http://www.workpac.com/alkiracompass
mareshah.bowie@alkiracompass.com.au
1800 255 472