NAIDOC Week 2017 Celebrations

By CRC

This week is NAIDOC Week, and so yesterday the CRC celebrated in style, gathering with fellow staff and community members at the Redfern Community Centre to celebrate the importance, resilience and richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures by listening to music and performances, and eating amazing food together.

Legendary singer/songwriter Vic Simms gave the Welcome to Country and entertained the crowd during lunch, and didgeridoo player Brendan Mitchell demonstrated how his instrument is used in traditional story-telling, with some humorous modern updates thrown in. CRC musicians Xenia, Rhys, Mindy and Murray sang the traditional song Ngarra Burra Ferra, and there was a viewing of the Caught Up hip-hop music video which was produced by CRC’s Jailbreak as an education resource on hepatitis C.

Thanks to our host on the day Ken Canning, Vic Simms, Brendan Mitchell, the CRC musicians Xenia, Murray, Mindy & Rhys, all staff and support at Redfern Community Centre, CESPHN, Coles for supplying food, and everyone who helped prepare the lovely sausage sizzle and cakes (including Gwen for the amazing NAIDOC cake). And special thanks to the CRC’s Paul Bates for pulling the whole event together and inspiring everyone at CRC.

It was a wonderful day, and we’ll definitely be doing something similar next year.

 

Welcome to CRC NAIDOC Week
Welcome to CRC NAIDOC Week

 

Ken Canning and Vic Simms
Ken Canning and Vic Simms – Welcome to Country

 

Brendan Mitchell
Brendan Mitchell

 

NAIDOC Cake!
NAIDOC Cake! Thanks to Gwen for baking this beauty.

 

L-R: Trevor Bates and Kobi Bates, alongside South Sydney Rabbitohs Braidon Burns, Cody Walker & Tyrell Fuimaono

 

CRC’s Paul Bates and Mindy Sotiri

 

NAIDOC cupcakes
Amazing food, NAIDOC cupcakes

 

Our Languages Matter
Our Languages Matter

 

 

CRC brochures
CRC brochures & Caught Up DVDs

 

Alarna & Vlad from Ozanam Learning Centre, Mindy from CRC
Alarna & Vlad from Ozanam Learning Centre, Mindy from CRC

 

Mindy Sotiri gives thanks and acknowledgement to everyone who made the event possible

 

NAIDOC cupcakes
NAIDOC cupcakes

 

NAIDOC 2017 - Our Languages Matter
NAIDOC 2017 – Our Languages Matter