5 tips to celebrate NAIDOC week 2021 (COVID-Safely)

This week is NAIDOC week (4-11 July) and I have prepared this list of five tips for you to learn how to COVID-safely celebrate and support this important series of events to honour the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

1. Celebrate from home. NAIDOC week offers many online events that you can enjoy from home with your family. Explore the many local community events taking place online across Australia. You can find a link to NAIDOC week’s calendar on Brunswick Daily event’s page.
2. Learn more. SBS/NITV and ABC have prepared special programming to share the rich culture, history, stories and achievements of Australia’s First People. Check out ABC’s My name is Gulpilil trailer or a full list of what to watch on NITV’s website.
3. Find a book to read, written and published by Indigenous authors and illustrators through Magabala Books or suggest one for your next book club.
4. Visit the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander exhibitions of museums and galleries in-person or online.
5. Spread the word. There is so much power in sharing about NAIDOC week and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with your friends and family members. Here are three things you can share with them:
   1. NAIDOC Week events are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
   2. This year’s theme is Heal Country! Healing Country means hearing those pleas to provide greater management, involvement, and empowerment by Indigenous peoples over country.
   3. The Australian Aboriginal Flag was designed by artist Harold Thomas and first flown at Victoria Square in Adelaide, SA, on National Aborigines Day in July 1971.

So now you know how to COVIDsafely celebrate NAIDOC week. Stay safe and informed with the current restrictions in Victoria and find more tips on NAIDOC week’s website.

This article was written on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri people, whose sovereignty was never ceded. I pay my respects to Aboriginal elders, both past and present, and acknowledge the tradition of storytelling that has continued on the continent known as Australia for more than 60 000 years.