“NAIDOC week” says Craig Greene, Leichhardt Council’s Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander project worker, “should be important to all Australians as it celebrates the people of the oldest living culture in the world – Aboriginal Australians! It acknowledges our survival and our continued connection to country, language and culture. It is also about Aboriginal people being proud as legitimate contributors to the nation as a whole”

A Gurindji man originally from the Northern Territory, Craig and his team have got together an inspiring programme of events in the Leichhardt area for NAIDOC week which runs from July 7-11, including a celebration of Indigenous film and story telling, a heritage walk in Callan Park and two events at Boomalli Aboriginal Arts Cooperative – you can download the full programme here: NAIDOC 2008 (PDF reader required)

More on the history of NAIDOC and its significance can be found at:

http://www.naidoc.org.au/history/default.aspx

IMAGE: Leichhardt Town Hall, 2006