Support Clare NAIDOC support our First Nations

Organisers are hoping to attract an even bigger crowd to Clare’s annual NAIDOC event in August, including a strong contingent of First Nations people from across the Mid North.

Clare NAIDOC 2021 will be held at the Clare Showgrounds on Sunday, 29 August 2021 and the whole community is welcome to attend this free event from 11am to 4pm. The 2020 event, which was held earlier this year due to a COVID-19 postponement, saw about 400 people embrace Indigenous culture in an afternoon of dance, ceremony, music, art, craft, stories and cooking.

“Clare’s NAIDOC event gets bigger and better every year, with the Mid North community showing they’re interested in learning about and celebrating Aboriginal culture,” said Natalie Sommerville, Chair of the Clare NAIDOC Committee.

“We’d love to see the community throw their support behind this great cultural event again. Their enthusiasm means a lot to our First Nations people and we’re expecting even more of our mob to come along this year.

“In fact, it’s important to our committee to ensure all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in the Mid North feel welcome. While Ngadjuri has a significant role in organising the event, NAIDOC is about celebrating all Nations and I’m excited to say we will have a Torres Strait Islander dance group perform for the first time.”

This will be the fourth NAIDOC event held in Clare and will again feature a host of fun, engaging and meaningful activities, including kangaroo tail cooking and tasting, a weaving workshop by NAIDOC 2021 SA Artist of the Year winner Sonya Rankine, a Ngadjuri women’s dance performance, wood carving and a hands-on experience with native animals thanks to Animals Anonymous and also a Kids Activity Corner.

There will also be live music, campfires, a Yarning Circle and a clap stick demonstration.

The NAIDOC’s 2021 theme is Heal Country, which calls for all of us to continue to seek greater protections for our lands, our waters, our sacred sites and our cultural heritage from exploitation, desecration, and destruction. Ngadjuri elders will participate in a panel that delves in to the meaning of the Heal Country theme.

“Ngadjuri remain connected to Country,” said Ngadjuri man Quenten Agius. “We view the health of the people being dependent on the health of the Country and vice versa. By healing Country we are also healing people.

“Healing Country requires all of us working together and we encourage everyone to walk together in this journey.”

A Welcome to Country ceremony will kick-start the event at 11am near the pavilions at the Clare Showgrounds. Registrations are essential, with free tickets available via Eventbrite: http://clarenaidoc2021.eventbrite.com.au/

This project is coordinated by the Clare NAIDOC Committee and Ngadjuri Nation Aboriginal Corporation, through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program, SA Department for Education, Clare & Gilbert Valleys Council, Regional Council of Goyder, Light Regional Council, Northern Areas Council, Northern and Yorke Landscape Board and Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board.