A quiz to kick off Naidoc Week in Mount Isa was well-attended on Monday night at the Overlander Hotel.
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Injilinji Aged Care Facility hosted the trivia night which was MC’d by Jacob Takurit of MOB FM.
Valerie Craigie performed Welcome to Country, acknowledging the Kalkadoon people as the traditional owners of the land.
Pattie Lees of Injilinji said it was important to learn about the history of Australia during Naidoc Week.
“We acknowledge some of the not so nice things that happened, so we can come together and fix things in this country.
“It’s an opportunity for us to celebrate, it’s an exciting night.
“It’s about languages, it’s about culture, and it’s about how we all live together in this country because it belongs to all of us – some people have special prior rights of ownership, but we’re here together trying to make the best of it,” Pattie said.
Pattie said the trivia night was a chance for people to educate themselves on the meaning of Naidoc Week.
“Look at this opportunity for people to come out and learn, an exchange of cultural history protocols. Even I learnt something about ourselves that I never knew before. So take the opportunity,” Ms Lees said.
Q: Which of these Australian names has its origins in an Indigenous language?
- Sharon
- Kylie
- Kevin
- Barry
A: Kylie. A Noongar word for boomerang.
Q: What is the longest official place name in Australia, and what state is it in?
A: Mamungkukumpurangkuntjunya Hill, approximately 109km west north-west of Maria in South Australia.
The name means “where the devil urinates” in the regional Pitjantjatjara language.
INJILINJI’S NAIDOC FACTS:
- Naidoc Week is about every Australian celebrating the First Australians, the oldest surviving culture in the world.
- Celebrated around the country every July, it has its origins in the fight for Aboriginal rights that began in the 1920s and 1930s when groups like the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association and the Australian Aborigines’ League drew attention to poor living conditions and a lack of citizenship rights.
- In 1957, A National Aborigines Day Observance Committee was formed, supported by federal and state governments, the churches and major Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations.
- In 1988 the committee’s name was changed to National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) to acknowledge Torres Strait Islander people as well.
- Over time the name of the committee has evolved into the name for the whole week.
