Excerpt from a letter to the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation following Corroboree 2000 by Suzanne McCourt.

Was it worth it, people have asked me? Unequivocally yes! What did you think as you crossed the bridge, my son asked, what did you feel?

I told him that long before I sighted the bridge, I was overwhelmed by the huge numbers participating. That at the suburban station where we were crowded and crunched onto carriages en route to North Sydney, the air of goodwill and camaraderie was palpable. That when I saw the river of people pouring onto the bridge, the helicopters, media crews, banners and balloons, I knew I was part of an historic occasion.

We walked in an icy breeze, Australians of every descent - Indian, Asian, Greek, Italian, Turkish, English, Irish, Aboriginal. There were turbans, yarmulkes and Nike caps, saris, shorts and designer jeans. I felt, for the first time, the full breadth of our multi-cultural heritage. And I felt such pride that tears came to my eyes.

Over the railing, I glimpsed the sails of the Opera House and saw the first fleet's arrival at that very spot. I saw the beginnings of our tragic slaughter and abuse of the indigenous people. And I felt shame; shame for my ancestors in country Australia who introduced disease and appropriated land, who saw themselves with unalienable rights, rights we now recognise they never had.

Then I looked up and saw the word 'Sorry' being written in the blue, blue sky and I cheered with everyone else... it was a quiet march, no slogan chanting or rowdy shouting, a family march with children in prams and pushers, carried on shoulders, running through the crowd. How could I not think of stolen children and shattered lives, of separations, trauma, violence, generations of pain?... Walking on towards Darling Harbour, I looked back. A huge snake of people moved over the bridge, a giant rainbow serpent wearing a skin of colour, predominantly red, black and gold. I wished I knew more about Aboriginal mythology. Wasn't the rainbow serpent responsible for the beginnings of life? Were our marching feet helping to create a new life? A reconciliation of past and present, black and white? Surely, I thought, if so many people can come together to say they want change, then reconciliation and justice is just a breath away.

These were some of my thoughts, some of the things I told my son. He wondered if the people I marched with were thinking the same. Perhaps they were, I said. Perhaps our thoughts were taken up on that cold westerly wind, carried high into the sky like a prayer, to be heard in the hearts of people everywhere. I hope they were, he said.

Source: Council For Aboriginal Reconciliation Final Report: Reconciliation Australia's Challenge.