Reconciliation Week
Children from local schools perform at Reconciliation Week Celebration
Every year, representatives from schools across Hornsby Shire gather in Florence Street Mall at Hornsby at the end of 28 May to celebrate National Reconciliation Week with performances of dance, music, public speaking and drama on the theme of Reconciliation with our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
There have now been ten annual Hornsby Children’s Voices for Reconciliation events in partnership between Hornsby Area Residents for Reconciliation and Hornsby Shire Council and local schools. The celebration begins with a traditional Aboriginal Smoking Ceremony to cleanse the mall and Welcomes from Elders of the Darug and Guringai Traditional Owners, as well as from the Hornsby Mayor.
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Hornsby Children’s Voices for Reconciliation is an opportunity to show support for Reconciliation, to see and hear the messages of Reconciliation and to socialise with the Aboriginal community and the children of schools throughout the shire.
About Us
We began meeting regularly in 1999. We seek to promote the exchange of information on issues relevant to Reconciliation; create opportunities for sharing knowledge, resources and expertise; lobby for recognition and social justice for Indigenous people; and promote the local community’s understanding of the rights and contributions of Indigenous People, appreciation of Indigenous cultures, and celebration of the presence of Indigenous residents in our community.
We enjoy a positive partnership with Hornsby Council and have received some financial support for some of our activities. We helped establish Council’s Hornsby Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Consultative Committee, which is now recognised as the proper forum for advice to Council on matters affecting Aboriginal culture and Indigenous residents.
Click here for the Hornsby Shire Council Reconciliation Statement.
We combine with Council for a number of activities such as Hornsby Children’s Voices for Reconciliation, which takes place every year during Reconciliation Week in the Hornsby Mall. Hornsby Children’s Voices has become an occasion for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal residents to network, socialise and renew acquaintances. It is a true celebration of Reconciliation in our community with children and Elders, traditional owners, representatives of Council and schools reaching out in a spirit of friendship and respect.
We also enjoy an active and supportive partnership with members of the Hornsby Aboriginal community.
We promote public education about Indigenous topics through public meetings and workshops in the local area, stalls at community events and assistance with occasional Aboriginal art shows. HARR played a major role in the erection of signs around Hornsby Shire, acknowledging the traditional lands of the Guringai and Darug peoples.
We meet on the third Wednesday of each month (6.30 – 8pm). Please phone 9482 2992 for information about our meeting venue.
Campaigns and Letters
Letter to Matt Kean MPLetter to Jenny Macklin MP
Indigenous Incarceration Rates
Letter to NSW Attorney-General Greg Smith
Letter to NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell
Letter to Judy Hopwood MP
Click here for our latest newsletter.
The Co-Convenors for this LRG are Dorothy Babb and Annette Salt.
For more information please contact NSWRC.
Oral History of Aboriginal People in the Hornsby Area
Hornsby is one of many urban areas where Aboriginal people have been ‘invisible’. Over the last ten years, Hornsby Area Residents for Reconciliation (HARR) has been working to change this perception. Now, with financial assistance from the NSW Reconciliation Council and Hornsby Shire Council and using the voluntary services of one of our members who is a professional historian, HARR has documented the life stories of some local Aboriginal people.
With the support of the local Aboriginal community, some volunteered to share and record their stories to help others understand their journey. It is hard to fear or dislike someone when you understand their story. Sharing your story is a gift and an act of reconciliation.
The interviews with ten Aboriginal people about their lives in the Hornsby area have been lodged in local libraries and will shortly be available on the net. The stories have also been summarised in book form: Still Standing: ‘We are here and we have always been here’.
The people who generously gave their stories are seven women and three men, aged between thirty and seventy-eight at the time of interview. Their stories sometimes differ. For some, the bond with Aboriginality was present from birth. They were raised among Aboriginal people and were aware of Aboriginal culture. Others knew that they were Aboriginal but associated equally or more with non-Aboriginal culture. For others finding an association with Aboriginal culture has been a gradual journey undertaken in adult life.
To avoid what was at one time the stigma of Aboriginality, many Aboriginal children were told to pretend that they were of different extraction such as Italian, Spanish, Jamaican and even American Indian. This raised for many people the issue of what made them Aboriginal. Did they have the right to that claim? Would they be rejected by both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people?
The resulting life histories make interesting and at times moving reading. Should you wish to obtain a copy ($18), contact HARR through Dorothy Babb dbabb(at)bigpond.net.au or Annette Salt saltnacl(at)bigpond.net.au.
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