Celebrating Australian Aborigines on NAIDOC Week
By Maya Salleh

The Australian High Commission in Brunei Darussalam will join Australians in celebrating its unique Indigenous peoples this week in conjunction with the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (NAIDOC) Week, which carries the theme 'Self-determination: Our Community - Our Future - Our Responsibility'.

The NAIDOC Week is held annually to provide a special opportunity for Indigenous Australians to promote their history and culture as well as an opportunity for non-Indigenous Australians to learn, reflect and acknowledge the unique contribution of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

In conjunction with the celebration of the NAIDOC Week, many special events have been lined-up across Australia to reflect the theme. Australian diplomatic missions overseas will also hold a week of activities, which reflect the contribution of Australia's Indigenous peoples to contemporary Australia.In a press release yesterday, the Australian High Commissioner to Brunei Darussalam, Mr. Christian Bennett said that the Australian High Commission in Brunei would also contribute to the celebrations this week. Mr. Bennett also revealed that among the activities lined-up for the celebration is the hoisting of the two flags of the Aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islander people, playing tapes of Indigenous Australian music in the foyer for the enjoyment of visitors to the High Commission. There will also be a small display of posters and other Aboriginal artwork where visitors can access programmes featuring Aboriginal art and other topics on its public access computer.

Today there are altogether an estimated 400,000 people who identify themselves as Indigenous Australians and before the arrival of Europeans in Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people inhabited most areas of the Australian continent, each speaking one or more of hundreds of separate languages, with distinct lifestyles and religious and cultural traditions. "Indigenous Australians had very complex social systems and highly developed traditions, reflecting their deep connection with the land and their environment." Mr. Bennett said.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin