12 Indigenous Australians Celebrate Sacred Ground

    All across the country Indigenous people are celebrating NAIDOC week. A time to revel in their ancestry and connection to country.

    Allan Clarke
    by Allan Clarke

    BuzzFeed News Reporter, Australia

    Anna Mendoza / BuzzFeed

    NAIDOC stands for "National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee." The Committee was originally made up of Aboriginal people who led a protest movement in the 1930's called The Day of Mourning. Their aim was to highlight the staggering inequality between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians

    Today NAIDOC has evolved into a week long cultural celebration with events and festivals taking place around the country.

    This year's theme is "We Stand Tall on Sacred Ground: Learn Respect Celebrate" and BuzzFeed went along to one of the NAIDOC events and asked Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders what that means for them.

    Corey Grech, 32 - Gamileroi.

    Anna Mendoza / BuzzFeed

    "Standing on sacred ground to me means going home, putting my feet on my country and recharge my batteries to fight another day in the big smoke."

    Aunty Millie Ingram, Wiradjuri elder.

    Anna Mendoza / BuzzFeed

    "Our connection to mother earth is part of our spiritual being. We belong to the land. We stand on sacred land."

    Raymond Finn, Wankangurru elder.

    Anna Mendoza / BuzzFeed

    "Standing on scared ground is remembering our ancestors, families and our people/communities, dancing/singing our stories of land/country."

    Emma Donovan, Gumbaynggirr.

    Anna Mendoza / BuzzFeed

    "Ngayngundi Gumbaynggirr jagun; My Gumbaynggirr country."

    Bianca Williams, Wiradjuri/Gamileroi.

    Anna Mendoza / BuzzFeed

    "Our land."

    Margaret Martinez Wright, 66 - Nyangumarda elder.

    Anna Mendoza / BuzzFeed

    "Still being upright, to be able to stand on our peoples ground and being very proud of who I am."

    Geraldine Marr, 41 - Dhungutti.

    Anna Mendoza / BuzzFeed

    "Our children are our future. Time for change."

    Luke Simpson, 23 - Wiradjuri.

    Anna Mendoza / BuzzFeed

    "Celebrating traditions both past and present."

    Blake Harrison, 22 - Wiradjuri.

    Anna Mendoza / Buzzfeed

    "Remembering our ancestors and our culture."

    Mervyn Bishop, 70 - Muruwuri.

    Anna Mendoza / BuzzFeed

    "We must not forget NAIDOC observance. Future generations maintain the stories of first nations and connection to the land."

    Dougie Johnson, 40 - Barkindji.

    Anna Mendoza / BuzzFeed

    "Always will be."

    Trish Adjei, 34 - Mabuiag Islander and Wuthathi.

    Anna Mendoza / BuzzFeed

    "NAIDOC means celebrating the beauty plus excellence of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture."