First off, Happy NAIDOC Week to all the First Nations people that may be reading this blog post. Despite our current circumstances, I hope you are taking a moment to reflect on this beautiful week.

If you are reading this and not to sure what NAIDOC Week is, let me give you the low down as its a pretty huge week within the Aboriginal & Torres Strait islander community.

NAIDOC Week is celebrated during the month of July for one week. This is to celebrate history, culture and the achievements of our community.

Each year holds a specific theme and this year is: Heal Country. 4th – 11th July.

NAIDOC to me means a lot more than celebrations, I take a moment to reflect and acknowledge my personal achievements, think about how I want to plan my future as an Aboriginal woman and also take a moment to celebrate my brothers and sisters that are doing incredible things.

The theme this year is also a really deep one as I am already thinking about how I can do better.

Heal country gives us the prompt to think about the action we need to take around our land, waters and our sacred sites.

I personally think this is a really deep theme for non-indigenous people to understand culture more, taking a moment to think about the current injustices that are still happening within community and how they can support us.

Ways in which you can support as an Ally during NAIDOC Week are as simple as taking a moment to find out which land you are living on.

Taking a moment of reflection for yourself to acknowledge that perhaps you may not be educated enough around culture and ways in which you can learn more.

Given the year we had last year with the Black Lives Matter movement across the globe, I think now is the time for us to come together and acknowledge the years of history and oppression Aboriginal people have faced and still face to this day.

Supporting Aboriginal businesses is a really positive way to support our people, certainly do your research on Artists, creatives and brands before purchasing and get to know that business on a deeper level.

Attending any community event is a must and a really lovely way to connect more with culture. I like to say to my friends if you do go to an event don’t think you will learn and understand everything in a few hours. Take a moment to walk with us and reflect on what this week really means and why it’s important for our community to celebrate.

I love providing resources for people, but also recommend people jumping online and doing their own research.

Your starting point can start of with social media and following the below accounts;

@blakbusiness @tradingblak @Blackfullabookclub @clothingthegaps as all these accounts will link you to an array of businesses, creatives, musicians and in-depth resources for you to understand culture a little bit more.

Getting amongst and watching a documentary is a really uncomfortable way to get comfortable in education. In My blood it Runs, Rabbit Proof Fence and both of the documentaries that star Adam goods are a real eye opener. (The Australian Dream and The Final Quarter).

I hope this little jam-packed piece has given you enough steam to get immersed into culture.