NAIDOC Week in Byron Shire

THE annual NAIDOC week parade took place under brilliant blue skies with a crowd of around 200 making their way down Jobson Street from Railway Park to the Byron foreshore for a day of celebration.

This year’s NAIDOC theme is- Songlines: The living narrative of our nation

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the Dreamtime describes a time when the earth, people and animals were created by our ancestral spiritual beings. They created the rivers, lakes, plants, land formations and living creatures.

Dreaming tracks crisscross Australia and trace the journeys of our ancestral spirits as they created the land, animals and lores. These dreaming tracks are sometimes called Songlines as they record the travels of these ancestral spirits who ‘sung’ the land into life.

These Songlines are recorded in traditional songs, stories, dance and art. They carry significant spiritual and cultural connection to knowledge, customs, ceremony and Lore of many Aboriginal nations and Torres Strait Islander language groups.

Aboriginal language groups are connected through the sharing of Songlines with each language group responsible for parts of a Songline.

This year all Australians are invited to learn more about Songlines and explore those which have created the Country in our region.