Contributed by Dr Ray Barraclough
THERE is a growing movement across Australia to acknowledge the realities of the ‘Homeland’ conflicts in our history.
For several years now in Maleny, and surrounding district, there has been an increasing number of people who have assembled on January 26 each year, who gather to acknowledge some of the human dimensions of those conflicts.
A Ceremony of Remembrance honouring the First Peoples of this land, who lost their lives and country through the dispossession that began on 26 January, 1788, will be held on Thursday, 26 January, 2023, commencing at 10:00am. The ceremony lasts for an hour.
The Ceremony of Remembrance is to be held at the Maleny Neighbourhood Centre at 17 Bicentenary Lane, Maleny.
The Ceremony is open to the public. Anyone who wishes to attend can do so.
The Ceremony comprises acknowledgment of country, symbolic rituals, quoted excerpts on Australian history from noted Australian historians, poetry, music, and a time for silent meditative remembrance.
The event provides an opportunity for those in the Hinterland Region to remember and honour those who died seeking to defend, and to retain, their ancient homeland which is now called Australia.