ICEA’S GOAL IS ALSO TO BRIDGE THE GAP BETWEEN NON-INDIGENOUS AND INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES AND TO INITIATE A PROCESS OF UNDERSTANDING AT A GRASSROOTS LEVEL.
To support capacity building for Australia’s future leaders in Aboriginal issues. •
Facilitating leadership camps for Years 11 and 12 students to visit Aboriginal communities and be educated on Aboriginal Issues, community-specific circumstances and Aboriginal culture as well as participating in community-building activities.
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Create Aboriginal cultural awareness at WA Schools through leadership, student committees, NAIDOC Celebrations and the establishment of “Marja Mob”.
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Sustaining Aboriginal cultural awareness beyond school years and giving school leavers opportunities to join the ICEA ‘family’.
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Teaching cultural awareness to Australia’s future leaders through the provision of cultural awareness training.
The overall philosophy at ICEA is to encourage young people to become actively involved in a variety of fun, fundraising initiatives, thus embedding
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in them a deeper understanding of Indigenous Culture. ICEA’s goal is also to bridge the gap between non-indigenous and indigenous communities and to initiate a process of understanding at a grass-roots level. A major component in bridging this gap is to introduce WA schools directly with indigenous cultures through celebrating ‘NAIDOC Week’. This may involve: ‘Welcome to Country’ ceremonies by indigenous elders; hosting traditional dance, music and art displays; sampling traditional bush tucker tastings and techniques and experiencing sacred smoking ceremonies. ICEA hopes to maintain and promote cultural heritage by combining the efforts of communities, councils and individuals. Coastal activities such as surfing competitions are also a predominant event on the ICEA calendar. These competitions are combined with the presence of Aboriginal elders who openly talk to the participants about the coastal regions and the origins of the land. This creates a deeper understanding of the Aboriginal culture for the participants and a new-found respect for Australia’s original inhabitants and their movements
in our Nation’s history. Barriers are broken down, cultural awareness is explored and an understanding of reconciliation is discovered. By contacting the ICEA Foundation, they will be able to provide your school with the necessary steps in raising an awareness of indigenous culture and reconciliation. If your school is keen to get involved, you can make contact via their website www.iceafoundation.com.au which will point you in the right direction, providing information on the culture and the steps necessary to engage with the indigenous groups of your school’s location and original land to promote reconciliation in your community.