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BOARDING
NAIDOC WEEK 2021 National NAIDOC Week fell during the school holidays this year (411 July), but that didn’t stop the College’s Indigenous boarders from hosting an incredible celebration when classes resumed. We spoke to Year 12 Boarding House Captain, Kianga Bennet, to find out all about it.
KEL SEY BRICKNELL
communications officer
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AIDOC Week is a great opportunity to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Each year, St Peters students jump at the chance to get involved, but never on the scale we witnessed in Term 3. Complete with performances, facepainting, story-telling and music workshops, the St Peters 2021 NAIDOC Week Celebration was one for the record books. Held in Lower Primary on Monday 26 July, the event captivated our Prep-Year 4 students—groups stayed on well past the end-of-lunch bell, all keen to learn more from our Indigenous Boarding students. “I didn’t actually expect them to [get so involved],” Kianga told us. “When I was dancing, I saw a couple of them doing the dances with us. That was really cool—they really enjoyed it!” In the past, NAIDOC Week at the College has been marked by our Boys Boarding students performing for the younger students. This
Plus Ultra | November 2021
year, however, the girls got involved. When asked why they chose this year to come together as a large group, Kianga said it was an idea she and the other Senior boarders hatched in Term 2. “We did it mainly for the girls,” she said. “We don’t really get to do much—it’s always the boys dancing, so we wanted everyone to be involved this year. For the Indigenous girls in Boarding, it means a lot to them – their culture and everything. We all just wanted to get together and do something special.” And that, they did! Starting with two dance performances (one for Prep – Year 2, and one for Years 3 – 4), the group of 28 Indigenous boarders shared the message behind this year’s NAIDOC theme, ‘Heal Country’. With just two 30 minute rehearsals under their belts, they performed Gari Gynda Narmi, the German Dance from Badu Island, and the Christine Anu & The Wiggles version of Taba Naba (a crowd-pleaser for the younger students!). Following the
