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.

KELSEY BRICKNELL | Communications officer

NAIDOC 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!” I

n the past, NAIDOC Week at the College has been marked by our Boys Boarding students performing for the younger students. This 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 dances, Year 10 student, Kuwanon Dickman, played the didgeridoo, before everyone headed over to Stolz Oval for activities.

The lines of students wanting their facepainted were enormous; the crowds that gathered around the older girls reading Dreamtime stories grew by the minute; a wide-eyed group of students flocked to Kuwanon as he taught them more about the didgeridoo; and all around the activity stations older students could be heard sharing stories about their culture—where they were from and the importance of NAIDOC celebrations.

Acting Deputy Head of Lower Primary, Mr Cameron Glass, was just as surprised by the success of the event as Kianga and the other Indigenous students were.

“The engagement was remarkable and it was moving to see the connections between the older and younger students,” he said. “I have never seen so many of our Indigenous students wanting to be involved—I believe the standard was set by the Senior leaders within the group, who encouraged all Indigenous students to participate.”

When asked what this means for the future of NAIDOC celebrations at the College, Kianga said that her fellow boarders were definitely inspired.

“They’re all pretty excited,” she said, “and keen to do it next year, but bigger and better, working their way up to Junior High.”

What a great thing to look forward to! Thank you to Kianga, Kuwanon and all our Indigenous boarders for gifting us with this event. Thanks also to Girls Boarding Coordinator, Kim Holman; Pastor Silke; and Cameron Glass for assisting the students in their organising efforts. To see what the celebration looked like for yourself, click on the QR Code.