Tennant Creek celebrations for NAIDOC Week kicked off on Monday morning with the March from the NLC Office to Nyinkka Nyunyu for the NAIDOC Week Awards Ceremony.

The theme for this year is Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! and is an encouragement for systemic change that must be done together, as well as a celebration of those who have driven and led change over the generations.

The march was well attended as always and the mood was a positive one in spite of the windy weather.

At Nyinkka Nyunyu, the NAIDOC Week awards were presented to local people for their achievments over the previous 12 months.

• Junior Students of the Year: Liam Butterworth and Deontaye Johnson
• Senior Students of the Year: Andrew Peckham and Thalia Kelly
• Apprentices of the Year: Stephen Quong and Shalee James
• Volunteers of the Year: Anyinginyi Public Health Team
• Caring for Country: The Mob
• Elders of the Year: Margaret Law and Norman Frank
• Persons of the Year: Tricia Frank and John Dougie
• Lifetime Achievement Award: Dianne Stokes
  
  Certificates of Appreciation were also given out to supporters and organisations for their help and support during the year, these included Barkly Regional Council, Tennant Creek IGA, CatholicCare, Dexter Barnes, Northern Land Council, Julalikari, Member for Barkly Steve Edgington and Youthlinx.

Traditional dance and music at annual Elders Lunch

An important part of the NAIDOC Week celebrations is the Elders Lunch, which was held at Nyinkka Nyunyu on Wednesday.

Over a 100 Elders were celebrated and acknowledged, starting with a traditional Waramungu dance followed by a three course meal and gift bags for all Elders present, while being entertained by music courtesy of Barkly Work Camp musicians.

The celebratory cake was cut by Pat Brahim before being distributed to the Elders to enjoy.

Thanks go to all those who contributed to an excellent celebration of the Elders of Tennant Creek, which includes all the volunteer servers and the Committee for creating a memorable lunch.

See the full coverage and all the photos in the issue.

This article appeared in Tennant & District Times, 8 July 2022.