The past week has been dedicated to remembering and recognising the huge milestones in Aboriginal rights movements.

The 1967 referendum and the 1992 Mabo decision were put front and centre during this year’s National Reconciliation Week.

Looking back at these moments in time “reminds us that big changes take persistence and courage”, according to Reconciliation Australia.

Marc Sutherland, a young Gomeroi man from Tamworth, has certainly been persistent and courageous, speaking out about Aboriginal issues and the need to continue the fight.

“We’re not a bunch of criminals, so why are we the highest incarcerated,” he posed before reconciliation week celebrations in Tamworth on Friday.

“How come our statistics aren’t representing us as people. We are over-represented in a lot of negative statistics.”

Mr Sutherland pointed to high rates of youth suicide in Aboriginal populations as another alarming statistic.

It was a sobering sentiment on a day steeped with meaning for many generations.

His key for change in these areas was establishing and supporting culture.

Something he has been doing consummately through his work with the Gomeroi Dance Company.

Whenever you have the chance, make sure you watch the group perform.

They have a great talent for story-telling and sharing.

We don’t do these things because they look cool or because it ticks the boxes,” Gomeroi Dance Company member Tom Flanders said at NAIDOC celebration, also at TAFE, last year.

“Everything has a meaning and it’s what has been done forever.”

A point that Gomeroi elder Aunty Yvonne Kent touched on was the need for more focus on Aboriginal history in education.

“We’re already two-up in history because we have our own history plus we’ve learnt European history,” she said. “So it’s about time we flipped and had the Europeans learn our history because it’s rich, it’s living, it’s the oldest living culture in the world and it’s still going,” she said.

Aunty Kent hit the nail on the head. The more we share and the more we understand, the bigger impact the nation can have in this area.