The Tamworth community will celebrate the Indigenous voice of Australia for the next month, as NAIDOC Week gets stretched either side by activities and events at local schools.
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While NAIDOC Week officially runs from Sunday July 7 to July 14, local schools such as Tamworth Public, Peel High and Oxley Vale kicked the celebrations off early before the school break, while others such as Tamworth South and Westdale are waiting until the start of next term to be seen and heard.
This year the NAIDOC theme is Voice, Treaty, Truth - "three key elements to the reforms set out in the Uluru Statement from the heart that represent the unified position of First Nations Australia."
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For Tamworth residents the week will officially kick-off with two flag raising ceremonies on Monday, the first at the Tamworth Community Health Service at 10.30am, before Tamworth Regional Council raise the Indigenous flag at 2.30pm.
Mayor Col Murray said NAIDOC Week "is a time to embrace the creation stories and listen to their truth."
"We are excited to be working together with the NAIDOC Committee to host a series of fantastic, new and annual events to celebrate Australia's culture, learn stories from our past and work together for a unified future," he said.
Tuesday will see the Fun Footy Day and Bamara Bubble Soccer Tournament played at Gipps Street, before the Youthie will host a movie night followed by the State of Origin starting from 5.30pm on Wednesday.
Thursday will see the Local Aboriginal Land Council host a Cultural Knowledge and Sharing Day, before the celebrations culminate in the annual NAIDOC March and family fun day on Friday, starting at 9.30am in Viaduct Park.