Pro-voice Indigenous community grieve amid 'week of silence' from Saturday

Words woven throughout a statement issued by Indigenous Australians in support of The Voice, the call for "a week of silence" from October 14 is circulating the media at pace.

Rejected by the majority, roughly 40 per cent of Australians supported the Indigenous voice to parliament, while around 60 per cent voted "no".

In the New England electorate - which covers nearly 66,394 square-kilometres from the Queensland border in the north to Merriwa, Aberdeen and Scone in the south - just over 75 per cent of voters joined the nation in a collective 'no' against the proposal according to the latest figures on Tuesday morning.

But heavy feelings of grief and mourning across the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are being felt nationwide, with leaders saying Saturday's failed referendum was a "tragic outcome".

Some people have changed their profile pictures on social media to a plain black tile to demonstrate feeling unseen.

READ ALSO: Voice referendum fails, what's next for New England?

Describing the result as a "bitter irony", the statement notes refusal from those on the continent for a mere 235 years to recognise people who've been here for more than 60,000 years is "beyond reason".

"It was never in the gift of these newcomers to refuse recognition to the true owners of Australia," the statement reads.

"The referendum was a chance for newcomers to show a long-refused grace and gratitude and to acknowledge that the brutal dispossession of our people underwrote their every advantage in this country.

"To our people we say: do not shed tears. This rejection was never for others to issue. The truth is that rejection was always ours to determine. The truth is that we offered this recognition and it has been refused.

"We now know where we stand in this; our own country."

Sincere gratitude was expressed to those who supported The Voice, noting these votes went toward the desire for "a better future" - with the goal of "choosing belated recognition and justice" with regard to Australia's chequered past.

The word "chagrin" - meaning distress and humiliation - was also used to convey the theme of grave sorrow being felt across the Indigenous community in droves.

"Our deep chagrin at this result does not in any way diminish our pride and gratefulness for the stand they [yes-voters] had the moral courage to take in this cause now lost.

"We know we have them by our side in the ongoing cause for justice and fairness in our own land."

The leaders asked those who voted in the referendum to "reflect hard" on the final figures the polls generated.

While questions about the role of racism and prejudice against Indigenous people will be asked, now is the time for silence amid wide-stretching feelings of disbelief, to name one of many.

"Much will be asked about the role of racism and prejudice against Indigenous people in this result," it read.

"[But] now is not the time to dissect the reasons for this tragic outcome. This will be done in the weeks, years and decades to come.

"Now is the time for silence, to mourn and deeply consider the consequence of this outcome."

The tail end of the statement says the community "will not rest long", including talk of packing up the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags will be flown at half-mast - asking others to join in this.

A time to re-gather strength and resolve, it notes talking "only of justice and the rights of our people in our own country" between Indigenous peoples.

"Things that no one else can gift us, but to which we are entitled by fact that this is the country of our birth and inheritance," the statement read.

READ MORE: How every regional and rural electorate voted in the referendum

"And, when we determine a new direction for justice and our rights, let us once again unite. Let us convene in due course to carefully consider our path forward.

"We will not be commenting further on the result at this time."

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