INDIGINEOUS AUSTRALIANS CELEBRATE CULTURE WEEK

Indigenous people of Australia recently celebrated NAIDOC week - a festival of their culture. (NAIDOC is the National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee.)

What started in the late 1930s as a day of protest against colonial mistreatment that was deliberately timed to coincide with Australia Day has grown into a week-long celebration of Indigenous identity, rooted in the land for 60,000 years.

The event is especially important today, as issues from a century ago still persist. Australia last year voted against recognising Indigenous people. A referendum to enshrine in law the obligation to consult Indigenous people before implementing policies that affect them was defeated - with 60% of Australians voting against it.