This year, the Shepparton community is invited to join the Shepparton Region Reconciliation Group to remember and acknowledge the Stolen Generations this Friday, May 26.
Daryl Sloan, a member of the Stolen Generations, will be the guest speaker, and Shepparton Region Reconciliation Group co-convenor Dierdre Robertson commended him for speaking about his experience on the day.
“It’s a huge thing to talk about your experiences, to talk about it in public,” Ms Robertson said.
“We do acknowledge the courage and the generosity of sharing the story.”
On the May 26, 1997 the landmark Bringing Them Home report was tabled in federal parliament.
Bringing Them Home was the final report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families, conducted by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission from 1995 to 1997.
The report acknowledged that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children had been forcibly separated from their families and communities since the early days of European occupation in Australia.
These children are now known as the Stolen Generations.
Event Details - Sorry Day Commemoration at Monash Park
When: Friday, May 26
Arrive at: 10.10am
Where: Monash Park — corner Welsford St and Fryers St, Shepparton, Yorta Yorta Country
RSVP: eventbrite.com.au/e/2023-sorry-day-commemoration-tickets-636463598757
Sorry Day Commemoration program
1 - Welcome to Country
2 - Smoking Ceremony
3 - Guest Speaker: Daryl Sloan, a member of the Stolen Generations
4 - Readings from local secondary school students
5 - Flag-raising and laying of wreath
The report also recommended that a national Sorry Day be held each year to commemorate the history of forcible removals and the ongoing effects of these removals on individuals, families and communities.
Ms Robertson said that being aware of Sorry Day’s history and the ongoing effects was integral to the commemoration.
“It’s important to continually acknowledge that as part of Sorry Day that this is part of our story of this country,” Ms Robertson said.
“We also need to acknowledge that it happened and to acknowledge the impacts of that.
“The impacts are not trivial.”
Anyone who cannot physically attend the event, is able to view the live stream at Facebook.com/RespectSRRG
Alongside this event, Felicia Morgan will lead the Flats’ Healing Walk for the sixth year.
The walk will begin at KidsTown and move through the Flats, sharing stories of those who have walked there.
The group members will also talk about what, as First Nations people, they need, and are planning to achieve.
A goal of theirs is to have a plaque made, outlining the history of the Flats, the children who were removed or who died on the land and the historical events of the area.
The walk will happen between 11am and noon on Friday, May 26.
To learn more about the healing walk, as well as its background and mission, have a read of last year’s article.
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