Aboriginal Cultural Immersions - Misconceptions of Indigenous Welcome To Country

Learn and Understand Aboriginal Culture during Reconciliation Week, NAIDOC Week and beyond.

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA, April 28, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural ceremonies, including smoking ceremonies, Welcome To Country, cultural and arts workshops, didgeridoo and song and dance performances, are an engaging way for all Australians to learn about and gain an understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, cultures and protocols.

In the light of recent negative views from some Australian communities about Australian Aboriginal Elders delivering Welcome To Country at events and conferences, such as the advertisements posted in Australian news papers on-mass by the Australian Trumpeter Party stating "Why do we need to be welcomed in our own country? To shed some light on the subject, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, 'country' means something beyond the non-indigenous definition of the word. This definition is not 'Country' meaning 'Australia'.

For Aboriginal people in Australia... 'country can mean home, tribe or clan territory and is more than just a place on a map. Country is a word for all the values, places, resources, stories and cultural commitments associated with that territory... It describes the totality of Indigenous ancestral domains. And while many Indigenous people have no official title to land, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians are still connected to their ancestral lands and most see themselves as custodians or stewards of their land. In much the same way that non-indigenous families are connected to a house or suburb they have lived in for a long time, or maybe generations. So receiving a Welcome To Country from a Traditional Owner and the people represented by the Traditional Owner's in that particular region of Australia, isn't a Welcome To Australia as such. A Welcome To Country is a protocol, similar to welcoming and blessing friends when they come to your home or place of belonging. And it is a way of inviting those friends to feel at home and to respect your home while you are visiting.

In the old ways, before colonisation, Welcome To Country was a protocol for people of one Aboriginal Clan that wanted or needed to pass through another Aboriginal Clans country. The two mobs would sit down in the border region and discuss the situation and then if appropriate and upon approval, the clan passing through, would be given permissions, be Welcomed to Country and be given a path through. In modern Australia, Welcome To Country are presented at public and private events where people from all walks of life gather to celebrate, participate, network or compete. Welcome To Country is a blessing and should be delivered as a warm invitation to welcome the guests of each event to feel at home and share the land of the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people's who's ancestors have called the region home for thousands of years. It should not be a politicised speech. For non-Aboriginal Australians, Welcome To Country can be received as a blessing to enjoy your time on country and a way of acknowledging the countries original inhabitants and ancestry. Today's living Indigenous peoples born of those ancestors still have a deep connection to each part of the country that their bloodlines originate from.

As we approach Reconciliation Week in May and this year's National NAIDOC Week from 6 to 13 July 2025, the 50th anniversary of week-long reconciliation events and celebrations, and invite all to celebrate the achievements of the past and look to the bright future ahead. All Australians are invited to learn about Aboriginal culture and history and join in the celebration of the world's oldest continuously living cultures.

Aboriginal Cultural Immersions present Indigenous arts and cultural workshops, ceremonies and performances that are both fun and educational, sharing the knowledge, stories and beliefs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through talented and knowledgeable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We help businesses, government agencies, organisations and schools gain understanding and acceptance of Australia's traditional custodians. So if there are doubts and conversations in your workplace or club, we invite you to involve everyone around you to hear first-hand from the Aboriginal people themselves.

When ever Aboriginal with or without a Welcome To Country, when Aboriginal performers provide opening performances, the groove and healing tones of the didgeridoo masters, the energy of language by song-men and song-women, and the uniqueness of the indigenous dance always captivates and delivers a message that is thousands of years old. 'Welcome to this ancient land.'

Aboriginal Cultural Immersions work with Indigenous peoples and cultures from all over Australia including Kaurna (Adelaide), Wurundjeri (Melbourne), Turrbal and Yuggera (Brisbane), Gadigal and Dhurag (Sydney), Ngambri and Ngunnawal (Canberra), Whadjuk and Noongar (Perth) along with Torres Strait Islander peoples to name but a few.

Aboriginal Cultural Immersions exist to provide opportunities for all Australians to celebrate the experience of this country's ancient customs and help share knowledge and better understanding of the worlds longest surviving culture.

Darrel
Aboriginal Cultural Immersions
+61 422 973 185
ceremony@aboriginalimmersions.com.au
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