'But warrior brave we are': Sorry Day and NRW 2022
May 25, 2022
In the next week the nation will mark two important occasions for First and Second Peoples in Australia: Sorry Day on 26 May, and National Reconciliation Week from 27 May - 3 June.
As the Uniting Church we hold our recently renewed Covenant relationship with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress at the heart of our identity. We are committed to truth-telling about our shared history, and acknowledge the trauma and grief that endures as a result of deeply unjust, colonial policies such as the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their culture and communities.
We walk together as First and Second Peoples on the continuing road to justice and healing.
Sorry Day takes place annually one day before the beginning of National Reconciliation Week from 27 May - 3 June. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey, the successful 1967 referendum and the High Court Mabo decision. The theme for #NRW2022 is 'Be Brave. Make Change.'
Proud Palawa woman and Advocate of the Assembly’s Walking Together as First and Second Peoples Circle Alison Overeem has generously shared two poems to mark these two events with original artwork by Grace Williams.
Uniting Church members and communities are encouraged to mark these important events and consider concrete actions they might take to live out our covenant commitment as First and Second Peoples and to tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation.
Soon, one of the ways you will be able to do this is through Living the Covenant Locally, a new Uniting Church grassroots movement of people learning, growing in relationships and taking action for reconciliation locally. It will be formally launched by the Assembly during National Reconciliation Week – stay tuned!
How might you with your community ‘Be Brave. Make Change’?
A poem for Sorry Day
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A poem for National Reconciliation Week
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Find out more and reflect
Read more about the history and meaning of Sorry Day on the Reconciliation Australia website.
Read more about National Reconciliation Week 2022 and its theme, and find actions and resources.
Watch as Interim National Chairperson of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress Rev Mark Kickett shares some of his story in this video.
Find out more about the Covenant between the Uniting Church and the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress - a relationship at the heart of our church.