When Uncle Amos Simon sings his song titled Tunkaan - an Indigenous language term that means "mother" - he could be referring to many things; sometimes Tunkaan can mean a woman caregiver, sometimes it is a word that refers to the land and natural environment.
As he describes it, Mr Simon - a Birapai-Wiradjuri-Worimi man originally from the Taree and Forster area - reveals the key to understanding his language and his culture.
"Our language is a bit different to Western society's language," he said. "It doesn't narrow our way of thinking down - we leave things to interpretation.
"When I sing that song, it could be a woman in your life, or it could be mother nature. Music and song isn't visual - it is up to your interpretation of who you are ... not being boxed in by the words people say.
"It doesn't matter if you're Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal - you have your spiritual thoughts and beliefs. You have them when you sleep - ours is 65,000 years old, even longer. When you dream things, this all becomes stronger. Everyone has it. It's what sustains us.
"If you think about it like analogue and digital - we are the analogue way of thinking. You can say it, think it, spiritually feel it. Today we're going to sing it."
As Mr Simon took up his guitar at the Wallsend Library on Saturday morning to open the city's NAIDOC Week observances teaching his language to a group of youngsters through song, Wiradjuri Newcastle City councillor Deahnna Richardson reflected on why NAIDOC week this year would prove a significant milestone.
"We are all stewards now," Cr Richardson said. "The Uluru Statement from the Heart was an invitation for the Indigenous community to walk with us in a campaign for equity and to address those wrongs that were perpetrated in the past.
"Aboriginal culture and language is largely an oral history, so these events where we can share that culture and that music is a way to pass that on to the next generation. They are the stewards of that culture.
"We are all stewards now and making sure that we are keeping that alive is very important.
"Our culture is centred around community and family and kinship and that really strong social fabric is what has ensured we have been as resilient as we have been."
The theme of the week's events planned across the city is "for our elders", which Cr Richardson said recognised the key role local elders played as knowledge holders and teachers, and as the Voice to Parliament referendum approached, the lessons of elders and the opportunities for all members of the community to participate in and learn the local culture would be even more prevalent.
"NAIDOC Week provides an opportunity for our community to acknowledge that the story of Australia began far before European settlement, while recognising that First Nations peoples have occupied and cared for our land for over 65,000 years," she said.
Councillor Elizabeth Adamczyk also attended Saturday morning's event and said the city was the first council in Greater Newcastle to formally endorse the Uluru Statement from the Heart and to support the campaign for constitutional recognition, adding the move recognised "the views of our progressive and inclusive community by supporting annual NAIDOC Week celebrations throughout the city".
NAIDOC Week 2023 events in Newcastle
Newcastle Libraries will continue their activities with special NAIDOC Week Storytime sessions at the Wallsend and city library branches on July 6 and 7 respectively. Storytime will be facilitated by Indigenous health practitioner Sarah Corrigan from Rainbow Crow Cultural Collective, who will also introduce families to the Wayapa program, which is based on ancient Indigenous knowledge about living in harmony with the environment and connection with the world's oldest living continuous culture.
The Lovett Gallery at Newcastle City Library will host the free Koori Knockout: 50 Years travelling exhibition from the State Library of NSW, which will be open to the public from July 6 to October 21.
The photographic exhibition celebrates the first 50 years of the rugby league carnival, which began in Sydney with just seven men's teams and has gone on to become the biggest rugby league knockout carnival in the world. The exhibition includes images of Newcastle All Blacks teams, who were crowned winners of the Koori Knockout in 1987, 2017, 2018 and 2022.
Newcastle Museum is celebrating the talent and creativity of Newcastle's diverse First Nations people through its exhibition entitled FIRST, which showcases the work of 16 Indigenous creatives who have a link to Newcastle and the Hunter.
While at the Museum, visitors can also check out Cultural Resurgence, an exhibition featuring works developed by more than 600 school students, community groups and organisations participating in cultural enrichment programs delivered by Speaking in Colour.
Newcastle Art Gallery will also celebrate NAIDOC Week at Hamilton's James Street Plaza with an outdoor projection of the video work Dead Tongue (2015) by leading First Nations artist Dr Christian Thompson.
The work, which comprises a moving portrait of the artist along with a stirring soundtrack of the artist singing in Bidjara language, will be on display from July 3 until the end of August. The project will culminate on August 26 in an evening of First Nations performance and music in collaboration with local artist Wanjun Carpenter. The project is presented by Newcastle Art Gallery with the support of Art Thinking, Hamilton Business Association, and the NSW government through Create NSW.
National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held annually in the first week of July to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
