HEAL COUNTRY ~ NAIDOC WEEK 2021 

NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee.  NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia from the 4^th-11^th July 2021 to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It is an opportunity for all Australians, whatever their heritage, to come together to learn about and celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and their achievements, culture and contributions to our great land.  

The theme for 2021 is Heal Country, which calls for stronger measures to recognise, protect, and maintain all aspects of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage.  Country is inherent to the identity of our Indigenous Australians, the traditional custodians of our land.  It sustains all Indigenous lives in every aspect - spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially, and culturally.  “Healing Country is about the historical, political, and administrative landscapes adapting to successfully empower and celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, nations, and heritage.” – NAIDOC.org.au.  As we are from the Sunshine Coast, we are living, working and playing on Gubbi Gubbi Country and Rani also lived on Badu Island in the Torres Strait for 2 years to complete her remote teaching service – a life changing experience that holds a special place in her heart. 

We wanted to create something for our community of little explorers to celebrate NAIDOC week in 2021 and inspire and help your little ones to learn about our sacred Indigenous culture and encourage discussions about our traditional Australian landowners. We contacted a brilliant local Sunshine Coast Indigenous artist, Sheri from Bigi Nagala (meaning ‘I am dreaming’ in Bidjara language).  Sheri is a proud Bidjara woman who tells Indigenous stories through her paint creations.  She was excited when we spoke to her and she took our idea and ran with it to create the most beautiful paintings of Indigenous symbols which we’ve turned into FREE printables for you and your family to use and engage with. 

The first printable is a ‘Heal Country’ colouring in page and the second being some printable Indigenous Symbols.  You can use these symbols in a variety of ways:

• To print in colour and use for painting/drawing and copying the symbols or print in black and white to colour in the symbols and words
• To print and use a playdough mats – create the symbols and shapes from playdough
• To print and copy these symbols in the sandpit, at the beach, in the dirt or draw them in chalk on some concrete
• To print multiple copies to create a memory game, snap to simply match the pairs
• Print, laminate and display eg: in a classroom, playroom, bedroom etc
• To print, laminate and cut up to create puzzle pieces for each Symbol

 The ideas are endless!  We hope you are feeling inspired and can’t wait to see what you and your family create with these free NAIDOC WEEK printables!   While we can’t change history, through telling the truth about our nation’s past we certainly can change the way history is viewed.   We are all looking for significant and lasting change and hopefully these printables can inspire and bring some much-needed conversations and learning into our communities and families. 

Thank you so much to Sheri for collaborating with us on this special project.  Please pop over to her IG page @bigi_nagala to show her some support or visit her website here - https://www.biginagala.com.au/.   Please also tag us over at @wander.and.wild to share your NAIDOC week creativity and love!

All designs are the intellectual property of Bigi Nagala and Wander + Wild and are not to be reproduced or sold.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

Acknowledging the traditional custodians of the Sunshine Coast, the Gubbi Gubbi/Kabi Kabi people, the injustices of the past and paying respect to the culture and connection to country for thousands of years to the original peoples of this land.