Welcome Baby to Country ceremony proving as popular as ever

Published on 29 June 2016

Now in its fourth year, the very special Welcome Baby to Country ceremony will again be held as part of NAIDOC celebrations with Koorie families are encouraged to participate.

Welcome Baby to Country event will take place at the Mildura Arts Centre at 12noon on Thursday 7 July, with a ceremony that traditionally welcoming all new Koorie babies to this country and this community.

Welcoming a new baby into a community is a traditional practice that goes back more than 60,000 years, and the organisers of this event have reimagined this cultural practice into a contemporary setting under the guidance of elders and traditional owners.  This creates an event that builds a sense of community connection and creates lasting cultural memories for everyone involved.

Mildura Rural City Council Arts and Culture Portfolio Councillor Jill Joslyn encouraged local Koorie families to be part of the occasion, which is supported {presented} by Monash University and Mildura Rural City Council.

“In previous years this has been one of the highlights of NAIDOC Week,” Cr Joslyn said. “Again the ceremony will be conducted by local elders and will include a beautiful gift and commemorative certificate for each of the Koorie babies.”

Welcome Baby to Country is conducted by local elders, is culturally significant to the Aboriginal community and is a much loved part of local NAIDOC celebrations.

“Registrations for the Welcome Baby to Country ceremony are now open and we encourage all the mums, dads, grandparents, carers,  aunties and uncles to register and join us at this unique event.”

The ceremony will also include traditional storytelling and music with special guest performances by local and national artists. At the conclusion of the ceremony, participants and their families are invited to share a lovely lunch together and have some professional family photographs taken as a gift from the organisers to commemorate this significant cultural event.

To register your baby or to book seats at the event please contact Jill Antonie on (03) 5018 8100 by Tuesday 5 July 2016.

 ENDS

Media enquiries
Angela Umback
p) (03) 5018 8689
e) angela.umback@mildura.vic.gov.au