National Reconcilation Week, National Sorry Day and Mabo Day

National Sorry Day (May 26th) acknowledges and raises awareness of  the history of forcible removal and its effects on Australia’s indigenous communities. This is about the period in Australian history  where ‘Aboriginal’ children were forcibly taken from the families and cultures, becoming a stolen generation.

Mabo Day (June 3rd) commemorates Eddie Koiki Mabos efforts and campaign to have the legal fiction of Australia being terra nullis (land belonging to no-one) on European discovery and settlement overturned. June 3rd is the day the High Court of Australia overturned Australia’s status as terra nullis on European settlement and recognised that Aborigianl and Torres Strait Islander peoples did belong to the land and had a special relationship with land that had not been recognised. This opened the way for Native Title rights to be recognised under Australian law.

May 27th  is also important as the anniversary of Australia’s 1967 referendum where over 90 per cent of Australians voted to give the Commonwealth the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and to recognise them in the national census.

From Tuesday 26 May to Wednesday 3 June 2015 the Australian Aboriginal Flag and the Torres Strait Islander Flag will be flown on Charles Sturt University campuses. This week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements and to explore how each of us can join the national reconciliation effort.

In support of reconciliation the library hosst the Indigenous library website Yalbilinya Ngurang (Yal-bil-in-ya Nu-rang). Meaning ‘Place of Learning’ in Wiradjuri,Yalbilinya Ngurang is a place you can find people, information and resources to help you with your research and study.