Welcome to Country by Aunty Jenny
Yaamakarra everyone
Here we are celebrating Refugee Week in 2020. I’ve been very fortunate on special occasions to perform the Welcome Acknowledgment to Country as a representative of the Aboriginal Inner West Community.
My name is Aunty Jenny King Thompson. I am a Ngiyampaa descendant and I was born on Gadigal land and live here in Sydney which is my home. My homelands are the outback and my home is Sydney.
I represent the Inner West Council working group our committee so I’d like to let you know that here we are meeting on the traditional lands of the Aboriginal Gadigal Wangal peoples who have taken care of land, water, animals and plants, their families their community and with respects to each other. I would like to acknowledge that they have been doing this for many many generations.
The Gadigal Wangal people are among the 29 different clans of greater Sydney they were amongst the first Aboriginal peoples to engage with the British. The first Aboriginal peoples to be removed from their lands by force or disease. There are many different Aboriginal sites still remaining or survived from the Gadigal Wangal. I’d like to acknowledge the Elders past and present and out leaders who have fought for our sovereignty and citizenship rights in out country.
Aboriginal people understand what it’s like and have lived it being removed and displaced. So, a Welcome is an important gesture that says as we as Aboriginal people give you safe and secure stay on our land and generally speaking we would have had a lovely ceremony to welcome you as well.
So, Yaamakarra everyone welcome and welcome