Ceremony changing hearts and minds

THE third Survival Day Dawn Ceremony last week commemorated First Nations peoples who fought in frontier wars and were massacred from the beginning of colonisation on 26 January, 1788.

Held at View Point, Lake Wendouree early on Wednesday, the service was led by the Koorie Engagement Action Group to encourage community healing, meaningful learning, and acknowledgement of the atrocities of colonisation.

KEAG member Deb Lowah Clark was part of the “authentic” and “compassionate” ceremony as a presenter and musician, which united First Nations people and hundreds of allies, and was live streamed to many others online.

She said it was a sombre, respectful experience, with First Nations peoples “standing on [their] ancestors’ shoulders.”

“There’s something about removing ourselves from the politics of it and coming together to be around people who have different stories, but we understand each other. There’s a deep understanding between us,” she said.

“Until someone speaks to you, they don’t know your story. We’re always encouraged by the young voices that we hear, that step up. We’re remembering for all the same reasons that people remember when there is pain that isn’t seen.

“We wouldn’t have done it three years in a row if it wasn’t something that we felt was worthy. It’s something that can be ongoing, it’s not just going to just stop.”

KEAG co-chair and City of Ballarat spokesperson Cr Belinda Coates said the service is now firmly embedded as a permanent annual event.

“It was as powerful as the first in my view,” she said.

“From feedback from others who’ve attended before, or watched online, as well as people who attended for the first time, it had a powerful impact on them.

Cr Coates said some of the feedback she has received expressed that the ceremony is sad, moving, powerful, and poignant, all while “changing hearts and minds.”