The location was perfect — Rumbalara Football Netball Club.
A club dedicated to strengthening the community and bringing families together through strong, vibrant leadership.
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A place of belonging, a place where people of all ages and backgrounds can call their own.
It was the setting for Treaty Day Out — a one-day outdoor music festival held on Saturday, February 26, celebrating First Nations’ culture and discussing all things Treaty in Victoria, organised by the First People’s Assembly.
This Assembly is the independent and democratically-elected body to represent Traditional Owners and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Victoria.
We all know we’re all better off when we’re free to choose our own path and communities thrive when they are in control and the work of the First Peoples’ Assembly is about exactly this.
It is currently developing a framework and the ground rules that will enable Traditional Owners of Country to negotiate Treaty with the Victorian Government.
“We believe it’s time to negotiate a Treaty between our people and the Government of Victoria and we’re establishing the foundations and framework to enable that.”
As the Assembly says: “Whether your family has been here for five years or 50,000 years, Treaty will help make Victoria a fairer place for everyone and ensure us Aboriginal people always have the freedom and power to make the decisions that affect our communities, our culture and our Country.”
So as people started to arrive at Rumba, there was a sense of expectation and excitement in the air.
Live music: Yothu Yindi enthralled the crowd.
The line-up included live performances from local artists Madi Colville Walker and well-known rapper Briggs, legends Archie Roach and Yothu Yindi and newer talent Electric Fields, Mo’Ju and Alice Skye.
But even more importantly, the line-up sent a powerful message — they were all First Nations’ artists.
Performers strutting their stuff, telling their stories, saying loudly “We are resilient, we are still here’’.
In the crowd there were many messages on t-shirts — words that matched the lyrics of many of the performers’ songs.
Strong messages. Proud messages.
‘Always was Always will be’
‘You’re on Indigenous land’
‘It’s in my DNA’ (written underneath an Aboriginal flag).
‘Sovereignty was never ceded’
‘Protect Mob’
‘Heal Country’
‘Australia has a black future’
Even the words of the ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart’ — an invitation to the Australian people to walk together for a better future for all Australians — were written on t-shirts,
There was welcome in dance and words.
There were stories told in song, in language — such a powerful part of Culture and belonging.
There were references to the 50th anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy — a protest that symbolised the fact that Aboriginal people had never ceded sovereignty and had no treaty with the crown.
In song there were stories of resilience, determination and strength.
Of fighting for rights, for recognition.
And the powerful messages:
“We are strong and capable.”
“We are strong despite current injustices.”
That Aboriginal land and people were stolen. We all know stealing is wrong, so we must all work to put this right.
Australia is the only Commonwealth country that has no Treaty with its First Peoples.
The predominant message — ‘Treaty for Victoria’ — was one reflected in the lyrics of Yothu Yindi’s 1991 song Treaty.
“This land was never given up,
This land was never bought and sold
The planting of the union jack
Never changed our law at all
Now two rivers run their course
Separated for so long
I'm dreaming of a brighter day
When the waters will be one
Treaty yeah treaty now treaty yeah treaty now”
And here we are, 31 years later, in 2022, still talking about Treaty.
As Yirringa Yunapingu, lead singer with Yothu Yindi pointed out: “This generation must be the one to change the future for Australia.”
An invitation was issued on the big screens to “Walk with us”.
It was an invitation to the wider community to “Stand with us, hear us, support our leadership”.
To be allies, to be aware of inequality, calling it out where it exists, and above all listening to people who experience it, and elevating their voices.
So, let’s all work together to make a difference, to change the future for all Australians.
What can you do?
Join the Shepparton Region Reconciliation Group — we all know it’s easier when we all work together.
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