| The Nillumbik Reconciliation Group (NRG) was established as a result of a 1997 decision taken by Nillumbik Shire Council to appoint an Advisory Committee for the purpose of organising, in consultation with Wurundjeri elders, a suitable location and ceremony for the Shire Council to make a formal acknowledgment, apology and commitment to the traditional owners of the region. This took place on 9 May 1998.
The NRG was incorporated on 31 May 2000. Its purposes include:
-Acknowledgement of the traditional Aboriginal people's ownership of land taken by force in Australia, particularly in the Nillumbik area;
-Community education about the ongoing effects of disadvantage that Aboriginal people have faced;
-Working for social justice for Aboriginal people today;
-Raising the awareness of the community about contemporary Aboriginal culture and the ancient and enduring spiritual connection to the land in Australia.
-To work with Local Government and other groups with a similar purpose;
-To produce cultural centres, markers and local names which honour the Wurundjeri people's significance in the area.
(NRG, 'Statement of Purpose'). |
