Tathra Public School hoping to make Reconciliation Week walk and smoking ceremony an annual event

The students, with their teachers and families, walked as a cohort from Tathra Headland to their school before gathering on the oval for a smoking ceremony prepared by Djiringanj Elders Uncle John Dixon, Uncle Lewis Campbell, Aunty Ellen Mundy and Aunty Kath Jones.

It was a brisk morning on the headland, but the youngsters were still full of energy and excitement. In their hands they held paper hearts they had prepared and artworks to hang on the school walls.

After the students had wandered back to the school groups, their parents and guardians gathered around a coffee cart and cake stand run by staff. Not long after, everyone was called to the oval where the Elders had prepared a small fire for the smoking ceremony.

Four school leaders Lenny Roscoe, Summer Manning, Jake Hodges, and Oxley Smith led the speech made to honour the meaning of reconciliation and its role in acknowledging the wrongs of the past by "saying sorry", and "rebuilding relationships" to create a more united nation.

The students acknowledged they were on Djiringanj country and paid respects to Indigenous Elders, past, present and emerging. They spoke about how lucky they were to live in such a beautiful part of the world, "embraced by the sea, rivers, and the bush".

The students also made mention of the Uluru Statement From the Heart and acknowledged that, "sovereignty was never ceded".

Tathra Public School principal Megan Bobbin said the students had spent the last week learning about Reconciliation Week and what it meant in a current Australian context.

She said hearts were created by the students over the last week to reflect a quote from the Reconciliation Week website that said "reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds, and actions of all Australians as we move forward" .

Aunty Ellen Mundy was invited to speak and opened the ceremony by saying she had been waiting for the sun to come out all morning and the moment she did, the sun shone through the clouds.

She spoke of the Indigenous interpretation of the sun's journey and said the light from the sun came from a pair of firesticks that she [the sun] carried across the sky and eventually needed to rekindle her campfire when she went home to the west.

Uncle John Dixon spoke next and said Reconciliation Week was important, "in our quest to continue to our make our mark as traditional descendants of the Djiringanj people".

He said he was proud of the acknowledgment speech made by the "inspiring young people" and said looking around made him hopeful "for a better future" as the students were being taught from a very young age to have respect for all people.

"Australian people, no matter who we are, all deserve respect and to have the basics to support our families and our peoples," he said.

"I can remember a time when we didn't really have anything and we had to fight for everything that we got, even a place to stay, so we've come a long way from there and it looks like we've got a great future," said Uncle John.

Following the speeches, Uncle Lewis played the didgeridoo and Uncle John prepared the smoking ceremony. The students were invited to come forward and cleanse in the smoke.