Welcome to Country ceremonies are only performed by Traditional Custodians.
They are the descendants of the Aboriginal people who cared for Australian land before colonization.
Rhoda Roberts is SBS’ Elder in Residence. She coined the term ‘Welcome to Country’ in the 1980s and helped develop modern ways to deliver the welcoming.
“The Welcome to Country is done by those Custodians from that land base that you’re on, or indeed the Elders of that community.”
The welcoming usually takes the form of a speech, dance or smoking ceremony.
Not just anyone can perform a Welcome to Country.
The welcoming should be performed by the Traditional Custodians of the land you are meeting on.
In some parts of Australia, the Traditional Custodians are well known. In other parts, identifying the Custodians requires some research, particularly if they have not been formally recognised.
Contacting your local Aboriginal Land Council or Aboriginal health organisations can also point you in the right direction.
‘Acknowledgement of Country’ is another important welcoming speech, delivered at the beginning of meetings and events. However, as Rhoda Roberts explains, it differs from a Welcome to Country.
“An Acknowledgement of Country can be done by all of us, black and white, wherever we come from. It’s us showing that we have an awareness of the land and respect for it, and that we’re visiting someone else’s land and we’re paying that respect. So, acknowledgement is recognising that you might be working or living on a place that’s not the place you come from, but that’s okay. You still belong to it and you’re going to acknowledge and thank the Custodians and Elders.”
Click on the player above to listen to this information in Punjabi.
