Members of the public are invited to participate in a National Sorry Day event to be held in Marrickville on Thursday May 26. The event will involve a candle lit walk along the Cooks River during which two Aboriginal interpretative sites will be visited.
The walk will be led by local Wiradjuri woman, Jennifer Newman, and will begin at Richardsons Lookout – Marrickville Peace Park (cnr Richards Avenue and Holt Crescent) at 6.00pm. Torch candles will be made available.
National Sorry Day is an annual event that has been held on May 26 since 1998 to commemorate the ill-treatment of the country’s indigenous population. During the 20th century, the policies of Australian governments generated a Stolen Generation comprising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were separated, often forcibly, from their families with the aim of turning them into white Australians.
The date May 26 refers to the date when the Bringing Them Home report was tabled in the Federal Parliament on May 26, 1997.
The annual National Sorry Day commemorations help sustain an awareness among politicians, policy makers, and the wider public about the significance of the forcible removal policies and their impact on both the children that were taken and their families and communities.
Refer to the leaflet here for details of the event.