ABORIGINAL COMMUNITY BANS 'EMBARRASSING' WELCOME TO COUNTRY CEREMONIES

• READ MORE: Anger over 'indulgent' Welcome to Country as Elder drags out ceremony for 'excessive' amount of time

An Indigenous community has banned Welcome to Countries because the ceremonies are 'embarrassing' and 'being abused'. 

The Juru people of the Burdekin in north Queensland voted to ban Welcome to Countries on their ancestral land on Thursday.

Juru spokesperson Randall Ross told 4BC Mornings 'the elders have had enough' with the commercialisation of the traditional ceremony. 

'The problem is, you've got people who aren't connected to the Burdekin area and they're still doing Welcome to Countries and I know that they receive money as a part of this,' Mr Ross told 4BC host Bill McDonald. 

'We're only speaking for our country, that's why it's important that we can see it well and truly being abused and that's why it makes us feel embarrassed. 

'You've got poor organisations and they're trapped in that situation and they've got to pay, whether it's just a five minute, two minute or ten minute service.'

'The elders have had enough because it's being abused and want to put a stop to it.'

Mr Ross said although Welcome to Country shouldn't be for profit and that the community still has a social responsibility to protect their land.

Burdekin Shire Council mayor Pierina Dalle Cort said the decision was an 'early Christmas present' to many people.

'I've already had some responses from people saying things like finally common sense has prevailed, basically,' she told the Courier Mail.

'I can't get into a political nightmare here but all I can say is I'm happy to work with the traditional owners. We're multicultural, we're one country and we've all got to learn to live and work together.'

Indigenous leader Warren Mundine has also welcomed the decision and said Welcome to Country decisions are causing 'anger and division'. 

'You're getting people doing these ceremonies who are not from the area or are just out to make a quick buck,' he said.  

'The point of it is it's meant to be a welcome but some people are abusing it by charging a gazillion dollars for it or getting up there and making a political speech, telling everyone to bugger off back to where they came from.

The modern form of a Welcome to Country was developed in 1976 by Dr Richard Walley's Middar Aboriginal Theatre group, after Maori and Cook Islands visitors to Perth Arts Festival requested a ceremonial welcome.

The musician, dancer and writer invoked a blessing in the local language, sang a Nyoongar song celebrating their lands and the troupe did a ceremonial dance, all of which was a huge success and struck a chord in the Indigenous community. 

It was later adopted by the Northern Territory Tourism Board and the Australian Tourism Commission and earned a global platform when it was included in the Miss Universe beauty pageant held in Perth in 1979.

Since then the ceremonies have become a regular feature at public events in Australia and are performed before sports games, meetings, festivals and award shows.  

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mayor Dalle Cort for comment.

Read more

2024-12-07T00:43:18Z