ERH chief executive Robyn Lindsay raises the Australian flag, Uncle Des Morgan raises the Aboriginal flag, and ERH Aboriginal health liaison officer Aunty Sonya Parsons raises the Torres Strait Islander flag.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Echuca Regional Health marked Reconciliation Week with a Welcome to Country and flag-raising ceremony on Tuesday, May 28.
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The event was attended by Indigenous leaders, community elders, ERH staff, board members, Aboriginal liaison officers and health service representatives.
Yorta Yorta Elder Uncle Colin Walker performed a Welcome to Country and smoking ceremony, reflecting on his ancestors' words.
“This is a great day,” he said.
“One of our elders always said, ‘we don’t want to walk alone, we want to walk with you’.”
Uncle Colin Walker welcomed guests to Country with a smoking ceremony.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
ERH chief executive Robyn Lindsay recognised the growing relationships with local Indigenous communities. She also acknowledged and apologised for the mistakes in the hospital’s history.
“Today is another step on the journey of reconciliation for ERH,” she said.
“(We) say sorry to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community for the care that we provided that was not only culturally insensitive, but unsafe and disrespectful.
“We know that hospitals generally, and ours included, have been responsible for contributing to intergenerational trauma, and that even today we’re falling short in providing access to health services and employment that is culturally safe and free from racism.
“It also continues to not be enriched by the strong living culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”
Attendees at the event included ERH executive director of community services Cynthia Robins, chief executive Robyn Lindsay and emotional wellbeing worker Gilbert Wanganeen; Uncle Des Morgan; artists Alkina Edwards and Jack Dorgan; Uncle Colin Walker; ERH Aboriginal health liaison officer Aunty Sonya Parsons; and Njernda chief executive John Mitchell.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Ms Lindsay spoke about the ongoing commitment to cultural safety for First Nations people, aligning with the theme 'Now More Than Ever'.
She also told the crowd that the new ERH Reconciliation Action Plan will be released this week.
“So now more than ever we acknowledge that we’ve made some progress, but we still have a really long way to go,” she said.
First Nations artists Jack Dorgan and Alkina Wilkinson were recognised for their new pieces, honouring the Indigenous connections to the region and their own relationships with the land.
ERH displayed Jack Dorgan and Alkina Edwards’ artworks, as well as Aboriginal artefacts.
Photo by
Aidan Briggs
Uncle Des Morgan reflected on the impact of Aboriginal women who shaped the future for local Indigenous communities.
“All these strong women, who got out of the home ... and had the opportunity to work as domestics within the hospital,” he said.
“We didn’t get to go up the ladder, unless those women worked in those domestic roles.
“Created opportunities, created ambition in their children, created thoughts in minds of the people who were managing these institutions.
“We owe it all to our mothers, our fathers, our ancestors, Mother Earth, the place that we stand today.
“We are Yorta Yorta people, we are Wemba Wemba, Baraba, we are the community of Echuca.”
A flag-raising ceremony followed at Service St, with Uncle Des raising an Aboriginal flag, ERH Aboriginal health liaison officer Aunty Sonya Parsons a Torres Strait Islander flag, and Ms Lindsay an Australian flag together.
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