On Thursday 26 May is National Sorry Day, a day to acknowledge the mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were forcibly removed from their families and communities.
Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation will hold a commemorative service at the Kempsey Railway Station on National Sorry Day to acknowledge and honour Stolen Generation Survivors from 1.00 - 2.15pm. Residents are invited to come to the commemoration.
Kempsey Railway Station is where Aboriginal boys arrived before being taken to Kinchela Boys Home. It is also where Aboriginal girls and boys from the Macleay Valley were brought and put on trains to be sent to institutions throughout the state. Some of these children never saw their families again and were disconnected from their culture.
We acknowledge the Stolen Generations and the intergenerational trauma this injustice presents for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, communities and peoples. We can all play a part in healing.
National Sorry Day is commemorated each year on 26 May, the day the Bringing them Home report was tabled in 1997 to Federal Parliament.
At the May meeting, Council historically adopted its first Reconciliation Action Plan. This is our first step in formalising genuine reconciliation initiatives between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, particularly our local Dunghutti and Thunggutti people, and non-Aboriginal people.
