Celebrate NAIDOC week!

NAIDOC week is now well underway, and celebrations are happening all over Australia. The theme for 2013 is "We value the vision: Yirrkala Bark Petitions 1963".  The theme proudly celebrates the 50th anniversary of the presentation of the Yirrkala Bark Petitions to the Federal Parliament. To read more about the significance of these petitions visit the official NAIDOC website.

There are a huge number of events going on across the Yamatji and Pilbara regions to celebrate NAIDOC this week. Check your local paper for a listing of events. Some highlights will be the Ngarluma & Yindjibarndi Foundation Ltd's football carnival in Roebourne this weekend, free community events featuring food and music in Karratha on Friday and Sunday, and the NAIDOC awards celebration in South Hedland on Saturday, to name just a few.

YMAC has already been celebrating NAIDOC, with stalls at the Tom Price and Perth opening ceremonies on Sunday, as well as last week's Bundiyarra cultural celebrations in Geraldton.

If you are in Karratha or South Hedland this week come say hello to YMAC staff at the community events on there.



Dawn service to commemorate 100 years of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Veterans in Service. 7 July 2013

YMAC stall at Bundiyarra cultural celebrations in Geraldton. 3 July 2013 

YMAC Celebrates NAIDOC week

Thank you to everyone who helped make this NAIDOC week special. Here are just a few photos from last week, when YMAC staff got to speak to people across Pilbara, in Geraldton and in Perth. We hope everyone had a great week celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and achievements

NAIDOC in Geraldton

NAIDOC in Port Hedland

NAIDOC in Tom Price

Free Indigenous Business Workshops in the Midwest and Pilbara

Indigenous Business Australia (IBA) is running free Into Business workshops to assist Aboriginal people who are interested in starting up a business. A series of three one-day workshops is available for aspiring Indigenous entrepreneurs who want to turn their business ideas into reality.

At the workshops participants work with a business specialist to learn how to thoroughly research their idea to determine whether it is a commercially viable, and what is required to manage a business on a day-to-day basis.

For those people who complete the three workshops, one-on-one assistance from an IBA-funded business consultant will be available to help take the next step towards building an income generating business.

The workshops are part of IBA’s national Business Development and Assistance Program, which aims to assist Indigenous Australians to establish, acquire and grow small to medium businesses.

The first of the three workshops will be held in Tom Price on 5 April, Port Hedland on 7 April, Geraldton on 14 April and another round in Geraldton on 20 July.

For more information or to register for the workshops call 1800 107 107

Community Enjoys Open Day

On Friday, Traditional Owners in the Pilbara gathered together at our Tom Price office to learn more about native title.
YMAC's open day, was an opportunity for local Traditional Owners to get information on theirnative title claims and other matters that affect country, such as mining, development, heritage and environmental protection. The day included a welcome to country by elder, Lola Young and a BBQ lunch where community members could discuss native title matters in an informal setting.
“It was a great day with people popping in to say hello, enjoying lunch and chatting about what’s affecting their communities. It was good to have my questions answered and know that our native title claim, the Innawonga claim, is moving forward. It made me happy to see so many Aboriginal people care about what happens to their country and community.” said Lola.