Healing on National Sorry Day

Aunty Sylvia’s family with Bourke community members. Back l-r: Uncle Phil Sullivan, Justine Williams, Ivan Morris, Mitchell Campbell, Aunty Sylvia, Kyan Campbell Shaniqua Pombo-Campbell and Emily Williams. Front: Amariah Campbell, Zavier Morris, Jack Morris and Rikki Scott. Photo: Beverley Callow.

Story by Beverley Callow

The community came together at Bourke Aboriginal Corporation Health Service this week to mark National Sorry Day through jewellery making, candle making, artwork and conversation.

National Sorry Day is observed annually on 26 May and acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were forcibly removed from their families, while recognising the ongoing impacts on Stolen Generations survivors, families, and communities.

The event included a visit from Aunty Sylvia, a Gumbaynggirr, Dungutti and Walbunja woman connected to North and South Coast NSW communities, who travelled to Bourke to run activities and share her experience.

A younger member of the Stolen Generations, Aunty Sylvia said she was taken from Bowraville near Nambucca Heads in the 1960s.”

“My whole life I didn’t know who I was, or where I belonged. But I certainly do now,” she said. […]

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