Person of the Year and Elder of the Year, Lola Young, pictured with family at the NAIDOC Awards ceremony in Tom Price
Gumala Aboriginal Corporation has successfully co-hosted NAIDOC Week 2010 in Tom Price together with fellow co-hosts Rio Tinto Iron Ore and the Shire of Ashburton.
On Sunday 4th July 2010, Rio Tinto Iron Ore held their Site ceremony for all of their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees. This was marked with the unveiling of a beautiful painted rock by Gumala Member (Innawonga Traditional Owner) and Rio Tinto Employee Karis Drummond.
On a chilly Monday morning, a small crowd gathered outside of the Shire of Ashburton office for the Official opening of NAIDOC in Tom Price. Mrs Lola Young commenced the program with a “Welcome to Country”.
The Inaugural NAIDOC Awards were then presented to 6 worthy winners:
NAIDOC Elder of the Year – Mrs Lola Young
NAIDOC Sportsperson of the Year – Mr William “Willy” Nona
NAIDOC Youth of the Year – Mr Jaden Parker
NAIDOC Scholar of the Year – Ms Ronelle Hicks
NAIDOC Apprentice / Trainee of the Year – Mr Calvin Buckle
NAIDOC Artist of the Year – Mr Shaka Cook
The inaugural winner of the NAIDOC Person for 2010 was Mrs Lola Young. Each of the category winners were presented with a trophy and book.
In addition to the NAIDOC Week Winners, we would like to acknowledge the following NAIDOC Nominees for their worthy nominations:
Teeharnee Robinson – Apprentice / Trainee of the Year
Terrence Pilot – Sportsperson of the Year
Jaden Parker – Sportsperson of the Year
Shaka Bagadu Cook – Youth of the Year
Following the official events and morning tea, attendees were invited to a Mine Tour and lunch with Rio Tinto, this gave people the opportunity to see how the mine works.
On Tuesday several agencies in Tom Price came together for a Promotional morning at the Rotunda.
It was great to have Gumala Radio’s Tadam Lockyer broadcasting live, each of the Agencies were able to chat ‘live’ on air with Tadam.