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[Pensive music.]

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The story of our communities,[br]people, and nation

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starts a long, long[br]time ago.

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[Music]

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More than 60,000 years,[br]in fact.

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[Music.]

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This was when our culture[br]and our law

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first started to thrive.

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[Music.]

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We knew who we were,[br]and where we belonged.

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We took care of each other,

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our land, and our waters.

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We ate food that [br]made us healthy.

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Lived on country,

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and abided by our laws,[br]and song lines.

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Our families, our children,[br]were happy,

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with strong minds and hearts,[br]because

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they were where they belonged.

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[Strong music.]

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[Soft heartbeat.]

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But, then...

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everything changed.

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Colonization came,

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bringing wars, disease,[br]famine.

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Violence.

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And the destruction[br]and violation

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of our cultural laws,

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sacred sites,

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families,[br]and communities.

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We were denied our knowledge,

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language, ceremonies,[br]and identity.

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The very things that tell us

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who we are,[br]and where we belong.

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And our connections

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with each other, and the land,[br]grew weak.

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And then,

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our children [br]were taken from us.

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They had their names changed,

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and their identities stripped away.

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They were told[br]that aboriginal people were bad.

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Worse still,

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they were told

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that their parents,[br]and grandparents,

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did not want them.

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For years, this happened.

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Those children became known

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as "The Stolen Generations."

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Our children were denied love,

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and experienced physical, emotional,[br]and sexual abuse.

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This left very deep,[br]very complex,

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and very real wounds,

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leaving scars that are [br]still being felt

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personally, socially,[br]spiritually, and collectively.

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In the time[br]when our story started,

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we were able to parent[br]in the cultural way

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that has seen our family [br]survive and thrive,

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for generations.

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Our people were strong,

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and our culture flowed,

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and healed us[br]in times of hurt.

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But, since the trauma[br]of colonization

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and the stolen generations,

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we have not been able to heal[br]in the same way.

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We have unknowingly passed[br]this trauma to our children,

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through sharing our sad stories,

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and having them witness[br]and experience our pain.

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This is known as[br]Intergenerational Trauma.

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We see symptoms today,

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in broken relationships,

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disconnected families,

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violence, suicide,

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and drug and alcohol abuse.

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But, this is not[br]where our story ends.

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We still have[br]strong minds and hearts,

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and we still know

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who we were,[br]and where we belong.

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By creating safe and strong[br]communities together,

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supporting our families[br]to be free from pain,

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returning to our culture,

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and building a strength[br]of identity,

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we can stop the cycle[br]of trauma,

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and bring about [br]positive intergenerational change,

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so that we can continue

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to thrive for the next[br]60,000 years.

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There are simple things

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that we can all do,[br]to help heal our trauma.

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Visit

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healingfoundation.org.au

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to find out more.