[Ethereal music.]

The story of our communities,
people, and nation

starts a long, long
time ago.

[Music]

More than 60,000 years,
in fact.

[Music.]

This was when our culture
and our law

first started to thrive.

[Music.]

We knew who we were,
and where we belonged.

We took care of each other,

our land, and our waters.

We ate food that 
made us healthy.

Lived on country,

and abided by our laws,
and songlines.

Our families, our children,
were happy,

with strong minds and hearts,
because

they were where they belonged.

[Strong music.]

[Soft heartbeat.]

But, then...

everything changed.

Colonization came,

bringing wars, disease,
famine.

Violence.

And the destruction
and violation

of our cultural laws,

sacred sites,

families,
and communities.

We were denied our knowledge,

language, ceremonies,
and identity.

The very things that tell us

who we are,
and where we belong.

And our connections

with each other, and the land,
grew weak.

And then,

our children 
were taken from us.

They had their names changed,

and their identities stripped away.

They were told
that aboriginal people were bad.

Worse still,

they were told

that their parents,
and grandparents,

did not want them.

For years, this happened.

Those children became known

as "The Stolen Generations."

Our children were denied love,

and experienced physical, emotional,
and sexual abuse.

This left very deep,
very complex,

and very real wounds,

leaving scars that are 
still being felt

personally, socially,
spiritually, and collectively.

In the time
when our story started,

we were able to parent
in the cultural way

that has seen our family 
survive and thrive,

for generations.

Our people were strong,

and our culture flowed,

and healed us
in times of hurt.

But, since the trauma
of colonization

and the stolen generations,

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

We have unknowingly passed
this trauma to our children,

through sharing our sad stories,

and having them witness
and experience our pain.

This is known as
Intergenerational Trauma.

We see symptoms today,

in broken relationships,

disconnected families,

violence, suicide,

and drug and alcohol abuse.

But, this is not
where our story ends.

We still have
strong minds and hearts,

and we still know

who we were,
and where we belong.

By creating safe and strong
communities together,

supporting our families
to be free from pain,

returning to our culture,

and building a strength
of identity,

we can stop the cycle
of trauma,

and bring about 
positive intergenerational change,

so that we can continue

to thrive for the next
60,000 years.

There are simple things

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

Visit

healingfoundation.org.au

to find out more.