There are a host of events to celebrate NAIDOC Week across the country.

NAIDOC Week, which will be held from 3-10 July, celebrates the culture, history and achievements of Australia’s Indigenous people.

The 2011 National NAIDOC theme is about Indigenous people taking responsibility for their own future. Organisers have chosen as a theme: “To control the change we need to plan and take action to make it happen. It’s our future – change: the next step is ours.”

Here are some ideas on how to celebrate NAIDOC

• Hold a flag raising ceremony.
• Display Indigenous posters around your workplace.
• Invite local Indigenous elders to speak at your workplace.
• Listen to Indigenous music.
• Study a famous Indigenous Australian.
• Research the traditional Indigenous owners of your area.
• Study Aboriginal arts and crafts.
• Read a Dreamtime story.
• Start your own Indigenous hall of fame featuring any local role models and achievers.
• Create your own Aboriginal art.
• Visit Indigenous websites on the Internet.
• Make your own Indigenous trivia quiz.
• Visit local Indigenous sites of significance or interest.
• Learn the meanings of local or national Aboriginal place names.

NAIDOC stands for the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. Its origins can be traced to the emergence of Aboriginal groups in the 1920s which sought to increase awareness in the wider community of the status and treatment of Indigenous Australians.

Today, NAIDOC is a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and an opportunity to recognise the contributions of Indigenous Australians in various fields.

Activities take place across the nation during NAIDOC Week in the first full week of July. All Australians are encouraged to participate.

You can find out about all the events happening in NSW by visiting:

http://www.naidoc.org.au/about/local-naidoc-events-calendar/