Birthday is highlight of celebrations

The oldest known member of the Stolen Generation was honoured by her children and grandchildren on Friday in one of the highlight events of last week’s Kullarri NAIDOC Festival.

Held over 10 days in June and July, the festival celebrates the unique cultural heritage of the indigenous people of Broome and surrounding communities.

On Friday, the granddaughters of Granny May Howard cut her birthday cake for assembled Stolen Generation members and their descendants, who were gathered beneath the trees of a Broome backyard.

Much-loved performers Stephen “Baamba” Albert, Mick Manolis, John Albert, Reno Indich, Carroll Karmany and Dave Pigram were among those who sang happy birthday to Granny May at the Stolen Generation NAIDOC Open Day.

The performers later led the closing ceremony with a rendition of Archie Roach’s haunting “They Took the Children Away”, and Bob Randall’s “Brown Skin Baby”.

The Kullarri NAIDOC Festival presented elements of tradition, ceremony, history, literature, visual art, music, dance, storytelling, cuisine and sport. It was developed from local NAIDOC Week activities to acknowledge and celebrate the culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Highlights of this year’s seventh annual festival included traditional food tasting, a book launch featuring a local author, an indigenous film night and the NAIDOC Awards Ceremony.

Recent Census figures put the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population at 548,370.

“We also saw over a 20 per cent more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people self-identify in 2011 than in 2006,” Census executive director Andrew Henderson said.

“This is a strong voice for communities and their needs into the future.”