Signing of the Uluru Statement from the Heart On this day in 2017,
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples came together at Uluru and asked Australians to walk with them towards a better future.
Through the Uluru Statement from the Heart, Indigenous Australians asked for constitutional recognition through a constitutionally guaranteed voice in their own affairs. As leaders representing diverse religious communities, we declare our support of the Uluru Statement and its call for a First Nations Voice guaranteed by the Constitution. We endorse this reform as necessary, right and reasonable. Indigenous Australians must be now afforded their rightful place in the Australian Constitution.
There have been many processes and much work completed. The one thing left to do is let the Australian people have their say. We call on political leaders to take immediate bipartisan action to hold a referendum on a First Nations voice.
The above statement was signed by the leaders of the multi-Faith organisations on 27 th May 2022
at Cutaway, Barangaroo, NSW. Mr. Bhagwat Chauhan, on behalf of the Hindu Council of Australia signed the statement.
A brochure was released by the Hindu Council to highlight the spiritual Harmony between the First Nations people and Hindus. These two ancient civilisations share a number of similarities and have a long relationship going back over 4,000 years. As per the research done in 2013 by the Max Planck Institute, lead by Irina Pugach suggested that Aboriginal genomes consist of up to 11% Indian DNA which is uniformly spread through Northern Australia indicating a substantial gene flow between Indian population and Northern Australians occurring around 4,230 years ago. Some changes in tool technology and food processing also appeared in archaeological records around this time, suggesting some migration from India.
A sacred ceremony was conducted by the Aboriginal elders Aunty Peggy and Aunty Cathy to welcome Prakruthi Mysore Gururaj, a Fijian Indian lady as their traditional family member into Gunggari Nation. She was given a traditional name 'Bua Bua' which means butterfly and hence will be called a 'Butterfly lady' in the Gunggari culture. The Ceremony was witnessed by many multicultural groups present at the Harmony Day event on 21 March 2021,
