NAIDOC Week: A time to reflect, celebrate, and educate

Amazon acknowledges all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Traditional Custodians of Country and recognises their continuing connection to land, sea, culture, and community. We pay our respects to Elders both past and present.

NAIDOC week celebrates the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and is celebrated by all Australians. It represents a powerful opportunity to participate in engagement activities to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Amazon is recognising NAIDOC Week with a curated mix of internal and external programs designed to reflect, celebrate and educate.

The NAIDOC Theme for 2021 is “Heal Country, Heal Our Nation”, recognising that Country is inherent to the identity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It is more than a place, it is family, kin, law, lore, ceremony, traditions, and language. Healing Country means hearing the pleas to provide greater management, involvement, and empowerment by Indigenous peoples over country. It means embracing First Nations’ cultural knowledge and understanding of Country as part of Australia's national heritage, and respecting the culture and values of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders equally to and the cultures and values of all Australians.

NAIDOC Week holds significance for me, as we all come together to celebrate the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I was born and live in Whadjuk (Perth), and my family has ancestral ties to Wardardi in the South where they have lived and cared for the land for over 45,000 years.

In my role as Amazon’s Reconciliation Action Plan Chairman and President of IndigenousANZ@Amazon, it has been an honour to partner with teams to create a mix of diverse programs aimed at celebrating, educating, and advocating with my colleagues and the community.

Here are a few ways you can join Amazon in recognising NAIDOC week:

Celebrate

Amazon Music has created a collection of music and podcasts by First Nations artists, featuring Jessica Mauboy, The Kid LAROI, A.B. Original and more. A collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander podcasts will also be featuring, including Take It Blak, SBS NITV Radio, Indigipreneur, Storykids and more. You can listen to the curated collection here.

Amazon.com.au will feature a NAIDOC Week storefront showcasing Indigenous Seller, Dominic Smith, the founder of Pundi Produce.

Twitch ANZ is spotlighting 12 Indigenous creators on its homepage. The creators are nominated by the wider Twitch community. Twitch has also sponsored a $10,000 scholarship program for First Nations Live Content Creators run by Indigitek, a not-for-profit organisation that aims to increase the participation and success of Indigenous peoples in the tech industry.

Educate

Prime Video will have a dedicated collection featuring 30 First Nations movies, either included with Prime membership, or available to rent or buy at a discounted cost, including High Ground, The Australian Dream, Contact and Sweet Country. Prime Video will also be making Sweet Country available to rent for free from 2-11 July.

Audible has curated a collection of its top audiobooks by First Nations authors. Featuring a range of texts including fiction, essays, historical titles and biographies, highlights include Loving Country, Tell Me Why, Song of the Crocodile and Growing up Aboriginal in Australia.

Alexa is primed to answer questions about NAIDOC week with a special “Good Morning” for the start of the week. Customers will be prompted customers to find out more with the ‘Deadly Questions’ skill, which explores Aboriginal cultures, histories, ideas, opinions and Treaty. Alexa team will promote these experiences across owned channels including the Skill Store, Alexa app, and on Echo screen devices. We also will feature a daily educational video on Echo Show screens during NAIDOC Week, using content from Victoria’s Department of Premier and Cabinet’s Deadly & Proud campaign. Themes covered include cultural burning, connection to Country, and valuing Aboriginal cultures from different Aboriginal Victorian voices.

Amazon.com.au will also promote a collection of books written and illustrated by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and music and DVDs featuring First Nations actors and musicians will also be celebrated.

I’m glad to see NAIDOC Week has become a momentous date for all Australians, and am proud of the journey we’re on as a nation together. I encourage you to learn more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and NAIDOC history at https://www.naidoc.org.au/about/history.