WEBVTT

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I'll respect every one of you.

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I want to go back there

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and tell my mum, you know

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what?

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I had a great time in

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Sydney.

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I met a lot of young

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people who showed love to one

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another and to us.

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Love conquers all, family.

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We've got to be strong for

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one another.

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He fall down, pick him up.

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On behalf of the Marama Junior

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Rangers, welcome to Marama Youth Summit

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2024.

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The Marama Junior Ranger and Ambassador

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Program is a school-based initiative that

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aims to empower Indigenous youth through

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cultural and environmental stewardship.

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As a Junior Ranger, I've had

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the opportunity to learn about my

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culture, connect with elders and community

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members, and develop leadership skills.

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The Murama Youth Summer is a

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Brazilian-based cultural intervention program

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which is

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based on the strengths of Aboriginal

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culture that aims to heal our

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communities.

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The program focuses on kingship, belonging

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and traditional values to reweave the

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cultural connectedness between individuals,

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families and

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the community.

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It is an annual event that

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brings together Indigenous youth to celebrate

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their cultural journey.

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to connect them with elders and

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each other and empower them to

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lead their schools and communities towards

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deeper cultural understanding and

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appreciation.

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This year's Youth Summit was amazing

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with uncles and aunties, community members

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and elders from North Queensland and

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the Torres Strait Islands sharing their

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stories, songs and dances with us.

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As soon as we arrived we

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had a making ceremony.

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It was a truly powerful experience.

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We've had the privilege of learning

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from elders and community members who

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have shared their story of resilience,

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hope and sadness.

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We heard about the history of

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our people, the struggles we faced

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and the importance of preserving our

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culture.

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Culture is really important because it's

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actually part of who you are

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and where you come from.

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Grab it with both hands and

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hang on to it.

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The threat of having the kids

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taken away was still in her.

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The mission that my parents were

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on, you know, they weren't allowed

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to speak your language.

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You can take me.

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away from Torres Strait but you

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can't take Torres Strait away from

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me.

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You've taken our children away.

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The least you can do is

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apologise.

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Our culture is built on love

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and respect.

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It's important for us to know

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who we are culturally.

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Make sure that we're strong in

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culture, strong in language because nobody

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can speak better for us than

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us.

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And be proud of who you

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are and respect each other.

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Throughout the summit we engaged in

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various cultural activities including weaving,

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storytelling

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and thong and dance.

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We also learned about our history

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and the impacts of intergenerational trauma,

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the importance of identity, culture and

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community.

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Ben celebrated the unique belief systems

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that connect people physically and spiritually

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to country.

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We

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participated

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in the Youth Eco

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Summit where we delivered cultural programs

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and workshops to over 1,000 students.

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It was an incredible experience that

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built our confidence and made us

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proud to share our culture.

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If you're excited, I need to

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see another Marama wave.

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One, two, three, go!

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For me, the Marama Youth Summit

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was a life-changing experience.

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I felt a sense of pride,

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joy and community that I've never

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felt before.

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I realised that my culture is

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a source of strength and resilience

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and that I have the power

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to make a difference in my

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community.

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Moromar is more than a program,

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it's a catalyst for healing, growth

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and empowerment.

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By embracing our cultural identity and

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celebrating our diversity.

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We're not only preserving our culture

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but also forging a brighter future

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for ourselves and our communities.

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When we come together.

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It is one family.

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Just the sharing of our culture

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and passing down of that through

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generations is something so special.

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And especially with our elders here,

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it's something that we don't experience

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every day.

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For the few days here, I

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could see the respect your young

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ones notice elders.

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So it's really good that I

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see that you practice that here

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from a Torres Strait perspective.

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And I thank you all for

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doing that.

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Thank you very much.

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How grateful I am to be

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here and to have this opportunity

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from the Cairns mob to come

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teach us their culture and teach

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us all these dances, their language.

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Just being like privileged to be

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out here, just sharing with everyone,

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listening to everyone's stories and learning

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more about culture and just feeling

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connected.

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The thing that I think I've

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noticed about everything even through yesterday

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was we're all equal.

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No matter skin colour, some are

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whiter than others, some are darker

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than others.

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How grateful I am that we

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have the elders to teach us

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everything they know and being able

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to learn about culture.

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It's been really great because I

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feel like everyone's here for the

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same reason, to just learn culture.

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And I feel Mirama, the work

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that they do, I'm just so

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proud of them because it's about

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bringing mobs together.

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We're very blessed and we just

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thank the Catholic Diocese and we've

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got a good bishop now.

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walks alongside of us and helps

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encourage us.

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Moorama gives us the strength to

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stand tall.

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The courage to walk strong.

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And the resilience to overcome the

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challenges of our past.

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We're no longer just participants.

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We're leaders.

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We're change bankers.

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And we're the guardians of our

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culture.

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Please give a big thank you

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to the National Indigenous Australians Agency

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for helping support the Moorama Junior

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Rangers and the Moorama Youths.