RECONCILIATION

Fr Paul Hanna, Sr Margaret Hinchey, Mavis Halvorson, Sr Catherine, Sr Valda, Mr Wes Marne,

Mr Greg Simms.

The Sisters of mercy in Boundary St, Parramatta  held a ceremony of reconciliation to dedicate their garden to the Aboriginal warrior Pemulwuy.

Those attending the ceremony included members of the Darug people as well as other Aboriginal community elders......

.....Sr. Margaret Hinchey said that there were many monuments to Australians who had fought in the world wars and other conflicts overseas but few if any remembered those who had fought and fell in this country defending their land, people and food sources.

She said Pemulwuy was an extraordinary warrior who resisted the British for over 14 years in the areas around Parramatta, Castle Hill and Toongabbie. The British captured him in 1802, beheaded him and sent it to Brita

in where it still remains........

......The sisters also named their house "Wiangaberong" a name which means "Sisters place" in the Darug language..... 

...."Reconciliation is a matter of indigenous and non-indigenous people coming together in friendship," Sr. Margaret said. "We need to acknowledge the truth of our past history and the suffering and loss of Aboriginal people. We can then move on together to make Australia a place where peace and justice are a reality. This was our small way of doing that at a local level" ...

Bundah   Bunna dancers in the garden

At the end of the ceremony the participants made the following pledge:

Reconciliation Statement 

We the people of western Sydney
gathered together at Wiangaberong

acknowledge that indigenous Australians were
the first people of this land.

We celebrate the survival of indigenous Australians
and their culture following the devastating impact
of European colonisation.

In particular we are sorry for the suffering 
and loss
the Darug people experienced in our locality.
We accept our responsibility to develop
an awareness and appreciation
of Aboriginal history and culture
which we believe strengthens and
enriches all our lives.

We pledge ourselves,
indigenous and non-indigenous Australians
to work together to celebrate
our different cultures and to go forward togethe
to create an Australian society that
respects this land of ours
values the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander cultures
and promote justice and equity for all.