There were a number of tears and moments of reflection at Pius X Aboriginal Corporation on Friday, as members of Moree's Aboriginal community remembered loved ones impacted by the Stolen Generation during a healing Sorry Day event.
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Each year Pius X holds a National Sorry Day event to remember and commemorate the mistreatment of Australia's Aboriginal people, acknowledging and recognising the Stolen Generations.
Usually, the event is held in Pius' Sorry Garden, called Maaruma-Li Walaay-Ba meaning 'healing place', and a number of guest speakers share their stories.
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However this year, Pius X social/wellbeing coordinator Stephanie Duke decided to it was time to move on from the trauma and start to heal as a community, so she organised a special service in the Pius X chapel.
"Kevin Rudd's apology was in 2008, so we've been doing this for over 10 years," she said.
"I felt that now we needed to start healing. It's time to look at the trauma, accept it and work through it.
"As Aboriginal people, we don't say much, we keep things deep within us, but we need to share as part of healing, even if it's as simple as lighting a candle."
And that's exactly what everyone did.
Upon entering the Pius X chapel, attendees were given a battery-operated candle which they were later asked to light in memory of a loved one.
"I want you to think of the people that have been through the Stolen Generation and returned home, and people who are out there but still lost, but I also want you to think about our community and the people we've lost in our community," Ms Duke told the crowd.
"It's okay to get emotional. Shedding tears is cleansing.
"This is just to remember your loved ones and keep them in your hearts forever.
"This is part of Pius X's healing project that we're going to do more of."
Many people shed a tear as they remembered their loved ones during the emotional moment.
During the event, St Philomena's School captains Nathaniel Yeatman and Demi Thorburn gave readings, along with Colleen Duke and Pauline Cain.
At the start, there was a minute's silence before Mary Swan did the Welcome to Country and raised the Aboriginal flag, while Dorothy Budda-Deen raised the Australian flag.
National Sorry Day, commemorated annually on May 26, marks the anniversary of when the landmark Bringing Them Home report was handed down in 1977. It detailed the trauma that thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people suffered as a result of forced removal from their families.