Moree's rich Aboriginal history will be able to be preserved for generations to come, with the Dhiiyaan Aboriginal Centre to continue its work to digitise its vast collection of photographs and documents, thanks to funding from the state government.
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The Dhiiyaan Centre has received $100,000 in funding from the NSW Aboriginal Arts and Cultural Program to digitise its archival collection of materials relating to the history and culture of the Gamilaroi people of northern NSW.
The funding will allow the staff to create a local digital Aboriginal Keeping Place, which Dhiiyaan Aboriginal Centre collections development officer Raquel Clarke said is vital in preserving this invaluable history.
"This is the history of the people of this land - where they've come from, how they lived," she said.
"It's important for today's children and future children to know that history."
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Among the Dhiiyaan Centre's collection is tens of thousands of photographs, negatives, documents and artefacts dating back as far as the 1800s which have been donated by members of the community.
"People bring in photos every week," Ms Clarke said.
The staff now face the "big job" of digitising these items, however Ms Clarke said it will be worth it to preserve this history for years to come.
"I'm quite excited," Ms Clarke said.
"We need the community's help to identify the time and who people might have been. This is not just the Dhiiyaan's information, it's everybody's information."
The digitisation will also make it easier for staff to find items when visitors come in looking for photographs or records of loved ones.
Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall recently visited the Dhiiyaan Centre to take a look through some of its collection.
"Some of these photographs document the time of the St Pius X Mission, which was relatively such a short time ago," he said.
"It's unimagineable today but it was here and it was accepted back then. I think that is very powerful for young people, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, to think that happened."
Mr Marshall said it's great to have all of that history preserved.
"This rich collection the Dhiiyaan Centre has acquired over many years will be saved forever," he said.
"At least being digitised it'll be protected and will be more accessible to people who will be able to access it from across the world."
