Aboriginal activists say ‘welcome home’ events are becoming so frequent they are losing money – and are calling for them to be scrapped at footy games and corporate events
Kiescha Haines-Jamieson is an outspoken advocate of many welcome to country rituals.
According to a popular Voice to Parliament critic, Welcome to Indigenous events are becoming so frequent that they are losing their full force of meaning and making the general public ‘indifferent’ to Indigenous Australians.
Kiescha Haines-Jamison is an outspoken activist from Western Australia who has garnered over a million views on TikTok discussing her opposition to the referendum.
He also worries that the once sacred welcoming ceremony is ‘losing its cultural meaning’ as it is now ‘mainstreamed’.
‘It was never intended to open football games or corporate and social events,’ he said.
‘It was actually a practice used to ensure permission and safe passage across and across tribal borders and now it has become so mainstream that it has made people indifferent.’
Kiecha Haynes-Jamison is an outspoken activist from Western Australia who has garnered over a million views on TikTok discussing her opposition to the referendum.
Ms Haines-Jamison said it was devastating to see something as simple as oversaturation in everyday life lose significance with ‘such a special purpose’.
Everywhere from workplaces and seminars to national sporting events, Welcome to Country practices have evolved significantly over the past decade.
Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price made a similar argument about the overuse of the Welcome to Country program.
He previously said he was content to be ‘symbolically recognised’ and explained that First Nations people want to be recognized and respected by their character rather than their race.
‘I personally got more than just being symbolically recognized,’ he said.
Ms Haines-Jamison said it was devastating to see something as simple as oversaturation in everyday life lose significance with ‘such a special purpose’.
After watching the Welcome to Country ceremony before the second State of Origin match, Ms Nampizinpa Price told 2GB’s Ben Fordham that she found such ceremonies ‘a bit ironic.
After watching the Welcome to Country ceremony before the second State of Origin match, Ms Nampizinpa Price told 2GB’s Ben Fordham that she found such ceremonies ‘a bit narcissistic’.
He said: ‘I am sick and tired of this recognition of nothing but my ethnic heritage.
‘Every day I acknowledge and pay my respects and acknowledge the Indigenous First Nations people in the room for what?
‘Why don’t you even know everyone in the room and why we’re being segregated purely because of our ethnicity.’
A welcome to country can only be conducted by the traditional owners or guardians of the land on which an event is taking place.
A smoking ceremony is held outside Canberra’s Old Parliament House
A welcome to country can only be conducted by the traditional owners or guardians of the land on which an event is taking place. In situations where a traditional owner is unavailable, a recognition of the country may be performed instead.
According to Reconciliation Australia, a country’s recognition should be ‘delivered at significant/large internal meetings or meetings with external participants’.
It is intended to highlight the area’s significance to First Nations people.
A welcome home ceremony takes place at Adelaide Oval before the Australia vs West Indies cricket test match on 8 December
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