Aspire Kalkallo’s NAIDOC Week Smoking Ceremony
Posted July 23rd 2025
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During this year’s NAIDOC Week celebrations, Aspire Kalkallo held a special Smoking Ceremony with their children. We had the honour of welcoming Aunty Kelly to the centre, as well as her daughter and grandson, who are family members to one of the centre’s children! Despite the windy weather, it was a unifying event that held great significance for a number of centre families.
Aunty Kelly started the NAIDOC Week Smoking Ceremony by paying respects to Elders past, present and emerging. She then went on to explain the importance of Smoking Ceremonies in First Nations cultures. Eucalyptus smoke is seen as life-giving and having medicinal properties. They were also held to cleanse people and places of bad spirits.
After that, she brought out a few small branches of eucalyptus leaves for the children to place into the embers of the ceremonial fire. This is done to show respect and to represent being cleansed by the fragrant smoke. A leaf was given to each child, who waited patiently to place it on top of the smoking eucalyptus pile.
Once the children all placed their leaves on the smoke, Aunty Kelly brought out her family’s ancestral possum skins. These important items are etched with each family member’s totem animal, which is given to them when they are young. She explained the significance of the possum skins, and what they mean to her and her family.
The NAIDOC Week Smoking Ceremony was attended by several centre families who come from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island backgrounds, as well as Cr Ally Watson, the Hume City Council Councillor for Yubup Ward.
Altogether, the ceremony was a grounding and meaningful way to kick off Aspire Kalkallo’s NAIDOC Week activities of reflection, learning and connection to Country. These activities are just a part of Aspire Kalkallo’s ongoing commitment to elevating First Nations Peoples' voices and sharing their cultures and histories with the next generation.
