Ipswich State High School

On 13 February 2008, the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd apologised to Indigenous people and the generations of children who were taken away from their families- the Stolen Generations.

On the night of the National Apology, the former Governor-General, Sir William Dean was interviewed by Kerry O’Brien from the 7.30 report. Sir William Dean said, “When we reach the stage where, as I said years ago in the Lingiari lecture, our children's hands can touch in terms of there being no great gap between them, then we can really sit down and say we're reconciled.”

His speech inspired Mrs Connor, an Aboriginal teacher at Ipswich State High to commemorate the occasion by asking schools and other organisations to paint Sorry murals. Murals are effective as they give an immediate visual, symbolic message.

Ipswich State High School Year 11 Creative Art students are now painting a Sorry mural with the help of their Art teacher Ms Struthers.

To honour this important event and to show support for the reconciliation process, the mural will have different coloured hands of students and teachers. Your hand represents your identity-who you are. People could paint their hands in all different colours as a symbol of moving forward into the future together.

The common theme to link all the murals is the Rainbow Serpent which is one of the oldest representations of living spirituality in the world. Many Aboriginal people have Dreaming stories about the Rainbow Serpent or Rainbow Snake and how he made the rivers and creeks and mountains.

Each mural includes the word SORRY and also the words; learn about the past; heal the present and embrace the future.

The mural includes the Aboriginal flag which is red, yellow and black. Red represents the desert earth, yellow represents the sun, and black represents Aboriginal people.The blue on the mural at Ipswich High is the sea and the dolphins teach love and understanding.The eagle is the personal messenger of the Great Spirit Byamee (Biaime).

If other schools and organisations would like to have their own mural, or would like further information, please contact Liz Connor at Ipswich High School.

Back to River Dreaming

This website is maintained by Year 11 Work Experience Students