Launch of the Journey of Healing at Uluru

On 5 May 1999, the Journey of Healing was launched by the National Sorry Day Committee at a symbolic ceremony hosted by the Mutitjulu community at Uluru. The Mutitjulu people did so as their way of expressing to the stolen generations the embrace of the Aboriginal community, from which they had been removed.

Members of the stolen generations, Indigenous elders and non-Indigenous representatives from each State and Territory participated, and the Torres Strait Islands were also represented. The ceremony took the form of an Inma ceremonial dance. First the Mutitjulu men danced, then the Mutitjulu women. Then the Mutitjulu women invited all the women present to dance with them.

Following this dance, members of the stolen generations received music sticks from the National Sorry Day Committee, which were presented by elders of the Mutitjulu community. The sticks were designed by Helen Moran, a member of the stolen generations
The Mutitjulu male elders handed the sticks to a representative of the stolen generations, who then handed them on to a non-Indigenous representative from their State or Territory. They in turn handed the sticks to Mutitjulu women, representing the mothers whose children were removed. The women placed the sticks in an empty coolamon. A coolamon is used to carry a baby, and an empty coolamon is symbolic of the stolen children. Placing the sticks in the coolamon represented the return of the children. This coolamon was presented to the National Sorry Day Committee by the Mututjulu community.

Ten pairs of music sticks were shared with Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants, and together brought back to the States and Territories in time for the launching of the Journey nation-wide on May 26 1999, the first anniversary of Sorry Day.

The symbols on the music sticks express the Journey of Healing's motto of Recognition, Unity and Commitment:
1. Feet walking, representing the beginning of a journey
2. Shackles and a broken boomerang, representing our history.
3. Teardrops and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, representing the need for an official apology to the Indigenous people.
4. Black and white feet around a fire, representing our need to share and work together.
5. Black and white hands, clasped together, representing unity in healing the effects of the past.
6. A map of Australia, with tracks going out from the centre across the country, representing healing going out from Uluru to the whole country
7. Sunrise with a track of footprints, black and white, representing journeying into the future together.

A second stick was painted with 54 dots represent the 54 Recommendations of the Bringing Them Home report – recommendations that need to be fulfilled for the healing to come about.

Music sticks were chosen as symbols of the Journey of Healing for several reasons. Firstly, they are instruments that call people together. Secondly, they are used by both men and women. Thirdly, two sticks are needed to make music, symbolising the need for indigenous and non-indigenous people to work together.

'Uluru represents the heart of the country and healing comes from the heart,’ said Carol Kendall, then co-chair of the National Sorry Day Committee. ‘That is why we have chosen Uluru for this ceremony. Members of the Mutitjulu community are themselves affected by the policies of forced removal. So this event has meaning for community members on a personal level as well as for the other stolen generations people taking part.'

At the end of the ceremony the music sticks were taken to the Torres Strait Islands and each of the capital cities. The Committee also presented a pair of music sticks to the Mutitjulu community to acknowledge the stolen children that were taken from this area, and in appreciation for the support given to the launch by the community.