As a child aged eight or nine, Cr Power said it was one of several times he came close to becoming a member of the Stolen Generation and he still becomes emotional when talking about it.

Cr Power's close calls serve as a reminder that many were taken from their families and Orange's Aboriginal community's elders on Thursday marked Sorry Day at the Orange Civic Centre with a smoking ceremony, flag raising and speeches.

"I was so close to being called up," Cr Power, who grew up near Townsville, said. "They come around and they were about to take me and I took off out the back steps and hid down beside Ross River until mum called me back up again.

Cr Power was the eldest of seven children and with an Irish grandfather, he was targeted for removal by authorities.

"We knew if those cars came around, we needed to bolt."

National Sorry Day, which came to prominence on 2008 when then PM Kevin Rudd apologised to the Stolen Generation, had added significance this year, heading into Reconciliation Week, beginning Thursday.

It also coincides with new PM Anthony Albanese's acceptance speech, which was made in front of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags and which acknowledged the Uluru Statement from the Heart, drafted five years ago.

"Amen, I reckon it's fantastic. We are finally moving to the next stage," Cr Power said, referring to Mr Albanese's speech.

He believes Sorry Day is one of the steps that will lead towards healing the nation.

"It's an exciting day, we can actually remember that we have come so far," he added.

"We've got a long way to go but we're making up steps going forward."

Cr Power said the pain of the Stolen Generation still shadowed his community.'

"The Bringing Them Home report ...that [shed light on] the policies of removal of aboriginal children and the impact of that ... first of all it acknowledged the policy was wrong," he said.

"It also acknowledged the detriment that went to families, by removing [children] from families it was removing them from their community and their culture.

"Those effects are still being felt today.

"There are a lot of children that are unfortunately are impacted from that stolen generation."

Reconciliation Week will begin in Orange on Friday with the Flame of Hope and Reconciliation relay from CSU to the south court at the Civic Centre were a cauldron will be lit, which will burn all week.

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