Inaugural Flame of Hope and Reconciliation Relay 'very powerful', Gerald Powers says

"We've all agreed to [have] Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people from other nationalities, that's what reconciliation is about - bringing people together," Wiradjuri elder, Uncle Neil Ingram said on Tuesday.

Friday's Flame of Hope and Reconciliation Relay had droves of supporters to help the glowing entity in making its way from the yarning 'Girinyalanha' circle, the Aboriginal nature and bioscience park at Orange's CSU campus, to the south court at Orange Civic Square.

Emcee of the event, Orange's deputy mayor Gerald Powers says after "testing the waters" today, elders of the Indigenous community say they want to "do it every year" now.

"It was really great - the whole event, the whole day, the excitement of the community being a part of it and seeing all of the school kids there - some of the elders even walked the whole thing and they loved it," Cr Powers said.

"And it's about sharing our journey. With Sorry Day on the 26^th and now the reconciliation event on the 27^th, these two days are going to be vital for Indigenous people of Australia, because it's about having that hope, too - hope for the future."

From the original Indigenous word 'caribberie', the importance of the inaugural event was marked by the Australian Aboriginal ceremonial meeting upon its arrival, where cultural acoustics reverberated across the south court grounds at lunchtime.

The outdoor space was filled with song and dance during the corroboree demonstration, where the cauldron's fire, with fire being a sacred and central symbol in Aboriginal culture, continued to burn throughout - with Cr Powers convinced the gig needs to keep going ahead in the future.

"We were looking at testing the waters with it but yep, we'll do it every year now. It's just something the elders really acknowledge and so we'll start to recreate the reconciliation committee as well now, too. It's been here for ages, but its been a while since it wad first started."

With the newly-elected Labor government now behind the wheel, Cr Powers says the timing for a restructure is perfect, with plans for some new committee faces to help get the ball rolling for Orange to apply for funding at both a state and federal level.

"From a First Nations point of view, we have to keep doing these cultural events in the community," he said.

"And especially events about reconciliation, because where we are now in this time for Australia - looking at Uluru Statement from the Heart with Labour in power now - that next generation will grow up in a society seeing and knowing that we, as Aboriginal people, will have that political platform to be finally recognised in the constitution.

"So, it's very powerful where we are in 2022 right now as far as what Australia is becoming as nation."

The Flame of Hope event's ceremony, Cr Powers says was really about showcasing Aboriginal and non-Aborginal people coming together."

"And it's about that yarning together and having people see the dances and part of who we are," he said.

"It's about people hearing those speeches, as well - like with Uncle Neil [Ingram] today - doing his talk about what we as a people think reconciliation is and i think the theme this year was really powerful.

"We've got to be brave to make a change and to celebrate who we are, because that there alone is very powerful - being brave to showcase our First Nations culture."

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