The Coen community has been hard at work at the local cemetery in preparation for the annual Mitpi Ceremony. Photo: Supplied.
Preparations are under way for Coen’s annual Mitpi Ceremony, where families come together to honour loved ones who have passed by cleaning their grave sites.
Co-ordinated by the Coen Regional Aboriginal Corporation (CRAC), the official ceremony is set to take place on 16 August at 10am, although a clean-up of the cemetery has been started by a band of volunteers.
“It’s a time of remembrance and reflection on our loved ones who have passed,” CRAC general manager Lucretia Huen explained.
“Culturally, we still stay connected, because we believe that the spirit lives on, so the clean-up of the cemetery is how we remember and pay tribute to their life.”
Ms Huen said it had been a big job, with the community and service providers working together to clean and restore the approximately 65 gravesites at the cemetery.
“Thursday is the final clean-up and decorations, and the cemetery will be closed off, and then Friday is the ceremony, when the Elders will walk in and reopen the cemetery, and we’ll begin our proceedings,” she said.
“After a break, we’ve got a celebratory feast – a Kup Murri, traditional dancing, live music, and we’ll have a celebration of the people, their lives, and the impacts they had during the time they spent in community.”
The feast and celebration will commence at 6pm.
