A huge crowd gathered in Kempsey today to mark National Sorry Day - a day to acknowledge the mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were forcibly removed from their families and communities.
Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation hosted the event at the Kempsey Railway Station.
The railway station is where Aboriginal boys arrived before being taken to Kinchela Boys Home. It is also where Aboriginal girls and boys from the Macleay Valley were brought and put on trains to be sent to institutions throughout the state. Some of these children never saw their families again and were disconnected from their culture.
Among the local commemorations was a smoking ceremony, the lighting of three candles at the station's memorial and a song sang by children from Dalaigur Preschool.
