Reconciliation Week puts spotlight on Welcome to Country tradition after divisive Anzac Day services

Welcome to Country ceremonies have become increasingly politicised in recent years.

Anzac Day this year was a case in point, with welcomes at dawn services across the country disrupted by racist booing and heckling.

Elders who spoke to the ABC said they believed opposition to the ceremonies largely came from people who did not understand them.

Noongar leader Colleen Hayward is among those who want people to understand more about the tradition.

While she thinks welcomes and acknowledgements risk losing their value when used too often, she also wishes their significance was better understood.

"It's not necessary before every meeting," she said.

"It is necessary before significant events and functions, and not just necessary, [as] I think it can enrich and really connect people to what they're there for.

Deep roots

What is today known as a Welcome to Country traces its roots deep into Indigenous history.

"In the old days if we just wandered onto someone else's country it was seen as an act of hostility," said senior Larrakia elder Richard Fejo.

"We would sit on that boundary and we wait for them to come along and sit down, and we'd explain why we were there and if it was acceptable they would welcome us onto their country."

If the other tribe welcomed the visitors onto their country it would be with "the guidance and protection of our ancestors".

But a welcome was "not a one-way street".

"There's an obligation or expectation that you'll care for the land, that you will care for the people, the community," Dr Fejo said.

'People, place and purpose'

The origins of the modern form of Welcome to Country are attributed to Richard Walley and Ernie Dingo who were part of an Aboriginal theatre company in 1978 asked by a group of Polynesian performers to give a welcome.

Both Ms Hayward and Dr Fejo believe a critical part of a modern welcome is to educate audiences about Aboriginal culture.

"We have been here for 65,000 years and so our role is to share and to invite and create those inclusive spaces and invite people to exchange with us," the Larrakia elder said.

"Because as much as you've got to offer we've got to learn, and as much as we've got to offer you've got to learn."

Ms Hayward said she tries to focus her welcomes on "people, place and purpose".

For example, at WA Police graduation ceremonies she might speak about the slang word for police being "manitj", the Noongar word for white cockatoo, and one of her culture's most sacred animals.

"Traditionally, they were seen to have such power and such importance that they were given that name," she said.

"When you talk about that it actually unlocks a lot of thinking and reflection about the potential that can go to forging, or re-forging, a positive relationship."

The power of connection

Dr Fejo said seeking to undermine the importance of welcomes could amount to people turning their backs on history, comparing it to Nazi book burning.

"If we open our hearts to difference we can learn so much more," he said.

Ms Hayward said welcomes brought people together by melding "the whole of our history".

"You're there without a connection. Welcomes connect.

"They connect us to country. They connect to culture. They connect this to each other, regardless of our cultural background."