Broome burst into colour Friday morning as hundreds of school students, health workers and Aboriginal community groups marched through the town centre to launch NAIDOC week.
Banners bearing the national NAIDOC theme, 50 Years of Deadly, led the annual Kullarri NAIDOC Reconciliation Walk, as children waved Aboriginal flags through the heart of the town.
The march ended on the lawn by Our Lady Queen of Peace Cathedral, where Yawuru leaders Diana Appleby and Neil McKenzie spoke about the day's significance and the remarkable revival of the Yawuru language, once, as Mr McKenzie said, "on the verge of extinction".
Cable Beach Primary School students from diverse backgrounds performed 'Our Flag Nurlu' in Yawuru language.
Mr McKenzie told National Indigenous Times that, growing up, he was forbidden to speak Yawuru.
"Today it is not only brought back, but part of the curriculum. It is an indescribable feeling," he said.
The event kicked off the Kullarri NAIDOC Festival in Broome, which features a packed program: the Nyamba Buru Yawuru NAIDOC Community Day at Gurlbin-Wula, Centacare's NAIDOC Week Breakfast, the Aarnja/Jalygurr Growing Up Deadly gathering for young children, Notre Dame and Nulungu's 50 Years of Deadly morning tea and panel, and the Kullarri NAIDOC Awards Night.
The Kullarri festival runs across Broome and Rubibi from June 26 to July 11. National NAIDOC Week celebrations follow across Australia from July 5 to 12.
