Christmas may feel like the highlight of the Australian summer, but it’s important to acknowledge this nation’s history even as we celebrate the festive season.
Though the holiday has been widely celebrated across the country for decades, it’s only really a recent addition to Australia’s cultural landscape.
Long before the concept of Christmas ever reached Australian shores, this land belonged to its traditional owners and custodians: Indigenous Australians.
Sovereignty has never been ceded. Australia always was and always will be Aboriginal land.
This year, acknowledge the nation’s traditional owners and pay respect to Indigenous communities and individuals by purchasing your gifts from First Nations creatives and businesses.
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Not only will your purchase make a beautiful and unique present, it will generate cashflow and provide even more opportunities for these businesses and individuals to grow.
Our top picks come from Welcome To Country, a not-for-profit organisation and online marketplace sponsored by PayPal that is focused on delivering direct outcomes to Aboriginal and Torres Strait people and communities.
Keep reading for eight of our favourite gifts from Indigenous creatives and businesses.
Throw rugs
Designed by Aboriginal artists from across Australia, these throw blankets make a beautiful gift that highlights the inctricacy of Indigenous designs while also empowering the artists who create them. Plus, buying one guarantees a direct return to the Aboriginal artist and their community.
Throw rugs, $108.80, Welcome to Country.
Cushion covers from Better World Arts
Pair a throw with one of this unique cushion covers, or give one as a solo gift or stocking stuffer for a loved one. These pieces are truly unique, as they are part of a cross-cultural collaboration combining Aboriginal designs and traditional Kashmiri handicraft. Aboriginal artists own the project and designs, which are hand stitched in remote villages in one specific region of Kashmir.
Cushion covers, $37, Welcome to Country.
Always Was, Always Will Be T-Shirt
Let a loved one wear their support of Australia’s Indigenous history proudly with one of these shirts from Clothing The Gap, a Victorian Aboriginal owned and led social enterprise.The fashion label unites non-Indigenous and Aboriginal people through fashion and important Indigenous causes, so you can show your support by gifting pieces from the label this Christmas.
Always Was, Always Will Be shirt, $50, Welcome to Country.
Tea Towels designed by Julieanne Morton
Not only are these tea towels beautiful and practical, they also come from a designer who uses art to bring her connection to her hertiage to life. The listing explains: “Julieanne’s paintings are inspired by her mother’s stories of the old days, walking and living on their land, and also of her own experience of life out here in Alyawarr country.”
Tea towels, $14.90, Welcome to Country.
Weaving kits from Numbulwar Numburindi Arts
This is the perfect gift for your creative and artsy loved ones and comes direct from Numbulwar Numburindi Arts, with the profits going to teaching the next generation of weavers there. Not only will you get a kit with enough raffia to make a mini basket, you also get access to a guided video that will take you through the process of weaving with expert educator Rose Wilfred and her aunties, Nicole and May Wilfred.
Weaving kits, $50, Welcome to Country.
Serpent earrings by The Koorie Circle
Unique, modern and stylish, these earrings are exactly what fashionable young women in your life would love to add to their jewellery collections. Laura Thompson is a Gunditjmara woman and is the designer and maker behind The Koorie Circle, meaning your purchase will support her continued work designing and creating contemporary Aboriginal pieces like these.
Serpent earrings, $50, Welcome to Country.
Drop earrings designed by Kathleen Buzzacott
These delicate earrings are feature traditional artwork by Kathleen Buzzacott, who is of Pitatjantatjara and Western Arrernte heritage and grew up in the Central Australian Aboriginal community of Hermannsburg. “Kathleen’s fine Central Desert Dot Painting style celebrates her discovery and connection to her indigenous heritage,” reads the listing on the Welcome To Country website.
Drop earrings, $32, Welcome to Country.
Mugs designed by Kathleen Buzzacott
Another Kathleen Buzzacott, these stunning mugs are the perfect goft for your office secret santa, the coffee-lovers in your life or even your own mug collection. Each design tells a different story that ties into Kathleen’s heritage and connection to Country.
Mug, $17.95, Welcome to Country.
