THE Gunditjmara-led ceremony at the Convincing Ground massacre site on January 26 has grown year on year as a recognition of Indigenous suffering, and an alternative to Australia Day celebrations.

Aiming to acknowledge the suffering that the arrival of the First Fleet symbolises to the Indigenous community, the event will include a smoking ceremony and minute’s silence, before conversations about the local Gunditjmara history of the area, and the ongoing impacts of colonisation.