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On 12 February 2008 in the Australian Parliament, incoming Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered a historic apology to thousands of Aboriginal children removed from their families through much of the twentieth century - collectively known as the Stolen Generations. Many media reports of this high point of reconciliation also mentioned an innovation Rudd introduced that day, one that has been repeated annually at the first sitting of Parliament - a 'Welcome to Country' (WTC) a ritual performed by a Traditional Owner of Canberra, the nation's capital.4 Over the past few decades, in many sectors of Australian life the practice of inviting a representative of a local Indigenous group to 'welcome' the audience onto Aboriginal country has become commonplace. A WTC is conducted by a person recognised as an 'elder' and is most often a short speech, incorporating words or phrases of Aboriginal language. Larger events …