A ceremony of unity with the Koori people of Australia will take place this evening at the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre.

Yukoners are invited to gather at the Front Street facility beginning at 3:30 p.m., with plans to begin ceremony at 5 p.m.

The event will take place at the exact same time as a bush fire fundraiser happening in New South Wales, Australia.

The dual events take place as two Yukon First Nations firefighters, Chad Thomas and Jordan Profit, are currently visiting New South Wales to connect with Aboriginal groups fighting bush fires.

In New South Wales, the ceremony will begin at noon Saturday.

The Yukon ceremony is co-ordinated in part by Tahltan Strong and Yukon First Nations Wildfire, the organizations responsible for sending Thomas and Profeit to Australia.

Yukon Indigenous dancers, singers, drummers and the general public are all invited this afternoon.

“Bring your drum and bring your prayers,” event organizers encouraged Thursday.

Thomas and Profeit have been in New South Wales for eight days, and have sent regular updates through the Yukon First Nations Wildfire Facebook page. Daily video logs from the pair can be found on that page.

So far, Thomas and Profeit have visited with the Yuin people in Nowra, NSW, with whom they took part in ceremony on Jan. 18. They gifted the traditional healing medicines of tobacco, devil’s club, cedar and sweet grass brought from the Yukon at this ceremony.

Last weekend, they visited some of the sacred places that have been ravaged by fire, including an Illaroo farm just outside Nowra.

The farm has provided Aboriginal families with a location for traditional ceremonies, youth camps, cultural workshops and classes for several years. The farm lost 169 rooms, a chapel, dining and cooking facilities,vehicles and farm equipment in the fire.

Early this week, Thomas and Profeit spent time with members of the National Indigenous Fire Alliance.

They met with firesticks practitioners and gathered knowledge on traditional Aboriginal practices for firefighting.

On Thursday, the pair was gifted a handmade mat, woven as a gift to Yukon First Nations Wildfire by Amethyst Misty.

Thomas and Profeit are set to spend another week in Australia.

Their trip is intended to aid Aboriginal groups fighting fi res and knowledge share with those groups.

Fundraising efforts in support of Aboriginal groups fighting bush fires in Australia are planned, in the form of this evening’s ceremony and a benefit concert in March, by Tahltan Strong.