The Black Rising magazine (Issue 7)

THE BLACK RISING A publication of the MOVEMENT, by the PEOPLE, for the FUTURE

issue #7

NOVEMBER 2016

www.theblackrising.com

/theblackrising

We are strong We are fierce We are still here

ISSUE 7

1

Photo credit: Vera Pavlovich

contents National demonstrations demanded justice for Aboriginal youth tortured in detention

3

A poem for my brother, Dylan James Waye-Voller - Kirra Voller

6

Who are the 3%

7

Colonization Is Not A Game

8

A chance to stop the next stolen generation - Shawn Andrews

10

Hate should not live here - Ross Williams

12

Artist Profile: Jade Slockee

14

The Native Food Challenge

16

Sovereign Perspectives (part two) - Nawoola Loonmi Miriwoong

18

Cultural Appropriation - Cameron Manning Brown

20

The People’s Dance - Elizabeth Jarrett

21

No more ‘Ghost Children’ - Ashum Owen

22

Australia’s Compulsory Voting Laws: No Room for Dissent - N. Sands

24

Wanda Privilege and Power from a blackness perspective? - Paul Spearim

26

Warrior Profile - Neil Morris

28

Should Australian cities bear Aboriginal language names - Gregory Phillips

30

Appropriating ‘Welcome to Country’ in Maitland: Is nothing sacred - Greg Page

34

The Black Rising (TBR) magazine is published by Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance (WAR) in both print and online. If you would like to contribute &/or subsribe to TBR send an email to theblackrisingmag@gmail.com We thank all who have made this publication a reality; the writers, photographers, and artists, along with the organisations assisting with printing and distribution.

Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union Electrical Trades Union National Tertiary Education Union Queensland Council of Unions Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre Inc

Co-editors: Pekeri Ruska and Anita Goon Wymarra

2

printed and/or distributed by:

Layout/ Design: Tahnee Edwards

United Voice

Front cover illustration: Jade Slockee

Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance T H E B LA C K R I S I N G

h Photo credit: Vera Pavlovich

National demonstrations demanded justice for Aboriginal youth tortured in detention Around the country on July 30, Aboriginal rights groups staged a national demonstration following the release of harrowing footage of Aboriginal youth being brutalised in Northern Territory detention centres, particularly Don Dale in Darwin.

The rallies supported: • Urgent calls from Joanne Voller, to free her son Dylan Voller immediately, Dylan is the young man subjected to many years of abuse, who is still being held in prison in Darwin; • Dylan Voller’s request to the NT Chief Minister (former Corrections Minister) to personally apologise to the youths mistreated in custody and to their families; • The sacking and prosecution of the corrections staff who perpetrated these abuses; • The call from the combined Aboriginal organisations of the NT for Prime Minister Turnbull to immediately sack the NT Government and force

new elections, along with demands for the immediate resignation of Commonwealth Minister Nigel Scullion; •T he shut down of juvenile prisons; and •A boriginal organisations to be empowered and properly resourced to deal with youth justice issues in ways which provide healing and positive opportunities for youth currently (or are at risk) of being locked up in prisons.

The rallies highlighted similar abuses of Aboriginal children taking place nationally in both ‘child protection’ placements and child prisons. The system of juvenile incarceration is fundamentally racist, with more than 50 per cent of inmates across Australia and 97 per cent of inmates in the NT being Aboriginal.

disregarded and it is only natural that our people stand up on the streets, in our communities and resist this torture.

We will not stop until these injustices are rectified nationwide.”

People from a broad spectrum of backgrounds are both furious and deeply saddened by the images seen on Four Corners. We need that translated into a real grassroots movement that can push for change. We call on families and people with compassion and empathy to continue to support this movement to help ensure this brutality never happens again.

To stay up to date with these issues, follow #HandsOffAboriginalKids and #ShutDownDonDale on all social media platforms.

Anita Goon Wymarra, Aboriginal woman from the organsing group of the Brisbane rally, Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance (WAR), said: “The reality of what our youth are forced to endure in detention is harrowing.

Their existence has been completely

ISSUE 7

3

Photo credit: Vera Pavlovich

Photo credit: Vera Pavlovich

One-woman protest in Armidale against the torture of children at Don Dale

Photo credit: Vera Pavlovich

4

T H E B LA C K R I S I N G

#HandsOffAboriginalKids

Photo credit: Izzy Brown

Photo credit: Vera Pavlovich

#ShutDownDonDale

Photo credit: Vera Pavlovich

ISSUE 7

5

A poem for my brother, Dylan James Waye-Voller (to all the negative people making up lies) Kirra Voller

I will not let you fill my head with lies, When I know the truth and I’ve seen your disguise, Thinking of yourself and the choices you made, to take a young man’s rights away, To shackle him to a chair, by his neck, wrists and ankles, tell me how is that fair?

How is that just?

How is that humane?

To take a young man’s rights away…

Strip him of the clothes he wears, pin him down without a care, to throw him across a room, did you not see him calling out to you?

The little boy hidden inside, trying to be strong fearful for his life, Doing what he knew to do, to try and stand up to you!

Now he’s grown up in this corrupt system, finally speaking up and he’s realised, he’s also a victim.

It’s made him stronger to realise it wasn’t right, he’s speaking up and he’s putting up a fight, to stand for what is right.

So call him what you want say he hasn’t changed but you’ll never live his nightmare and you’ll never feel his pain!

6

T H E B LA C K R I S I N G

Who are the 3% Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the first inhabitants of the land now called Australia. We constitute 3% of the current population of the country.

Soon, all Australians will be asked to make a decision about changes to the Constitution relating to Aboriginals and Torres Straight Islanders.

Because Indigenous communities now comprise only 3% of the total population of Australia. This means effectively the other 97% will be making that decision on our behalf.

We ask you to listen to what we have to say. It’s important that you fully inform yourself before voting yes or no.

The commonwealth government wants to hold a referendum in which it will propose amendments to five elements of the constitution. According to the Recognise campaign, which supports such changes, this will ‘…bring the country together after so many chapters apart.’

Right now, there is a one-sided debate taking place. YOU can help change that.

If fact, many of our people don’t want the proposed changes to go ahead.

By adding your voice to the Voices of the 3% interactive campaign.

We’ve been campaigning for a treaty for decades. Many believe now’s the time we should be discussing a treaty, not the constitution.

Simply upload a video voicing your opinion to our website voicesofthe3.net The Australian government would like the general populus to believe that this is an issue that doesn’t require debate. THE GOVERNMENT IS WRONG. The Recognise campaign receives bipartisan support and millions of dollars in funding. It calls for all Australians to back constitutional change, and argues that this decision is simple.

It argues that it’s black and white. That we’re all Australians. That we deserve equal rights. That it’s the next step towards reconciliation.

But it’s not that straight forward.

Unlike countries such as the US, Canada and New Zealand, Australia is the only Commonwealth nation that has never entered into negotiations about a Treaty.

But this is not the only reason for resisting constitutional recognition.

There are many reasons why we don’t necessarily want this to happen.

It’s time to recognise the voices of those who are not being represented in the main stream media. Please take the time to listen to what we have to say.

Web: Voicesofthe3.net Facebook: Voices of the 3% Twitter: @Voicesofthe3

However, many Aboriginal people argue that these changes are tokenism and will only be used to ameliorate white guilt.

Instagram: Voicesofthe3

ISSUE 7

7

Colonization Is Not A Game In April 2018 on the Gold Coast, Australia will host the Commonwealth games for the fourth time. On the last two occasions Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people hosted protest camps in Melbourne (2006) and Brisbane (1982), raising awareness to the continued dispossession of our people and destruction of our land. The Commonwealth is made up of many invaded Indigenous lands that are still occupied by the British for the purpose of gaining economic growth through slavery of the people and digging up the land. Now is the time to build a strong network of grassroots activists from around the country.

Lets Talk, Lets Organize, Lets Fight!

Get ready for the #StolenWealth18 Photo credit: Penny Tweedie - 4th October 1982.

Blacks refused entry to Stadium - 113 arrests

Photo credit: Courier Mail - 26th September 1982 - Victoria Bridge Brisbane 8

T H E B LA C K R I S I N G

StolenWealth Games Art Competition The games in 2018 gives us almost two years and a massive platform to organise and get people talking about why we should protest the games.

In the lead up to the games we will be holding an Art Competition with entries from individuals, groups, university, tafe, primary and secondary students of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent (please note, this competition is not open to non firstnations people at all) Each entrant can submit an individual design or submit up to four designs, using any art genre for example: comic book, digital, traditional art, cartoon, contemporary art, etc. The design must depict one of the following themes: 1. Stolen-Lives 2. Stolen-Land 3. Stolen-Culture 4. Stolen-Wealth.

The four winners will receive the honour of their designs being chosen to lead the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Protest in 2018. Please send a high-res version of your entry, along with your name and best contact to: stolenwealth18@gmail.com

‘Stolenwealth’ by Robbie Thorpe from the Black GST - 2006 Commonwealth Games Protest.

ISSUE 7

9

A chance to stop the next stolen generation Shawn Andrews, Yugambeh, Mununjali

They call it stolen generations because it has been occurring for generations. Once seen as a method of deliberate state organised assimilation is now an epidemic that is out of control. This epidemic occurring in Australia is so well hidden, so normalised that we as a country do not see it happening although it is occurring right under our noses. We assume that it is what needs to be done and that it is a normal part Aboriginal life and could even be seen as a necessity. The reality is that its normality is disgusting and the lack of general discussion on the topic will lead to more generations of stolen children, children who are important, children who need culture and connection, children who have a family.

When I visit our young people in juvenile detention it concerns me. When I watch reports on violence against children in the care of the state, like I did on the recent Four Corners report on the ABC, I am disgusted and sickened. It hurts to see our kids being mistreated and tortured. I hope that the Australian government and the Australian people finally put a stop to it, although I doubt we have the wisdom and leadership in our current governments to do it.

10

When I see the young Aboriginal people in detention I am worried. My worry is for their welfare and their future. I also worry about how the young people got into detention in the first place, why is it that they are so marginalised and so vulnerable. How come it is acceptable to continue to lock up our young people when we know from evidence that it is not the answer and is not working. The fact is, that everything we see occurring today is a result of our horrible past. A past of invasion, colonial mass genocide and of assimilation.

The stolen generations are horrific and they are still occurring. I know…. Some people have read that previous sentence and thought, ‘generations, not it was just one generation, still occurring, no surely I would have heard about it if it was.’ If you are that person you, like many others have been neglected of the truth about Australian history. My advice to you is to start by researching Bennelong, the assimilation policy, the half-caste act, the Constitution of Australia and listen to Uncle Archie Roach’s song “Took the Children Away.” If you want to know the truth, you can, and once you do you will understand how the government gifted us all prejudice and racism.

T H E B LA C K R I S I N G

I could write all day about the historical context of stolen generations. I could write from the white and the black perspective. I could explain the pain and suffering of our people and explain the privileged, incorrect views of Aboriginal ways, and how that view lead to Aboriginal children being taken. I could describe the exclusion policies and segregations policies that aimed to divide Aboriginal people. The history of which would give you a greater understanding of why we have so many of our young Aboriginal people in jail and why we now have a crisis, one that should not be occurring, a generation of stolen children being taken from their culture and families right now in 2016.

Currently, there are approximately 6,000 young people living in out of home care in Victoria. These young people are there for various reasons, family violence, neglect and incarceration being the main contributors. Out of the 6,000 young people, approximately 1,600 of them are Aboriginal young people. That means that Aboriginal young people represent approximately 27% of all young people in out of home care, a staggering proportion when you consider that Aboriginal people only represent 2.9% of Victoria’s

Artwork: Senada Aldobasic

population. If that number does not represent a crisis, then I do not know what does.

Let’s put this into perspective. From a western point of view, it is alarming as it is a huge number of young people who may not be connected to family and are at risk of lower standards of education, health, life expectancy and employment outcomes. Let’s add to that, the historical proof that these children are at high risk to have their own children who inherit the same problems. So in Victoria, that is 6,000 children who are at risk right now and at risk of continued disadvantage for generations to come. The number of Aboriginal young people in out of home care from my point of view is more concerning. The first question that needs to be asked is why are there so many?

How can we possibly have that many disrupted families? And why are we letting this happen?

Now to bring this all together and help fill in the gaps let me explain why this number is so high. The number is high because of the systematic, government driven, assimilation and genocide of Aboriginal people. It stems from the fact that tens of thousands of Aboriginal people of many generations have been stolen from their families. Those people grew up without connection to family, with a loss of identity and a belief that Aboriginal Culture is less than Western Culture. Now if your culture and identity are stripped from you then there is no chance you will grow up stable and very little chance that you will grow up happy.

Unstable and unhappy people often find it hard to keep jobs, have meaningful

relationships, and often have poor health.

I have no doubt the loss of culture and identity have lead to the huge numbers of Aboriginal young people in out of home care, this has to stop and it has to stop now!

There are many Aboriginal organisations in Victoria who are working hard to turn this number around. Taskforce 1000 along with leadership from community leaders have started to implement strategies on how to reduce the numbers of Aboriginal young people in out of home care. They have formed partnerships with out of home care organisations, pushed for kinship care and created training packages to up skill community volunteers and workers. One of the more creative ways of making positive changes in the lives of Aboriginal young people in out of home care was the offer to run a program that focuses on a camp’s program that takes the young people out on country, to connect with country and culture. This program was tendered earlier this year and Indigicate in conjunction with Winda-Mara Coop won the tender.

The camp we have created will take 24 Aboriginal young people in out of home care on a seven-day outdoor education and cultural education program. The groups are split into boys and girls, they will participate in a journey that will see them spend some time hiking and canoeing. The entire program is built upon the foundations of Aboriginal pedagogies and Aboriginal knowledge systems.

The young people will be taught about connection, will participate in circle time yarning and be given the opportunity to

ISSUE 7

discuss identity and culture. The program is complemented with cultural activities with elders and community leaders, and will have an emphasis on understanding that Aboriginal culture is beautiful, sophisticated and is something to be proud of. There will also be programs that focus on transitioning out of out of home care and each of the participants will receive units towards certification in canoeing and outdoor education.

This is a pilot program, and personally I see great benefit in helping these young people. I see a program like this being able to connect the young people with their culture and help them establish a sense of pride in who they are. I hope that they want to work in outdoor education themselves, as I believe that Aboriginal people are the best at teaching connection of place and country. I see an opportunity for us to demonstrate that we Aboriginal people are the best people for the job of helping our own, that we have the answers for complex problems because we are highly intelligent people who can adapt to change and create solutions to problems. Because that is what we have always done.

Yes there is an epidemic occurring and it is horrible. Yes we are in the midst of another stolen generation. But yes we can fix it. Our culture is strong and our young people are resilient. Just like Uncle Archie Roach’s song says, ‘the children will come back’ and when they do they will strengthen all of us. All we need to do is to continue to teach the real history of Australia and connect people with the beauty of our culture.

11

I’ve always had an image in my head of young Resistance Warriors standing together, heads raised and hand of defiance, like the Black Panthers.

This image in my head is about heads hold high and proud defiantly thinking, ‘You may victimize us but we will not become your victim.’

Hate should not live here Ross Williams (Timmubar), Bindal Juru This is, and always will be Aboriginal land and our homes.

Hate should not live here.

You forced yourself onto our lands and forced us out of our homes.

Hate should not live here.

You killed, poisoned and commit atrocities on us and still carry out the sins of your forefathers.

Hate should not live here.

You stole and still steal from us and continue to suppress us.

Hate should not live here.

You still treat us with distain, utmost contempt and extremes of racial intolerance.

Hate should not live here.

You hate, demonise and victimise us yet you don’t know or question why.

Hate should not live here.

Your commandments of faith are your guide yet not practiced.

Hate should not live here.

You know you are carrying out the original sins yet you continue to live the lie.

Hate should not live here.

You continue to tell lies about us and make claims that we’re the doers of evil.

Hate should not live here.

You live known that Aboriginal kids are dying young of preventable illnesses Hate should not live here.

You know that Aboriginal communities have a poor living standards and poor quality of life yet your negatives deny positive change.

Hate should not live here.

You hate that other people around the world see you as a racist, yet you try to protect a false image of yourself.

Hate should not live here….,but it does.

Rumours and lies are carried by ‘haters’, accepted by, ‘mindless fools’, and spread by, ‘uneducated idiots’.

12

T H E B LA C K R I S I N G

join our team Volunteer positions available for The Black Rising magazine Are you Aboriginal and interested in providing some of your time to support our cause to continue this publication. Here are the details on positions we need to fill: Sourcing content for magazine: involves reaching out to people of your networks and on social media to find and entice writers and contributors for each issue.

Editing: be given specific articles to edit and get ready for print layout.

Website designer: help to assist with keeping the website up to date with content from the latest issues of the magazine as they are launched.

Social media coordinator: assist with all aspects of social media accounts and doing regular updates.

Public Relations: being up to date with and on the front line of responding to matters which concern our magazine, by working closely with executive team Magazine collating and distributing: enveloping, labelling, stamping and posting off magazines Subscription coordinator: keeping subscriptions up to date and organising labels for post.

Printing coordinator: contacting and coordinating with unions and other organisations to establish relationship and get them onboard by printing/ donating resources to us.

Accounting/financial: assistance with any and all financial accounting reporting requirements Grant writing and reporting: sourcing relevant funding bodies and applying for grants and complete reporting/ audit requirements.

Strategies, Policies and Procedures Coordinator: developing and managing internal strategies policies and procedures for legal and administrative purposes.

To provide an expression of interest for any of the above positions, please go to this link: https://theblackrising.com/volunteerexpression-of-interest/ If you would still like to assist our publication, but do not identify as Aboriginal, please also contact us via the link above or email theblackrisingmag@gmail.com

ISSUE 7

13

Artist Profile: Jade Slockee Gumbaynggirr

Can you please tell us about yourself, where are you from and who are your people?

I’m a Gumbaynggirr woman. My people come from Yellow Rock mission near Urunga, however I was born on Barkindji country (Broken Hill) and moved to Yugambeh country (Gold Coast) when I was 12. I now live on Yagera/Turrbul land (Brisbane). I didn’t know much about my people or who I was growing up and am still learning about who I am every day.

What inspires you to create your artwork?

Most of my artwork seen in the magazine (The Black Rising) is a result of a collaboration of ideas from my politically conscious brothers and sisters. I feel they inspire me the most. I’m also inspired to make art that portrays strong images of Aboriginal people looking fierce, determined and tough. All too often we are cast in a negative, weak light, when we deserve to be the super heroes.

How would you describe your art style?

I mostly draw political cartoons using pens and digital media. I have recently started exploring other media such as soft pastels and acrylic, creating more abstract, personal pieces.

What is title of the artwork and can you please explain the story behind it?

The piece is called ‘200 Years of Australian Genocide.’ It is a piece inspired by an advertising poster for a fashion exhibit at the National Victoria Gallery.

The poster was originally called “200 years of Australian Fashion” and featured white people floating around a crispy blue atmosphere ordained in old fashioned English attire. An advertisement that completely ignored our existence and experience. I enjoyed flipping the narrative of the piece to showcase the more unattractive fashion of genocide instead.

14

How does your artwork reflect Aboriginal lives (past, present or future)?

My artwork will often comment on political issues relevant to current Aboriginal lives.

Our old people are also prominent in many of my pieces acknowledging the strength we feel from their presence. I hope the image of us as staunch warriors will carry on into future Aboriginal lives.

T H E B LA C K R I S I N G

Do you have any advice for any other young Aboriginal artists wanting to tell their story through art?

Relax. Don’t over think it and keep things simple. Follow your intuition. Believe your story is worth expressing.

What life lessons have you depicted through your art?

My political art has shared my lessons on becoming politically conscious. This has caused me to be much more aware of our absence in mainstream culture and to use art to make our narrative exist. My newer more personal pieces will express lessons I learnt when returning to country.

ISSUE 7

15

The Native Food Challenge If we believed everything mainstream media force feeds us, excuse the food pun, then “Australia’s” national food identity oscillates predictably between meat pies and lamb.

However neither beef, nor lamb is native to this continent and both of these industries have contributed equally and profoundly to the ecological colonisation of our respective countries.

It really is not difficult at all to build a knowledge base around native flora and fauna and begin to reclaim plant by plant and animal by animal, our identity.

So here it is…..the native food challenge, kicking off with a couple of recipes to get your mouth watering. Afterall, we are what we eat.

Lemon and Chilli Crocodile Ingredients • 500gm crocodile fillet OR can be substituted with other native seafood, such as scallops or prawns.

• 2 bush lemons • Sea salt • Fresh pepper • Olive oil • 1 red chilli • Palm sugar • Lemon myrtle • Bamboo skewers • Sweet chilli sauce.

Marinade: • Juice of 2 bush lemons

Method

• Pinch of freshly-ground pepper

Crocodile skewers are best cooked over an open charcoal grill, with care being taken to not overcook, a skillet on high temperature will also suffice. Cook for no longer 2 minutes either side.

• 1 tbspn fresh Ginger

Serve skewers on a bed of rocket with sweet chilli dipping sauce.

• Pinch of good quality sea salt

• 1 Tbspn olive oil.

• 1 red chilli • 1-2 tpsns palm sugar • 1 tspn of ground lemon myrtle.

Marinate diced crocodile meat in fridge for at least one hour. While the crocodile is marinating soak bamboo skewers in water and dry. Thread the marinated croc onto bamboo skewers.

16

T H E B LA C K R I S I N G

Kangarooo in BBQ plum sauce Ingredients • 500g of Kangaroo Fillet • 6 overripe plums • 1 overripe tomato • Smokey BBQ sauce • Sea salt • Fresh ground pepper

Marinade: Skin the overripe plums and mash pulp removing all stones, do the same for the tomato and add to the plum pulp. Add 4 tablespoons of smokey BBQ sauce, a pinch of sea salt and a pinch of fresh ground pepper. Stir the marinade and pour over the fillets and leave for 1 hour.

Method Similar to crocodile, Kangaroo does not need a lot of time to cook and is best when tender, if over-cooked the meat becomes tough and dry.

Cooking native proteins over fire produces the best taste and the Kangaroo fillets will only need two to three minutes either side. Think of how you would cook a steak fillet to get a perfect medium rare.

Serve with either salad or vegetables.

ISSUE 7

17

Sovereign Perspectives (part two) Nawoola Loonmi Miriwoong, Kununnura, Western Australia Continued from Part 1 in Issue 6 Interviewed by Les Thomas of #SOSBlakAustralia

What are your views on the Healthy Welfare Card roll out?

Even speaking to the Premier and cabinet last week, they said there was going to be all these services in place around the Healthy Welfare Card roll out. So I’ve said to them ‘OK, so is there going to be funding to allow people to address their alcohol issues or their gambling issues or their drug addiction issues.’ And they said there would be services provided, but they’ll all be volunteer-based if people want to seek help.

I’ve also questioned what strategies are going to be put in place to help people with employment because the only way out of the Healthy Welfare Card is going to be to get a job, but we lack jobs around here. There aren’t enough jobs and there aren’t enough people with skills to take the jobs that there are. The Department of Premier and Cabinet said to me ‘Oh yeah, but we’re speaking to Coles to give people employment.’

I said ‘So what? Are you going to line everyone up to be checkout chicks and trolley boys? What about other industries?’

And I said when we’re talking about Coles, which is a massive business in this country, I feel it should be mandatory that any business that comes on board to help with employment does appropriate cultural awareness training through the Language and Culture Centres, otherwise you’re just setting people up to fail. You’re putting people into big businesses with minimal work experience, minimal education.

They’re not going to have that appropriate support there to have that sustainable employment.

My understanding is that there is no guarantee of community funding beyond 30 June 2018. All responsibility for community funding has been handed

18

over to the WA government and Barnett has taken an especially aggressive approach [declaring the likely closure of up to 150 communities out of 247 across the state]. How do you think things are going to go in the next little while?

I just feel that there is absolutely no commitment from government in helping us empower our people. I feel the government is just working more and more towards stripping us of our rights even further. The government will sit there and say that they’re committed to helping us in bridging the gap, but at the same time, they bring out things like the Indigenous Advancement Strategy and cut billions of dollars from the Aboriginal funding sector. So it’s just a total contradiction of everything they’re saying. So now under the Indigenous Advancement Strategy, if organisations don’t come under the Empowered Communities model then they have no funding.

And in recent months there’s been an increase in the number of young people committing suicide. It looks like WA politicians don’t even stick around to hear the discussion in parliament, because they’re actually not interested in reading through the reports and recommendations that were written a long time ago. It seems they’re deliberately using suicides as a weapon against communities in mourning and crisis.

Straight up. It needs to be stated as well that the Kimberley has the highest rate of suicides of young people in the country and one of the highest rates of suicide of young people in the world. We also have the highest rate of incarceration of young black men in the country and one of the highest rates of incarceration of young black people in the world. As a community, T H E B LA C K R I S I N G

Photo credit: Michael Butler

we feel that the government doesn’t care that we’re losing our young people to alcohol, drugs and suicide. And there are a lot of people that don’t even want to discuss these issues, because, like you said, the government uses it as a weapon against us.

In the last month, we’ve had two suicides of people under 25-years-old. In the last six months, I’d say we’re looking at a number of around 10 young people that have suicided. We had a young person that was 13 suicides last year as well. It ranges from quite young. For a 13 year-old to commit suicide is really heartbreaking for communities and how is the family ever going to recover from that?

There are no support mechanisms in place to be able to help families with their grief.

There has been one new position made in town to work on suicide prevention, but that’s one person. There needs to be appropriate funding to have a team of people working in this area, and there needs to be appropriate resources to be able to help people. Yes, it’s all about prevention and we need to be working tirelessly to prevent these kinds of things, and helping families and communities

to address these issues with a holistic approach. If you’re not working on prevention, you’re just working from the back foot. What about the families who have lost people? There needs to be help for them, because sometimes we see a pattern with the families, as well.

There are families up here that have had more than one suicide. That’s even more heartbreaking. Where is the help and support for those families that have already lost somebody? They’re just dealing with post traumatic stress and there’s nothing there to help them with their grief. There’s not enough services up here to be able to help grassroots people. There’s all these kind of tick-the-box things that are happening around town, but it’s not really helping people at a grassroots level.

And the Homelands Movement was largely about people becoming safe, trying to get away from the problems of being close to the cities, with alcohol, drugs and violence. It’s like the politicians are in denial about the protective aspects of remote communities, the reason so many made a point of returning to homelands.

Yes. And when I first started going to these meetings about Empowered Communities, all they were talking about was nutrition and getting kids to school. We’re all aware that that’s really important, but what I kept vocalizing there was that’s all well and good to want that child at school, but if you’ve got that child at home that’s had no sleep, in an overcrowded house, there’s alcohol abuse happening, there’s domestic violence happening, there’s no food in the fridge and you’re making that kid go to school with no clean clothes, no shoes, no food in his guts then you’re just straight out isolating that child from the rest of the class anyway, setting them up to fail. If you really want to strengthen and empower people, you bring them back to their culture - it’s documented that it helps heal them from the inside out.

Just finally, Nawoola, are there any messages that you feel are important to get across to East Coast mobs and supporters?

think people need to take their blinkers off and see what the government is trying to do. This is not new; it’s just spelled out in another way. We feel that the Healthy Welfare Card is going back to the models of the 1930s and ‘40s. It’s basically taking people’s rights away Controlling people with their lifestyle is not going to help them address their issues. It’s not going to help bring families closer together. The only thing that it is going to bring is our families closer together and strengthen our communities is to support us in our culture.

Thank you, sister. In the last year, I’ve certainly noticed a lot of young people stepping up…

Well we have to. We’re in a different era to our old people, so it’s our job as young black warriors or young black people, however you see yourself, to use the education we have to speak up for our old people and to make people aware that we need our culture and we need to strengthen our culture.

I think everybody out there across the country needs to be aware of what the real issues are at a grassroots level. I

ISSUE 7

19

Tattoo and photo credit: Lou Tatulu Conlon

Cultural Appropriation Cameron Manning Brown, Gommeroi

Cultural appropriation is a term that has been used a lot recently on social media and in the media itself, and it is a very complex topic. Cultural appropriation can be defined as “The taking of intellectual property, traditional knowledge, cultural expressions, or artefacts from another culture without permission. This can include unauthorized use of another culture’s dance, dress, music, language, folklore, cuisine, traditional medicine, religious symbols, etc. It is most likely to be harmful when the source community is a minority group that has been oppressed or exploited in other ways or when the object of appropriation is particularly sensitive, e.g. sacred objects”.

Cultural appropriation is most commonly perpetrated against Indigenous people of the world by the colonizers of their country. This can cause reinforced negative stereotypes of Indigenous cultures, as well as deeply offending Indigenous people’s culture when it is used in a way which diminishes its importance. For example, white people are often praised for doing things that black people are often shamed for, such as when white people wear African style fashion trends it is portrayed in the media as looking better on them then on a black person. This is deeply racist, and highlights how the western media contributes to negative racist stereotypes of people of colour around the world.

20

In relation to Aboriginal people here in Australia, cultural appropriation has become a growing phenomenon that we all must deal with on a daily basis.

When it comes to issues such as nonAboriginal people dressing in “blackface”, many non-Aboriginal Australians struggle with the concept of this being highly offensive and racist. This is essentially white people mocking people of colour, and perpetuating long held racial stereotypes of us. For myself as a young Aboriginal man who is heavily tattooed with Aboriginal ink, I often encounter non-Aboriginal people asking me if it is appropriate for them to get Aboriginal tattoos in the same style as mine. For myself, and for many other tattooed Aboriginal people that I know, this is highly offensive and a prime example of cultural appropriation. My tattoos tell my own personal story, and tell the story of my connection to my Gommeroi country, my dreaming and creation stories, and to Awabakal land on which I live. And to see these sacred images with so much importance being put on a non-Aboriginal person who does not understand the meaning of the images or have a bloodline connection to the stories behind them is deeply insulting and diminishes the cultural meaning of the tattoos. In the tattoo community alone I see cultural appropriation being a major issue for Indigenous people. I often encounter non-Aboriginal people who have no connection whatsoever

T H E B LA C K R I S I N G

to Indigenous cultures, getting images of Native American chiefs, women and sacred images of Native American culture tattooed on their body. In my experience, many non-Aboriginal people seem to want to take the “positive” aspects of Aboriginal culture e.g art, language, stories, food, cultural practices, and not acknowledge the “negative” aspects of our experiences such as historical and current genocide of our people, murders, land destruction, cultural destruction, health inequalities, black deaths in custody etc. This is a very important aspect of cultural appropriation, when members of the “dominant” culture take aspects from the cultures of oppressed people without understanding or even acknowledging the historical struggles that they face. I believe that it is important for non-Aboriginal people to understand our struggle and respect our culture, without trying to take elements of it which they like.

Cultural appropriation is a growing problem facing Indigenous people of the world particularly in this country. I believe that better education of non-Aboriginal people in relation to cultural appropriation is a major step forward. It is always important to acknowledge and have some kind of an understanding of the roots of the music you listen to, the clothes that you wear and artwork that you wear, and the stereotypes and history associated with these things. The assets of each culture are precious, and it is highly important to protect the integrity and significance of these assets.

The People’s Dance Elizabeth Jarrett, Gumbaynggirr

Well here it is 2016 Yet we are still ruled under an illegal regime, It’s time for a change in Histories what’s, when’s and how’s, What they say was once discovered is invaded now..

We don’t want recognition in the constitution, For being recognised is not the solution...

What we need is this current governments dissolution, To see all our people free from the lifestyle of poverty and pollution..

It’s time for a people’s movement that is truly for the people, One where we all are different yet stand as equals!!

One where the grass roots people power are the voice, Who know that remote communities are not a lifestyle choice.

One that welcomes the war torn boat refugee, Not turn them away or lock them in torturous captivity..

One that will fight for our sacred lands, To stop the mining for the rich folks hands, One that supports gay marriage rights, So our people don’t have to live in fear of a fight..

One that believes in free and diverse education, Instead of this bulk bill of assimilation..

One that understands the meaning of us, For there to be a change, there is no you nor me but only US. Here is our ceremony along with our chance, Rise up all warriors it’s time to dance!!

ISSUE 7

21

No more ‘Ghost Children’ Ashum Owen, Kaurna/Narungga/Ngarrindjeri & Waanyi

During his 2016 National NAIDOC Person of the Year acceptance speech, Professor Chris Sarra, founder and chairman of the Stronger Smarter Institute, honoured “the ghost children, those Indigenous boys and girls who chose to die by their own hands because they no longer believed that their future could be better”. Far too often we read heartbreaking headlines of Aboriginal people, as young as 10, becoming a part of Australia’s growing Aboriginal suicide epidemic. Current statistics estimate that one in three Aboriginal people aged 15-35 will commit suicide. One in three! That is a ridiculously large portion of our future being taken from us. How is it possible that in some areas of Australia our kids are 10 times more likely to commit suicide than their non-Indigenous counterparts?

Why are 130 Aboriginal people ending their lives each year? How can we call Australia the “lucky country” when it has one of the highest suicide rates in the world? The answer is a complicated mix of psychosocial issues that can be traced back to invasion.

22

We know that suicide was virtually nonexistent amongst Aboriginal people before the invasion of our sovereign nations. We are all familiar with the negative social, physical and mental consequences of invasion because we live and breathe them every single day. We are aware that invasion caused a severe disruption to the mental, emotional and cultural wellbeing of Aboriginal people in Australia.

We understand that the dispossession of land, language and culture, coupled with oppression, discrimination, disadvantage and racism has further caused a vicious cycle of intergenerational trauma. We recognise that these issues we face in today’s society compound intergenerational trauma and create deeper problems.

But a solution exists. It runs through our veins, and lives beneath our feet: it is our culture and our country. During the 2016 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Conference in Alice Springs, Aunty Rosalie Kunoth-

T H E B LA C K R I S I N G

Monks said that, “healing comes from within us, it comes from our dreaming, from our land. The sooner our younger ones learn that they belong to this country the better off we will all be for generations to come”. I cannot agree more. If we are to continue as a strong, resilient people, we must regain our culture.

For thousands of years our ancestors successfully used traditional healing methods and medicines to help our people. Country has always sustained us since time began; its natural healing properties need to be utilised and these traditional methods of healing need to be incorporated back into our daily lives again.

We have a strong connection with the spirit of our land. It is imparted into us from childhood that if we look after the land, the land will look after us because we belong to the land, and so, it is essential for our wellbeing.

s i h t e t a c i d e d o t e k i l I would l u f i t u a e b y r e v e o t e articl e h t o t t s o l e v a h e w t a h t spirit . s e c i t s u j n i s ’ m e t s y s s r invade s u e r i p s n i s e i c a g e l r i May the d n a r e h t o n a e n o l a e h p to hel ther for e g o t g n i t h g fi continue . e r u t u f r e t t a be Storytelling is also a large part of our culture and forms an important part of our healing process. Storytelling helps us to form strong connections with each other and reminds us that we are all facing various hardships but can overcome them by helping one another.

By verbalising our individual journeys we allow ourselves to be heard and understood.

So, it is crucial that with any Aboriginal affair, that there be a space for consultation and for us to have our say.

Many Aboriginal leaders have supported Gerry Georgatos’ call for a Royal Commission into Aboriginal suicide. Any enquiry into Aboriginal issues must be conducted WITH Aboriginal people, not TO Aboriginal people. We must be included in the process to ensure the implementation of culturally appropriate recommendations for our people. The Australian Government must listen to the voices of Aboriginal people and understand that the strongest healing

weapon is our culture thus it must be at the forefront of any program established to prevent Aboriginal suicide. There are numerous organisations in every state and territory already incorporating our traditional beliefs and methods into their healing and empowering programs. Their results reiterate what we know; reconnecting with culture and country has the ability to heal.

I am overwhelmed by the pain my people have endured for over 228 years by the hands of the invaders and their systems.

I am exhausted by the constant struggle I personally face as a black woman in this country. I am sick of hearing people justify the hurt of my elders. I am heartbroken for the young ones who cannot shoulder the burden of our past, nor continue with the harshness of our present. I wish they could see the potential in their future, the strength of their minds and the resilience in their spirits.

ISSUE 7

But there is hope. There is hope that our future generations will be instilled with the strength of all the ancestors before them.

There is hope that the spirits of our lands will consume their hearts and continue to stoke the fires in their bellies so they may never find themselves questioning their place in this country, for their place IS THIS COUNTRY, it always was and always will be.

If you or someone you know needs help, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

23

Australia’s Compulsory Voting Laws: No Room for Dissent N. Sands, Kamilaroi & Wailwan

“You my opposer when I want freedom.

You my opposer when I want justice.

You my opposer when I want equality.

Want me to go somewhere and fight for you? You won’t even stand up for me right here in America, for my rights and my religious beliefs. You won’t even stand up for my rights here at home” Muhammad Ali Ali made it clear he was not going to fight other coloured people merely to help preserve the imperial domination of the white man. And at the same time Ali brilliantly conveys how an imperial or colonial government audaciously expects servitude and civic participation, from the very same people it violently colonised or enslaved hundreds of years prior.

The Australian government, like North Korea, enforces compulsory voting laws meaning that the federal government expects us Aboriginal people to vote in its elections. Australia expects us to help choose the next leader of the government which invaded our ancestors only 228 years ago. We are required to vote for a person to represent the very same government who refuses, to this day, to sign a treaty and formally acknowledge Aboriginal sovereignty and title. We are expected to participate in this colonial structure and perform the civic duties of a good citizen while the federal government mines and pollutes our land, deregisters, desecrates and builds over our artefacts and sacred sites.

24

The Australian government expects us to subscribe to its identity, to vote in its elections, and to line up to fight in their wars while at the same time the federal australian government has historically offered us little in return. We never have, and still don’t have justice or equality before the law, the Australian government doesn’t stand up for our rights here at home. Our lives and issues are not a federal priority. They literally are our biggest opposer, the paternalistic power governing the parameters of our lives. The federal government has taken our land, taken our children, and taken our wages.

We are the target of neglectful federal policies continuing down to this day, take for instance the 2007 Intervention. It was based entirely upon lies and increased Aboriginal suicide phenomenally, but was supported and implemented by both major parties, demonstrating the federal lack of regard for our basic human rights and the continued the dehumanisation of us.

So why are we expected to participate in the political system which serves nothing but colonial interests? Why are we expected to vote for a government which has a poor track record regarding our human rights? Does voting reduce suicide rates? Does voting ‘close the gap?’ What does it directly offer us Indigenous people?

Do any of the candidates advocate exclusively for our issues like the protection of lands from the mining industry? Highly unlikely considering the federal government wholeheartedly supports the mining T H E B LA C K R I S I N G

industry to the detriment of Aboriginal land rights and land related concerns.

As a group, Aboriginal people possess very little political power. We make up less than 3% of the Australian population but according to the Australian Electoral Commissions (AEC) only 58% of Aboriginal people are actually enrolled to vote.

This highlights that the voting process may be seen as highly irrelevant to most Indigenous people, otherwise our enrollment rate would be much higher.

Maybe Aboriginal people can see that their vote means little to nothing.

Why should we participate in a system where we are simply amalgamated into the mainstream? Maori people living in New Zealand have dedicated seats in parliament plus the Maori Electoral Option, giving them not only a space for their voice within the imposed colonial government, but also the agency to decide their political identity and the ability to vote for people who actually represent them, their values and interests.

In Australia there are alternatives to voting or participating in a political system which was not designed to suit us. For example we could choose to exercise our right to not vote according to section 245 (14) of the Electoral Act which states “the fact that the elector believes it to be part of their religious duty to abstain from voting does constitute a valid and sufficient reason for not voting”.

As a group Jehovah’s Witnesses do not vote in any form of election, sing the national anthem, salute the flag, or serve in the military, they would not lobby for a political candidate, run for government, or participate in actions endeavoring to change a government. They believe that they have been instructed by Jesus to remain politically neutral. They will respect the authority of the government and follow all laws until these contradict their religious commands or beliefs, and significantly, the federal government accommodates this display of religious autonomy.

Once the Jehovah’s Witness has received their fine in the mail for failing to vote, the individual would simply respond in writing, notifying the AEC of the specific scriptural grounds or reasons for their refusal to vote as permitted by section 245 of the Electoral Act, then the fine is waived. In the 2015 elections 1,379 Australian electors successfully exercised their right to not vote according to the Electoral Act, no doubt including many Jehovah’s Witnesses but also included Anaiwan man who stated that “I did not vote in the Queensland State General Election held 31 January 2015 because it is my religious obligation as a member of the Anaiwan Aboriginal tribe not to participate in Australian elections”.

“One of the most important obligations as an indigenous community members is that we are not supposed to speak on behalf of other people or countries. If I had voted in that election, or in the federal election that did not involve my country, then I would be speaking on behalf of that tribe.”

“Essentially it would be disrespectful for me and it would breach my customary obligation as an Anaiwan man to participate in elections on someone else’s country and to vote for a non-Aboriginal person to speak on behalf of that country.

It is something that a lot of blackfellas know. I (we) don’t have the right to speak on behalf of someone else’s’ mob.”

As we can see from this example, it demonstrates that the voting procedure directly violates the cultural principles of most Indigenous people, therefore we need to collectively exercise our rights according to section 245 of the Electoral Act, forcing the recognition of our status as a distinct people with distinct political rights.

Palawa man, Michael Mansell has not participated in the Australian election process since his youth, when he began seriously thinking about and working toward Indigenous sovereignty and Aboriginal nationalism. In 1992 Mansell was prosecuted by the commonwealth of Australia for failing to vote in an election

ISSUE 7

and ordered to pay the fine or face two days in prison. Mansell maintained that he was not going to vote, or pay the fine as “he is a member of the aboriginal nation and not the Australian one”. Aboriginal voting abstention should be interpreted as a form of political protest regarding white control over Aboriginal affairs.

In conclusion, Australia’s compulsory voting law is incompatible with democracy because it stifles the expression of political dissent, especially for us Aboriginal people. Like everybody else on this planet, we Aboriginal people have the right to determine our political status, including what nationality/identity we do or do not subscribe to, or what political system we will participate in. Being forced to vote for people who do not represent us or care about us is not fair.

So despite the threat of fine and convictions, some Aboriginal people refuse to participate in Australian elections dominated by two parties whose policies are one and the same in the oppression of Aboriginal people. We chose to fight for the elevation of our people, not the forced amalgamation of ourselves. We should look to the future and endeavour to secure for ourselves the power, equality, freedom and justice Ali spoke of, instead of waiting for a colonial system to determine our destiny or dole out our rights or liberties.

25

Wanda Privilege and Power from a blackness perspective?

A negative generational cause and effect of wanda (white people) privilege and power on blackness Paul Spearim, Gamilaraay

For all first nations peoples of the world and especially within our continent, wanda privilege and power have always been the evil catalyst of our existence in this country and all of us have felt the full brunt of racist extremist values for the past 228 years.

From when my grandparents and other nation mob had first laid eyes on these strange coloured looking wanda people coming into our sacred lands. My grandparents thought that they were the Dhuwi (souls) of our dead ancestors and clans people who had come back to join us from Gamilu Bidi-Wii (Creation) and because of our strong commitment to our cultural obligations and belief systems these wanda people were held in very high regard.

But then the killing of our Mari (person/ people) and destruction of our sacred lands began and this honourable mistake, acceptance and trust that my grandparents and all first nations peoples had freely bestowed onto these wanda people was gone, just as quick as these evil people had appeared in our lands.

26

T H E B LA C K R I S I N G

When we try and analyse wanda privilege from BLACKNESS the only conclusion that you can come up with is that wanda privilege stems from wanda society and intellectuals introducing into everyday thinking that wanda privilege is a natural birthright. With this typical stereotype of wanda privilege locked into the very core of my DNA is it understanding the BLACKNESS needs?

Because I know that it is not pity that I seek and why should I still carry the guilt of 228 years of wanda privilege.

But the reality for all black mobs today is that WANDA PRIVILEGE is alive and well and is still just as dangerous as ever. Today we have in most cases wanda privileged descendants holding strongly to their first, second and also proudly spruiking that they can trace back to fifth and even go back to their tenth generational heritage in this country called Australia.

Not calling it by it’s true names such as Eora, Gamilaraay, Goenpul, Ngannawanna and Bunnarong but Terra Nullius Australis, “Now that is wanda privilege at it’s most dangerous”.

So who is the master of my fate, is it wanda privilege or is it my cultural obligations to BLACKNESS?

Here are some points to be aware of if you are confronted with wanda privilege and power:

These are just some examples of what real wanda privilege is (although there are endless more examples that we have been subjected to):

1. P lease demand that first and foremost they show you respect.

• That they did not cause the problem in the first place

3. D o not let them continue justifying their wanda position as being the correct and only position for blackness.

• That they are the only ones that can be our saviours

2. Ensure that they are really listening.

• Captain James Cook saved your people, what if Asians, or Germany came here all you Abos would have been wiped out

4. D o they know any black people or anything about our nations and how they all have different languages, songs, dance, stories, knowledge and cultural societies.

• Because they have invented reconciliation they are the humble ones

5. A lways keep making the point concerning them listening to our point of view.

• But we’re good people

6. Do they truly understand our position.

• I once knew an abo who came to my school, but she moved because her parents got locked up in prison

7. D o not allow them to justify their position by being underhanded and disrespecting our position.

• Today most privileged Wanda are young rich university students masquerading as the poor and vulnerable

8. Do not allow them to speak over you.

• I’ve got a degree in law so I am more than aware of Aborigines and the legal system

9. D o not allow them to discount your opinion.

10. B efore leaving ensure that they did listen to your point of view.

• It happened way back then, so get over it

ISSUE 7

27

warrior profile Neil Morris, Yorta Yorta

What is your name and who is your mob?

How are you involved in Aboriginal resistance?

Neil Morris. I was raised in Mooroopna two hours north of Kulin Nations land (Melbourne). I am incredibly blessed to have been born and raised on lands that I have ancestry to, lands directly belonging to Kaielatheban clan area on Yorta Yorta country by Kaiela (Goulburn River in colonial language).

By default my life itself is a form of resistance, being devout to my culture by following the law of the dreaming.

I am inherently in a resistant state to many oppressive systems, set up in ways to distract and draw people away from a spiritual focused life. I am also involved in resistance through standing for first nation causes that are related to decolonising this land. Whether that be through campaigns related to preventative approaches against the ongoing assimilationist and genocidal systems of this society by campaigning to keeping Aboriginal people living on their traditional lands, lobbying against the environmental destruction of indigenous lands through extractive industry or grassroots community, building activities and awareness raising through a broad range of platforms.

How do you define ‘warrior’?

It can be the person that dedicates their life to a particular cause, the person that simply continues to live in spite of severe pain and oppression, the traumatised that chooses to share their story, the single mothers that raise kids on their own in the face of great adversities. I feel our people are all warriors in some form for choosing to live in a country which has systematically attempted to eradicate our people and still implements a broad range of measures that keep us people entrenched in disadvantage or veered into assimilation. For me, being a warrior is enabling my spiritual blessings of my upbringing and ancestral heritage to the Yorta Yorta lands flow through me in the most powerful ways. This manifests in various ways, standing amidst thousands at protests, providing a smoking ceremony, continuing to speak language and passing on ancestral spirit through that. Also inspiring others to do the same or developing community programs which look at a broader way of incorporating indigeneity into western society as a nonnegotiable component of it. In broader terms, it essentially means to stand infused with the integrity that culture bestows upon us and channelling that to enable us to provide whatever is the most fitting way that we can ensure the continuation of our culture to offer positive things to this land we live upon.

28

Why did you get involved in the resistance?

The need for resistance to the overwhelming tide of colonial and subsequently industrialised consumer driven capitalistic society struck me in a way I was cognizant of when I was in my mid-teens. I began to recognise so many injustices around me daily and being very disturbed by it. Since then my life has represented one form or another of resistance as I have actively attempted to cultivate a life that does not embrace modern capitalist societal constructs.

For a long time perhaps I didn’t feel that I could have an impact with resistance.

T H E B LA C K R I S I N G

But in fact, I feel that what gave me faith, something that could affect people was actually through sharing cultural activity with people which is something that I wasn’t exposed to up until the past few years. Sharing cultural activity with people not necessarily whom would seem the most receptive of it. Sharing the deep sincerity of our culture, showing people that our culture is underpinned with responsibility.

The core reason I feel I am now involved in activism is driven by the want to enable our culture to flourish, to be an example of that; to show people that it is our culture which provides our impetus to maintain ways of being upon our sacred lands are culturally rooted.

I want platforms of change to be left by current generations to inspire our future generations coming through, and beyond that, to display to the broader society living within our traditional lands that we possess something very beautiful that is not about us reverse colonising and dictating, it’s not a want for power or any other colonial constructs. I want to represent to people that what we have is a very spiritual sacred thing that is a blessing to society as a broader construct upon these lands. The best way I can do this is be an example, and that is what I attempt to do daily. It just so happens that this is in resistance to the popular paradigms that have come to be core paradigms in the world upon our lands and so many other indigenous lands. In essence we are actually not the resistors, we are harmonisers, focusing on bringing harmony back to the world more prominently.

Photo credit: Will Beale

What is decolonization to you?

It is multi-layered. It’s learning ones Indigenous language. It’s reconnecting with lands and being familiar with the language ones land speaks. It’s performing ceremony inspired by our lands and ancestors. It’s not conforming to the pseudo ceremony of western lifestyles. It’s acknowledging that there are many constructs that have been formed within this society that are illusory and must be challenged and countered. It is ultimately being mindful that an attitude of “if you can’t beat them join them” is not decolonising but assimilating.. I decolonize through connection on a daily basis by honouring creation spirits, totems and ancestors and the impact they have on us. I attempt to build relationships with people that are formed with an appreciation for the sacred aspects of life upon this land through ceremonial activity on country, writing of poetry, attending protests, displaying my connection through wearing my cultural adornments such as ochre, feathers and other resources of land or simply by having a poignant transformational conversation.

Our ability to implement decolonising practices is with us, through all places we traverse

Why is it important for Aboriginal people to stand up for the causes you stand for?

What have you learnt from your old people that you would like to share with others?

For the continuation of culture and culturally appropriate lifestyles. With the world plummeting at a rapid rate with catastrophes of varying kinds, it is clear that ways which are embedded in our culture are actually ways which can provide means that will be crucial to any shift towards a society that will enable a future of being able to appreciate and share in the beautiful world we live in without it being completely destroyed and left in a state of disrepair.

The main things I have learnt from my old people are respect for all living beings, to hold all life in reverence. Also those intangibly expressed wisdoms that are not expressed through words, the very way an elder connects to country, the gift that is provided in transferring on cultural lore cannot often be expressed. But it has taught me to be graceful in a way to allow country, ancestors and spirit to breathe through me so that I may be a vessel to bring those things to the present, no matter where I walk upon these lands or any lands across the globe.

What do you see as the biggest issues your people face today?

Ensuring we do not assimilate into western society to the point that we can longer have enough strong and beautiful warriors to keep our culture surviving into the future. We have a moral obligation to uphold our culture whilst we still have opportunity to, to actively decolonise our lives in ways that will make it much easier for future generations to continue to do so after us. The responsibility sits largely with our current generations.

ISSUE 7

What do you see for the future of your people and Indigenous people globally?

I see indigenous people playing a critical role in steering humankind to a place where resistance is less necessary, people can only ignore the right ways for so long.

The cultural way will always speak strong, and its making its voice heard. We as a whole cannot continue to ignore this. If indigenous ways are implemented as a highly valued component of any society our culture and ways of all indigenous peoples globally can be the answer to the profuse list of ills in the world today.

29

Should Australian cities bear Aboriginal language names Gregory Phillips, Waanyi & Jaru

Gregory interrogates place and naming as two powerful concepts, artefacts or expressions of cultural value in response to the question - If all Australians had a relationship with Indigenous language, how would that affect race relations more broadly? This speech was delivered as part of The Wheeler Centre Interrobang Talks in January 2016. To view please follow this link https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=N6H5Be7SSe8

Why are some places in Australia already named with Aboriginal words and others aren’t? In Queensland there is Caboolture and Indooroopilly and beautiful names like that. In Sydney there is Woy Woy and Wagga Wagga, and others Coogee, Yackandandah in Victoria and Joondalup in Perth, Uluru and Canberra. Now Tasmania has recently renamed Mount Wellington its correct name Kunanyi from the Palawa languages, they have an official naming policy in Tasmania now. But why not name Adelaide Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Darwin and Perth? What is the difference between why we accept current place names that are using Aboriginal languages and not so much others? Is it to do with random acts of kindness or random acts of being conscious? Otherwise, it is still a colonial landscape that we still live in. Let’s turn to this idea of place first. I am going 30

to use broad brush strokes to describe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and European cultures to try and draw out the central tenets in what are the differences and what are the similarities between a concept like ‘place’.

In Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture place and land is the whole basis of our cosmology. It ties in together genealogy, spirituality, lore, ethics, knowledge, intellectual property - all these things are tied together for Aboriginal people in a place. For example, my niece Aboriginal name is Longajamarra from our language and an elder near Borroloola gave her that name, because it not only refers to her physical name and her place in the social structure of our tribe but also a lake, a small billabong. What that does is it ties us to our responsibility to a specific piece of land or a place, to look after a place, to gain our identity from that place but also give back to. In Aboriginal culture context is everything. Everything is interconnected. Philosophically, Aunty Mary Graham from Brisbane acknowledges that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples logic and philosophy is very different to the west. The wests logic is something like P or not P, in terms of the logic understood in psychology studies or in in society, ‘I think therefore I am and if I don’t think therefore I am not’.

T H E B LA C K R I S I N G

It is a very mental and physical based understanding of the world, the epistemology and the logic and the ontology of western cultures is very much about one or the other. For Aboriginal people our cosmology and logic and philosophy is based on a statement something like every perspective is valid and reasonable. In Aboriginal mindset we don’t think about something being correct or incorrect, we think about something being correct or incorrect in certain contexts. We have this very nice way of being able to balance truth and nontruth as actually the same thing, that all perspectives is valid and reasonable in our philosophy and logic. For Aboriginal people everything is interconnected and we are in a relationship with the land it is not something that exists as another entity that is separate to us as human beings. We are in a relationship with it and we understand that we are connected and our stories and cosmology give effect to that.

In the European sense of place, place is about land it is considered inanimate as a physical location to be owned and dominated perhaps, that land is of monetary value to be dug up and consumed. Now what I find interesting is some conversations that farmers have after generations of working and living with the land they start to feel this affection for and start to talk about land in similar

terms to Aboriginal communities. They talk about a deep love for the land and their connection to it and their family history there ‘don’t you know we’ve been on this land for 6 generations’ – which is great but it is kind of miniscule. Even in describing that relationship it still counts in monetary terms, so you can love the land if there is some value that comes back to the human being that is monetary.

It is interesting to consider how people might find land in non-monetary terms and that does happen in European cultures sometimes but our whole basis in our society in the west is not based on that. So why is that? Why has the west moved from being an earth based culture?

Why is there a change? What happened between Stonehenge and Druid culture for example and the understanding of place that we now have in the west? How did we get to industrialisation? In short terms it is all about power and money, land became a commodity, land became something to own and make money from. We can say that money is the root of all evil and absolute power corrupts.

When I think about power and money and why a society would move that way, what I think they are both about is fear.

That is the human emotion underneath

them. Fear that there will not be enough food or not enough resources, fear that there will be not enough love or not enough connection, and therefore an attempt to control the environment and to control human emotions and to control interactions. Control and fear were the basis for science and religion to be used as justification for colonisation. Science and religion are in and of themselves not bad things but it is how you use them and why you use them, for what purposes and means and to what ends. They were used for colonisation, so philosophically this is where I make the point above about ‘I think therefore I am’ and ‘p or not p’, gives rise to the adversarial law that someone is right and someone is wrong, that someone misses out and someone wins. This binary thinking, this adversarial logic underpins most of western societies these days.

What we are talking about here is about values, ontology, epistemology – that is what drives people and cultures to do the things that they do.

If we turn to naming, intimately related to place, in Aboriginal cultures you name something or the names have been given by the ancestors in a way to honour lore, to honour that ongoing connection to the land, to honour ancestors, to honour ISSUE 7

a physical place as well. It is also as the example I gave before about my niece, it’s current, it’s very real now, it’s not ancient culture versus contemporary reality. Those things are connected, there is no difference between now and the future and so when we talk about the dreaming, even though it is a western word, it attempts to explain Aboriginal philosophical beliefs that the past is right here now and we are creating our dreaming here and now for others to come. That is why we talk about planning not for the 3 year election cycles but for generations because sustainability cannot survive if you do not do that.

Aboriginal people have places and naming based on this cosmology, you get names from the skin cycles. Our genealogy is not based on hereditary in the same way that it is in the west, it is based on a cycle of names. In some tribes there might be 8 skin names for females and 8 skin names for males. Once child cycles through, it starts at the beginning of the skin name and that is a way of keeping the skin gene pure. It also ensures that there is responsibility for every piece of land and that they are interconnected and that there are no fights and disputes over land that it is all understood and it is all in the law already.

31

In European cultures and values, naming is about honouring people or events or place names. It about a particular value or cultural word that respects somebody.

For example, Cloncurry where I come from is named after Lady Cloncurry. Mount Isa was named by John Campbell Miles, the man that apparently discovered Mount Isa, is named after his relative by shortening Isabella for Isa. Incidentally, Kabalulumana is the Aboriginal man who actually found the mine site or knew where it was and told the local postman who used to run the mail between Camooweal and Dajarra and he told John Campbell Miles but apparently John Campbell Miles discovered the mine. You could say the same about the Blue Mountains, did Blaxland Lawson or Wentworth discover it or was it their guides’ ownership.

What is the commonality and views between Aboriginal place and naming and European views of place and naming?

The central theme seems to be about honouring, remembering, and inscribing a certain set of values and logic into the land but they are based on very different values and logic. Aboriginal people have a 32

very different way of naming that European cultures might, one is not better than the other it is just to say that they are different.

I am really interested in renaming and how Tasmania has a renaming policy and how they decided that Mount Wellington will now be named Kunanyi. They started with 6 significant sites around Tasmania under Lara Giddings government to rename them in their Palawa Aboriginal names.

We all know of Uluru and Kakadu and the renaming which has been accepted and is part of the basic lexicon now. Perth and Adelaide have listed place names in cities quite extensive, about a hundred different place names within Adelaide city council or the local government parks and lakes by researching their Aboriginal names, so that’s great. But what is interesting about all of this is, why do we now acknowledge Uluru and Kakadu as their correct traditional names but not Adelaide Sydney Brisbane Melbourne and Perth? I think the answer is perhaps, renaming in some contexts can be about re-inscribing white power rather than expunging it.

T H E B LA C K R I S I N G

To tell you what I mean I need to give you a brief description to explain this term of ‘whiteness’. Whiteness is not about ethnically or physically white people it is not about skin colour. But it is about a set of values where money and power are normalised for example, neoliberalism, that money and value is of course how society should operate and it’s about racism where there is superiority among certain races.

While we all understand what colonisation is and racism is and the effects of that, whiteness is the values that underlie that, whiteness are the values that gave rise to the expression of those values that you could colonise another and you could own another and there could be superiority among human beings.

Let me give you an example how this is all played out in the Australian landscape.

When the convicts and captain cook arrived in 1788 or there about, convicts were coming here from England with a whole lot of ‘class shaming’. They were coming as ‘you are being rejected, you are not good enough, you don’t belong here you need to go somewhere else you are being expelled from the tribe’. What

happened after they got to Australia initially after some of them broke out of the penal colonies or ran away and escaped, is they got looked after by Aboriginal people.

Some Aboriginal people chose to make it a fight like Pemulwuy in Sydney who tried frontier and resistance wars and other Aboriginal people thought ‘well we should look after these people because they are being abused as well, they are running away and they need food and water’. So Aboriginal people looked after them and there are accounts where convicts and Aboriginal people were getting on very well, initially. But what happened after they served out their term or had gone from convict to settler is they were given land or they were offered the opportunity to squat or take over land to have a plot of land by the governor at the time. What happened was the ‘class shaming’ was given a chance to be expunged, that you could make something of yourself if you took on this land. So any love or nice feelings or relationship they might have had between Aboriginal people and the convicts of looking after each other very quickly changed when land and value and land as money became part of the story.

Those same convicts became settlers, took over land and then colonisation as we know it, massacres and poisonings etc., became the order of the day and those good feelings of relationships between human beings changed because real estate got involved. This opportunity to ‘make something of yourself’ is an expression of ‘whiteness’, a value that land as money will fix everything. I think our current obsession with the block and all of these shows about real estate and location location location, we love how expensive land is in Australia. I actually think that that is an expression of whiteness and colonisation unchecked, because land has become a way to avoid the fear of

not having enough and to control the environment. So we are quite happy to acknowledge traditional owners these days in Australia, which is good, but only if we get to keep our land values. So, the central questions of power and money still are not addressed, who makes the decisions who owns the land?

What we do in Australia is we include Aboriginal people on white terms, the whiteness terms, normalised neoliberalism and racism, but we don’t do social justice we don’t do equalisation of power and money and in doing so we are actually reinscribing white power. Yes we should acknowledge traditional country but if we don’t as a nation have a conversation about sovereignty and how we share that or how we have a relationship now, what we are actually doing is reinscribing white power through ‘inclusion’ and ‘equality’ rather than actually talking about the real issues that remain unchecked.

Why isn’t Sydney renamed but Uluru is? Sydney did some research about its traditional names and some researchers found that Sydney cove was called Kardi. Meanjin is the Aboriginal name for Brisbane, from the local Turrbal language.

So why do we choose to call Uluru Uluru but not call Meanjin Meanjin? We are attempting to include Aboriginal language in our discussions in some ways but in many ways we are not, and were doing it in a way that does not address the underlying power imbalance, the underlying values, it all comes back to whose values and ontology and logic is considered normal or right or valid and whose is not. So, in the absence of that deeper conversation we going to do ‘inclusion’ we are going to include Aboriginal people in the constitution – ‘isn’t that nice, it’s so benevolent, we’re going to include you people in ours because we like you’.

ISSUE 7

Niceness is not what we are talking about here, it is not actually discussing who owns the land and how do we share that.

If we are not having this bigger conversation we are reinscribing the fear of not enough, the logic of whiteness and the power of the colonial, to each end we should expunge colonisation. We should rename our cities yes, but only after we have faced the truth of genocide; after we have had a truth and reconciliation commission rather than just reconciliation; after we have memorialised genocide like Germany does; after we have made reparations; after we have written this history into our national curriculum. Not because we want to feel guilty forever and a day but because we need our next generations to know what happened in their own country and after we have had a discussion about real power sharing between two sovereign groups of peoples - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and European people. How can we share sovereignty, how can we share decision making, power and money?

We need to find real peace, find a peace making process to do this to discuss what this country could and should be. Yes we should rename, but we should rename as a conscious act of social justice. Our values and motivations can be pure, can be more clear but at the moment we are not quite there, we are halfway there. We should chose atonement over guilt and shame, we should choose relationship over isolation and of course we should not choose fear but we should choose love.

33

Appropriating ‘Welcome to Country’ in Maitland: Is nothing sacred?

Greg Page, La Perouse/Walbunga

‘Welcome to Country’ and ‘Acknowledgement of Country’ have become a highly visible and familiar part of public ceremony in Australia in the past decade or two.

For Aboriginal people they are important because they provide at least some form of acknowledgement from the nonIndigenous people in attendance that they are not actually in Europe (anymore) and the history of the place they are in stretches back across many timeless generations. They also connect those in attendance with the year 1788 and all the dispossession, sickness and death the arrival of the first fleet brought. Welcome to Country acknowledges this by having an Aboriginal person up front asserting ownership, sovereignty and history of place.

Thinking about 1788 also changes the view of an individual piece of land as merely having a history of ‘previous good tenants and proximity to parks and beaches.’ All private property in Australia has a postinvasion start date after which someone with a European background and a European mindset decided to “improve” the land ready for sale or production.

As part of this grizzly process Aboriginal people got cast aside with extreme prejudice.

Aboriginal people know this and feel a deep sense of loss when they think about the appropriation of their land to the present day. This sentiment is captured by Kevin Gilbert in his piece, “On the Road to Queanbeyan:” I look at the open fields and see The space where my people used to be I see the scars of wounded ground I cry as I hear the death call sound Of curlew mourning by.

34

Sensible people in Australia understand, at least in part, the hurt caused by this injustice and, in their own way, try to make some form of amends. Thus we have the likes of, acknowledgement of country, the recognise movement, sea of hands, sorry days, etc. It is all largely tokenistic, but some will say, ‘at least it is something.’

So the revelation of Maitland City Council’s (MCC) official Welcome to Country policy recently was, to say the least, a bit of a jolt (more like a sledgehammer to the head).

The good councillors at MCC have decided that it is not enough to acknowledge just the Aboriginal traditional owners of the Maitland region when acknowledging country. No, the official Maitland Welcome to Country acknowledges the early settlers as well! According to Maitland’s official policy an appropriate Acknowledgement of Country would go like this: I would like to acknowledge the Wonnarua people who are the traditional custodians of the land. I would also like to pay respect to their people both past and present and extend that respect to other Aboriginal Australians who are present. I also acknowledge the colonial heritage of Maitland and recognise the contribution of the early settlers in laying the foundations of this great and historic city.

In other words, MCC have included the very people who did the dispossessing, killing, raping and banishing in the very instrument (acknowledgement of country) which is meant to aid reconciliation of these wrongs.

After picking my jaw up off the floor, I checked the MCC website for the procedure around how this policy was able to become in any way ‘official’. A bit of poking around led to the agenda and minutes at the council meeting on 12 June 2012. The responsible officer for the policy

T H E B LA C K R I S I N G

draft told me that as part of the policy formulation process he had gone to talk to people at Mindaribba Local Aboriginal Land Council in 2012. As far as he could remember they gave their consent to the policy draft.

How could that be? Consent for the colonials, the land thieves? I asked him if the draft as presented to Mindaribba included the wording about the settlers.

The ‘responsible officer’ said he could not remember. He did add, however, that policy can be amended on the floor of council without notice, on-the-fly.

Ultimately the ‘responsible officer’ was quite defensive about MCC’s position.

When I asked him about why MCC, of all the local councils in Australia, had decided to deviate so widely from not just their own stated guidelines for the policy, but the reconciliation path the whole of Australian society is currently following, he replied that council is the democratic representative for the will of the people of Maitland.

The lady I spoke to at Mindaribba Land Council, whose father is involved in performing Welcome to Country said that they found out about this about a few months ago and were “challenging it”.

She described the whole situation as “very stressful.” When asked about her attitude to colonial settler recognition in the policy she said, “isn’t that what Australia Day is for?”

Notwithstanding the distress of the local Koori people at Mindaribba especially and all other Aboriginal people in the area, it seems to me this is yet another example of how the “representative government” model in Australia repeatedly fails Aboriginal people in Australia.

If it is to be assumed that the policy was researched, drafted and forwarded to council in the standard form as prescribed by the Office of local Government in NSW, Reconciliation Australia and accepted pretty much everywhere else in Australia, then perhaps the policy was changed on the floor of council because a few of the councillors got their back up about the wording.

When I contacted the NSW Office of Local Government they told me that “Welcome to Country” policies are solely a matter for individual councils.

So, in other words, Aboriginal people are stuck with whatever their local government thinks is appropriate for them. Again, the very instrument which facilitated the dispossession originally now reinforces it.

Truly, this is racism.

The problem of governance in Australia is that since the arrival of the Europeans, the needs and desires of Aboriginal people have been an afterthought. Their cultural values are an afterthought, their history is an afterthought.

Who do the councillors of MCC represent?

In assessing the responses of all levels of government in Australia to the needs of Aboriginal people one must refer back to the famous “Governor Davey” Proclamation Board of 1828. The response to my enquiries received from the ‘responsible officer’ of MCC, namely that the Acknowledgement of Country policy reflects the will of the people of Maitland, reminds me of the position of the Governor and his minions in the final two panels of the proclamation board where the redcoats sit as the sole authority and take it upon themselves to mete out ultimate European justice to both black and white alike. By which mechanism have Aboriginal people ever agreed to this?

So the problem we have, both in Governor Davey’s proclamation in Tasmania of 1828 and the Welcome to Country policy of MCC in 2012 is that a discriminatory colonial policy has been implemented without the consent of Aboriginal people. In both cases the policy has been instituted through the implied agreement of the local Aboriginal people, agreement which is actually fictitious. But that did not stop the red coats in both Tasmania and Maitland.

Nope, it’s the democratic will of a system of governance no Aboriginal person has ever consented to (!?).

As all Aboriginal people know, Australia will never quit appropriating Aboriginal land, culture, language, law, cuisine, legend, children, sport, music, art, etc. So what has happened at Maitland should come as no shock.

There is only one way to truly “close the gap”... Aboriginal people fully controlling our lives, our communities, our institutions. Just as we did up until the catastrophe of 1788.

We must demand our own Aboriginal hospitals, schools, parliament, councils, multi-campus national University (the Catholics have one, why not us?), prisons, police force, courts, social welfare safety net, housing, etc.

ISSUE 7

To facilitate this we need control over our economies (finally cutting the white funding puppet strings – the basis of their power over us) by receiving ongoing financial tribute from the Australian state for allowing the use of our continent, in perpetuity. They need to pay us ongoing rent, basically - on every square inch.

This is the basis of a real treaty with the Australian state, not some wishy-washy amendment to a racist constitution created by the same men who framed the whiteAustralia policy.

This is sovereignty. True sovereignty - the sure right of Aboriginal people from the start of time until the end.

35

WE ARE REACHING OUT TO ALL OF OUR READERS

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT Our magazine would not exist if it were not for the support of our followers, we are truly grateful for every way (no matter how big or small) you show your support. Whether it is sharing content from our facebook page (facebook.com/BlackRisingMagazine) and website (theblackrising. com), subscribing to our hard copy magazines (https://goo.gl/forms/ ewYxcXIWm5B64gUv2) or printing and distributing to Aboriginal organisations and people in your community.

Our team has set ourselves a new goal - we are wanting to increase our subscription base to more remote communities. Numerous Aboriginal communities have reached out to us and want bulk lots of our magazine sent to them so they can distribute around their communities. We want your assistance in reaching our goal - here are some more ways you can help: Donating postage supplies: • A4 envelopes; • A4 express post packages; • Stamps; Contact us at theblackrisingmag@gmail.com to organise pickup/delivery.

Financial contributions Any financial donations can help us to purchase the above items. Our account details are follows: Acc Name: Brisbane Blacks Bsb: 084-447 Acc: 391 904 305

Every little bit helps and we thank you in advance for your support!

36

T H E B LA C K R I S I N G