Lately there’s been a lot of people demanding more detail about the Uluru Statement From The Heart.
Over the years I’ve collected a bunch of foundational documents made by Aboriginal people that have called for land rights, a Treaty, constitutional recognition, redress for past injustices and much more.
It is no coincidence that many of these documents come out of small, remote Northern Territory communities, where a combination of enduring cultural authority, law, political effect and capacity mean that NT Aboriginal leaders were well placed to lead these struggles.
If you are looking for ‘details’ the Uluru Statement From The Heart website has all of the detail and background you’ll need.
You can follow the links below for the full post for each document—or search here at The Northern Myth—for further information that provide useful background to the Uluru Statement From The Heart and the broader struggles.
Enjoy!
Bob Gosford,
Darwin, NT
1 – the 1963 Yirrkala Bark Petitions
In June 1963 Yolngu clan leaders organised for paintings of sacred designs to be incorporated into the newly built and dedicated Methodist Church at Yirrkala in north-east Arnhem land.
The next month Federal parliamentarians viewed the paintings and recommended they make a bark petition to the Federal parliament to state their grievances.
The petition would request “a Committee, accompanied by competent interpreters, to hear the views of the people of Yirrkala before permitting the excision of this land“.
Thus the Church panels were the forerunners of the famous Yirrkala Bark Petition sent to Canberra in 1963, and a prelude to Milirrpum v Nabalco, in which the Yolngu sued to forestall the mining. You can read some wonderful background and analysis to the Church Panels by the late Will Owen here.
The painting of the panels was the first significant “land rights” statement documenting Aboriginal custodianship of their country.
You can read more about the Bark Petitions and the Yolngu & English text at The Northern Myth.
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2 – The Original Wave Hill Mob Letter of 1967
In late August 1966, Gurindji elder Vincent Lingiari led 200 Aboriginal workers off Wave Hill cattle station, 800 kilometres south-west of Darwin, where they worked for the British pastoral company Vestey.
The strike would last 7 years.
The Gurindji’s complaints included low wages and poor conditions but the focus of the campaign moved from workers’ rights to land rights.
With the assistance of Frank J. Hardy and J. W. Jeffrey in April 1976 the leaders of the strike wrote to the Governor-General.
You can read the full text of the letter at The Northern Myth.
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3 – the 1972 Larrakia Petition
A guest post by Dr Bill Day, an anthropologist who has chronicled the struggle of the Larrakia people for their land in and around Darwin.
In 2011 the National Archives of Australia described ‘the Larrakia Petition’ as ‘one of the most important documents in the history of Indigenous Australian’s struggle for land rights’.
The petition has also been displayed at the National Library in Canberra.
You can read background to the Larrakia claims for their land and the complete text of the petition at The Northern Myth.
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4 – the 1988 Barunga Statement
The Barunga Statement is an iconic document in Australian Aboriginal history and it is well worth exploring its history both before it was painted and delivered to Prime Minister Bob Hawke in July 1988.
In his piece Barunga Stories, written in February 2006, American Aboriginal art historian and author Will Owen presents an overview of the circumstances leading up to and following the presentation of the Barunga Statement to Bob Hawke in mid-1988.
You can read more of Will Owens’ fascinating account and the full text of the Barunga Statement at The Northern Myth.
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5 – the 1992 Redfern Park Speech
Prime Minister Keating’s speech to a crowd consisting largely of Aboriginal people was remarkable as much for its frankness and his acknowledgement of the consequences of colonial genocide, the Stolen Generations and the ongoing oppression of Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The speech remains as relevant now as it was in 1992.
Delivered in Sydney’s Aboriginal heartland in honour of the 1993 International Year Of Indigenous People, the speech saw Keating directly address the Indigenous community and take moral responsibility for the atrocities of colonisation for the first time.
You can read the full text of Prime Minister Keating’s address at The Northern Myth.
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6 – the 1993 Eva Valley Statement
The Eva Valley Statement arose out of one of the most turbulent events in recent Aboriginal history – how the Federal government would devise and implement legislation reflecting the High Court of Australia’s decision in Mabo’s case.
At their August 1993 meeting at Eva Valley in the Northern Territory indigenous representatives issued a statement in which they rejected the government’s proposed native title act.
Their alternative called for ‘legislation to advance Aboriginal rights to land‘ and for the commonwealth to exclude the states from involvement in indigenous issues.
You can read comprehensive background and the full text of the Eva Valley Statement at The Northern Myth.
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7 – the 1998 Kalkaringi Statement
Two months before the 1998 NT Statehood referendum 800 or so Aboriginal people gathered on Gurindji country at Kalkaringi, west of Katherine, NT.
In anticipation of the referendum, the mid-August meeting rejected the proposed draft NT Constitution and agreed to withhold consent to Statehood until good faith negotiations commenced between the NT government and Aboriginal people with a view to developing a Constitution based on ‘equality, co-existence and mutual respect’.
You can read lots of background material and the full text of the 1998 Kalkaringi Statement at The Northern Myth.
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8 – the 2008 Yuendumu Petition
In October 2008—just over a year after the Federal government intervention into hundreds of Northern Territory Aboriginal communities—more that 200 mainly
Warlpiri residents of the small town of Yuendumu, 300 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs in the heartland of the Tanami Desert, presented then Federal
Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin with a petition protesting the treatment meted out to them and their community under that policy.
The text of the petition in their own Warlpiri language, and with an English translation is available at The Northern Myth.
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9 – the 2008 Yirrkala Statement
In early 2009 Mr Yunupingu, as part of a long and thoughtful essay in The Monthly magazine reflected on his personal history and recorded his memories of the days that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd came to Yirrkala and was presented with the 2008 Yirrkala Statement.
“It’s July 2008 and I wait for the new prime minister, Kevin Rudd. An event is taking place at Yirrkala and I have called the leaders of the 13 clans together. No children or young people will participate, only leaders, men and women who have proved themselves: delak.”
“By my side are Djinyini Gondarra and the leaders of the Elcho clans, Richard Ganduwuy and Dunga Dunga Gondarra, Butharripi Gurruwiwi. Wilson Ganambarr, Gali Gurruwiwi, Gekurr Guyula and Timmy Burrawanga are there. Laklak and Dhuwarrwarr Marika are there, too, along with the great old man from Gan Gan, Garrawan Gumana. My cousin Banambi Wunungmurra brings the prime minister down to us.”
You can read the Yolngu Matha text of the Yirrkala Statement – and the translation in English – at The Northern Myth.
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10 – The 2018 Barunga Agreement
On the 8th of June 2018 the Northern Territory Government and the NT’s four Aboriginal Land Councils signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding paving the way for consultations to begin with Aboriginal people about a Treaty.
The MoU was signed on the first day of the Barunga Sport and Cultural Festival and the 30th anniversary of the presentation of the 1988 Barunga Statement to Prime Minister Bob Hawke, who promised a Treaty between the Commonwealth and Australia’s Indigenous peoples, but that was never delivered.
On February 2019 the NT government appointed Professor Mick Dodson as the NT Treaty Commissioner. Professor Dodson congratulated the NT Government for initiating the Treaty process.
“Anyone who has listened to me talk publicly, knows that I am concerned with what I call “the unfinished business”.
You can read the text of the 2018 Barunga Agreement at The Northern Myth.
