Guest post by Chips Mackinolty* While “we speak our mother’s tongue” is a universal truism, it is something often forgotten in the context of colonialism and the overt and extended suppression of Indigenous languages across what is now called Australia. How can a “mother’s tongue” be spoken if the children have been taken away? If [...]
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 [...]
I have lived my song cycle … In remembering this extraordinary Aboriginal leader it is difficult to forget the meaning of his family name—Yunupingu—which in the Gumatj dialect of the Yolngu Matha language family means “the rock that stands against time”.Across so many decades, Yunupingu’s deeds and actions in the struggles for lands, seas, language [...]
I find it hard to put into words just how much this great Yolŋu man achieved and how much we owe him. When he first became Chair of the Northern Land Council in 1977, the Fraser Government had only just passed into law the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. He would be Chair [...]
The Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP delivering the second reading speech for the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) Bill 2023 This is the Second Reading Speech for the Constitution Alteration (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice) Bill 2023 as delivered by Attorney-General The Hon Mark Dreyfus KC MP earlier today, 30 March [...]
We may never get to a “true” version of what happened on that dirt road forty-one years ago. Further crucial details may be found in the many thousands of pages of Court, Coronial and RCDIAC transcripts and the numerous submissions, statements, correspondence and exhibits used in those matters.
Last week two Aboriginal men—Matthew Ryan and Ross Mandi—filed a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission (the AHRC) against the Australian Electoral Commission (the AEC) alleging that the AEC has effectively suppressed the Aboriginal vote in remote areas in the Northern Territory.
Keep Australia Clean (Kill a Coon); If Abos want land they should buy the bastard the same as the whites do. They have no rights to any land whatever. If they don’t want to work under our system – let ‘em starve; People with black legs won’t be served; and Buy some Coon cheese today for catching black mice: Noticeboard, Daly Waters Hotel, 1978.
It was not until 16 August 1975 that negotiations with Vesteys, owners of the Wave Hill lease, were completed, and the lease for the Gurindji tribal land at Wattie Creek was handed to Vincent Lingiari, leader of the Gurindji.
The neck is stretched out, the head thrown back, the legs straight and stiff. The fits are brought on or made worse by the slightest touch, sound or light. Finally, one dreadful seizure follows another, until they are continuous and death ensues.
