Week 2Foundations

The foundations of our beliefs.• Aboriginal people have never ceded sovereignty.• Aboriginal sovereignty was never ceded.• What is Sovereignty: is the quality of having supreme,

independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory.It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided. Source: Wikipedia

• Aboriginal identity is paramount to who you are & where you belong.

• Community has authority over you.• Regardless of your location, your Aboriginality is authentic.

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Uncle Chappy Williams: 'Always was, always will be' - Aboriginal Tent Embassy

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Basic Protocols

* Must be conducted by a Traditional Owner.* When is it appropriate to say it?* What is the process to approach and elder for a Welcome to country.

Welcome to Country

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'Welcome to Country' Traditional Indigenous ceremony”

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Acknowledgement of Country

• Can be conducted by both Indigenous & Non - Indigenous people

• When is it appropriate to say it?• Wording: I would like to acknowledge the

traditional owner of this land.

• there has been recent debate in Australian Parliment about banning the requirement of an acknowledgement of the First Australians.

Acknowledgement of Country

The Elders

• Elders bridge the past and the present and provide guidance for the future. They teach important traditions and pass on their skills, knowledge and personal experiences. It is for these reasons that in Indigenous societies elders are treated with respect.

• Elders are usually 50 + years of age and acknowledged as leaders in their communities.

• You call and Elder Aunty or Uncle as a sign of respect.

LAND

Connection to Country

Cultural Heritage• Culture - the total of ways of living built up by a

group of human beings, which is passed on from one generation to the next.

• Heritage - that which comes or belongs to one by reason of birth.

• Maintaining one's culture, values and traditions is beyond price. Human beings cannot live without that. We are glad to share our culture with Europeans and other migrants but we will never give them up.

- Getano Lui, jnr Thursday Island, 1994

• Although Indigenous cultures are very strong, years of European misunderstanding and indifference have affected them. Today, Indigenous communities keep cultures alive by: - passing their knowledge, arts, rituals and performances from one generation to another - speaking and teaching languages - protecting cultural property and sacred and significant sites and objects

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Terra Nullius

• Terra nullius ( /ˈtɛrə nʌˈlaɪ.əs/) is a Latin expression deriving from Roman law meaning "land belonging to no one" (or "no man's land"),[1] which is used in international law to describe territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state, or over which any prior sovereign has expressly or implicitly relinquished sovereignty. Sovereignty over territory which is terra nullius may be acquired through occupation,[2] though in some cases doing so would violate an international law or treaty.

• Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_nullius

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Native Title• The Mabo and Wik High Court Decisions

In 1992 the Australian High Court finally recognised that Australia was not simply an empty piece of land when the Captain Cook sailed up the coast in 1770 and claimed the eastern half of a  continent which had already been occupied for at least 40,000 years as a piece of British real estate.

In the historic Mabo decision they recognised that the prior rights of Aborigines and Torres Strait islanders were similar to those of indigenous groups in other parts of the world.

• In 1993 the Keating Government introduced the Native Title Act to deal with the implications of the Mabo decision. The Native Title Act 1993 set forward procedures for dealing with Native Title claims and retrospectively validated the interests of non-indigenous land holders. In an historic compromise, indigenous groups accepted this validation process in exchange for guaranteed rights to negotiate.

• Source:http://rodhagen.customer.netspace.net.au/nativetitle.html 14

Tent Embassy• A diplomatic mission to government

Late on Australia Day 1972, three young Aboriginal men erected a beach umbrella on the lawns outside Parliament House in Canberra and put up a sign which read 'Aboriginal Embassy'. Over the following months, supporters of the embassy swelled to 2000. When the police violently dismantled the tents and television film crews captured the violence for the evening news, an outraged public expressed its disgust to the federal government.

This political action was initiated and implemented by Aboriginal activists. The site became known as the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. It was a powerful symbol. The original owners of the land set up an 'embassy' opposite the parliament, as if they were foreigners. This act showed compellingly the strength of their sense of alienation. They were landless. Their embassy was a tent - a well understood image of poverty and impermanence. Their camp attracted unprecedented support from people across the country who recognised their sense of grievance and made their views known to the government.

Source:http://www.indigenousrights.net.au/section.asp?sID=12

http://www.indigenousrights.net.au/section.asp?sID=12

source

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The Aboriginal Tent Embassy 1972

• Source: http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/images/history/1970s/emb72/p3.html16

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The Tent embassy Video

• http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=aboriginal+tent+embassy+1972&aq=1m&oq=tent+em

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Land Rights• The Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 was the

first attempt by an Australian government to legally recognise the Aboriginal system of land ownership and put into law the concept of inalienable freehold title. The Land Rights Act is a fundamental piece of social reform.

• source: http://www.clc.org.au/Ourland/land_rights_act/Land_rights_act.html

• What are land rights : Land rights refer to the inalienable ability of individuals to obtain, utilise, and possess land at their discretion, as long as their activities on the land do not impede on other individuals’ rights. This is not to be confused with access to land, which allows individuals the use of land in an economic sense (i.e. farming). Instead, land rights address the ownership of land which provides security and increases human capabilities. When a person only has access to land, they are in constant threat of expulsion depending on the choices of the land owner, which limits financial stability.

• Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_law 18

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What’s the difference between native title and land rights?

• Native title involves the recognition of pre-existing rights and interests of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders in relation to land and waters.

Land rights involve the grant of interests in land under various legislation. Other differences between the two relate to what areas can be claimed, who can make a claim and the claim process.

source:http://www.nntt.gov.au/Publications-And-Research/Publications/Documents/Fact%20sheets/Fact%20Sheet%20What's%20the%20difference%20between%20native%20title%20and%20land%20rights%20September%202007.pdf1

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FAMILY

Family• All people with the same skin grouping as my

mother are my mothers... They have the right, the same as my mother, to watch over me, to control what I'm doing, to make sure that I do the right thing. It's an extended family thing... It's a wonderful secure system.

• Your kids are your grand parents responsibility.

• This is also known as the Moiety system.

Source: Wadjularbinna Doomadgee

• They just came down and say, "We taking these kids". They just take you out if your mothers arms. That's what they done to me. I was still at my mother's breast when they took me. Alex Kruger, 1995

• The greatest assault on Indigenous cultures and family life was the forced separation or 'taking away' of Indigenous children from their families.

• how did the stolen generations impact on Indigenous Australians?• over 100,000 children where removed from there families during the stolen

generations.• The removals occurred in the period between approximately 1869 and 1969, although

in some places children were still being taken in the 1970s

• There is no black or white, we are both of those. I am black and I am white. We were the product of white men raping our taditional women. We were an embarrassment. No-one wanted us. They just wanted us out of the way.

—Zita Wallace, taken aged eight years [14]

Read more: http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/politics/stolen-generations.html#stolen-generations-guide#ixzz1Tm3JZf8c

The Stolen Generation

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Stolen Generation continued.

• The Stolen Generations (also known as Stolen children) is a term used to describe the children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families by the Australian Federal and State government agencies and church missions, under acts of their respective parliaments. The removals occurred in the period between approximately 1869[1] and 1969,[2][3] although in some places children were still being taken in the 1970s

• source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolen_Generations

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This occurred in every Australian state from the late 1800s until the practice was officially ended in 1969. During this time as many as 100 000 children were separated from their families. These children became known as the Stolen Generation.

The separation took three forms:

- putting Indigenous children into government-run institutions;

- adoption of children by white families;

- and the fostering of children into white families.

The last two strategies were particularly applied to 'fair-skinned' children. These forced separations were part of deliberate policies of assimilation. Their aim was to cut children off from their culture to have them raised to think and act as 'white'.

Blind Eye: Documentary on Stolen Generation

Dreamtime or The Dreaming

The expression 'Dreamtime' is most often used to refer to the 'time before time', or 'the time of the creation of

all things', while 'Dreaming' is often used to refer to an individual's or group's set of beliefs or spirituality.

For instance, an Indigenous Australian might say that

they have Kangaroo Dreaming, or Shark Dreaming, or Honey Ant Dreaming, or any combination of Dreamings pertinent to their 'country'. However, many Indigenous

Australians also refer to the creation time as 'The Dreaming'.

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Belief Systems

Lily Karedada “Wandjina Rainmaker”

'Dreamtime' or 'Dreaming'

What is certain is that 'Ancestor Spirits' came to Earth in human and other forms and the land, the plants and animals were given their form as we know them today.

These Spirits also established relationships between groups and individuals, (whether people or animals) and where they travelled across the land, or came to a halt, they created rivers, hills, etc., and there are often stories attached to these places.

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How the birds got their songs - Aboriginal Dreamtime Story

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HistoryKey Historical moments in Australia’s

Indigenous History.

•1788 – Captain Cook Landed in Australia – and Declared Australia Terra Nullius. And Commenced the Colonisation of Australia. Which lead to the Massacre & genocide of many of it’s native people’s.

•1897 – The introduction of the Aboriginal Protection Act – which led to the removal of Indigenous & Half Caste Children being removed from their parents and placed into Church run Missions.

•1957 – NAIDOC week commences

•1967 – The Referendum occurs and Indigenous Australian are Allowed to Vote and are Identified as Australian Citizens.

•1997 – The Government Commissions the Bring Home report – Into the Removal of Indigenous Children from there Parents “The Stolen Generation”

•2008 – The Rudd Government “Apologises to the Stolen Generations”

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Aboriginal Elder seeks clarification of Australian Sovereignty; holding United Nations accountable

Indigenous communities have strong family values that are rarely endorsed or understood by government authorities. Children are not just the concern of the biological parents,

but the entire community. Therefore, the raising, care, education and discipline of children are the responsibility of

everyone - male, female, young and old. Indigenous education stresses the relationship between the child and its social and natural environment, which

children learn by close observation and practice. However, some knowledge's are secret and are revealed only when

the child is ready.

The government policies (Aborigines protection and Opium Act, 1897) in which families and communities were separated were more than just heartbreaking for the individuals involved - they also effectively halted the

passing of cultural knowledge from one generation to another.