Culture

What is 'Decolonisation'? - How do we Decolonise?

Body
What is 'Decolonisation'? - How do we Decononise?

ne of the basic fundamental facets to achieve true decolonisation, that is, we must learn to decolonise our minds. This essentially means that we must stop thinking like our oppressor and thereby stop trying to fit a round peg in a square hole.

I say this because every time we talk about progressing forward in our ambition to achieve self-determination and independence, too often our people revert to saying: We have to ask the government, or we need to ask them for money.

London Statement of Common Purpose - Reparations & Decolonisation (ICPF)

Body
International Consultative Preparatory Forum, London meeting working group

The London Statement of Common Purpose arising from a momentous event, which continues in the best Black radical traditions in our Peoples making of world history. This International Consultative Preparatory Forum was initiated by the First Nations 'Spearhead Pacific Alliance' on Decolonisation and Reparations in alliance of Tribal Chiefs, Rulers, Lawmen and Law women and includes the Sovereign Union of First Nations and Peoples; the Union of British Columbian Chiefs who are non-Treaty Nations; and colonized Pacific Nations, including the Fiji Native Government-in-Exile.

Yingiya Mark Guyula maiden speech - NT parliament 2016

Body
Independent Member of Nhulunbuy, Yingiya Mark Guyula, reading his maiden speech. Northern Territory Government 2016

We declare that we have not been conquered. We declare that to this day we are a sovereign people. We declare that we will subject to our Madayin system of law constituted by the unseen creator of the universe and reveal to givers of law (inaudible), and we continue to steward this system through our lawful authroities and governments.
Our Madayin system of law is guarded by the Yothu Yindi separation of powers. Our Madayin system of law is a rule of law not a rule of man. Our Madayin system of law is the equal of any other system of law.

Aboriginal people feel pressured to lose values, culture to be successful, study says

Body
Pressure to lose-values-culture

A new report suggests Aboriginal people are facing enormous pressure to lose their traditional culture in order to be successful in Australia.
"Daily I'm juggling with who I am, how I talk, how I act and look and whatever," an anonymous respondent in the study said. "So you get it from the whitefella's, you know, that you can't talk good English, and then these blackfella's: 'Why are you acting white, talking white?'"

An historic handful of dirt: Whitlam and the legacy of the Wave Hill Walk-Off

Body
Wave Hill 2016

Fifty years ago , on the morning of August 23, 1966, Vincent Lingiari led a walk-off of 200 Gurindji, Mudburra and Warlpiri workers and their families from a remote Northern Territory cattle station, escaping a century of servitude . The families rejected the pleas of their British multinational employer Vestey’s to return to the Wave Hill station, re-occupied an area of their own land at Wattie Creek, and fought until the nation’s leaders heeded their cause. Nine years later, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam symbolically returned the Gurindji’s country with a handful of red dirt.

Dare to be wise: Decolonisation underpins the Sovereign Treaties processes

Body

Copy of Sovereign Union Letter (and document) delivered to the United Nations in New York to the Secretary General of the United Nations by Ghillar, Michael Anderson on 16 June 2016. The summary of the 40 page attached document named 'Dare to be wise: Decolonisation underpins the Sovereign Treaties processes in contrast to 'Recognise' which fosters assimilation' is included here along with a link to a pdf copy of the entire document.

The invasion and the non-Aboriginal claim to sovereignty

Body

It must be acknowledged that this country was invaded and this is confirmed by the actions of Captain James Cook when he fired at the first group of Aboriginal people he came in contact with. Then the invaders imprisoned us and interned us in detention centres in the guise of looking after our welfare, protecting us from the barbarous acts of the squatocracy and their militias, supported by the police and redcoats, and then had the audacity to try and establish representative government on the land of others, while we were being imprisoned and killed.

'Aboriginal Heritage Act' changes give traditional owners less say: First Nations groups

Body

Proposed changes to South Australia's Aboriginal Heritage Act will reduce powers of traditional owners, according to Indigenous groups.

South Australian Native Title Services chief executive officer Keith Thomas believed amended language in the act would give traditional owners less say over their heritage. "This is going to help people who want to access lands and destroy heritage, rather than improving the protection of Aboriginal heritage," he said.

Ancient First Nations stories preserve history of a rise in sea level

Body

We can be almost certain that the First Nations people did occupy the coast “where the Great Barrier Reef now stands” during the last ice age for it would have comprised broad floodplains and undulating hills with a range of subsistence possibilities, bordered in most parts by steep cliffs ... then the story might date from as much as 13,000 years ago. A more conservative interpretation, based on a sea level just 30 metres lower than today, would place the age of this story at around 10,000 years ago.

History repeats: Ethnic cleansing in ACT 1954 and now in WA removal from homelands.

Body
Media Release - 18 December 20143

Australian governments continually and blatantly attack the most vulnerable in our communities and argue that they are concerned for our welfare and the widening 'Gap' in terms of the disparity in our education, etc., while calling us Australian citizens.
But we know we are not Australians citizens under the Australian Constitution and never have been and this is why governments can commit the gross violations of human rights against us and think they can get away with it.