Honest History tries to keep up with links, both brief and wordy, relevant to First Australians, with particular reference to dispossession, invasion and policy backtracks, cover-ups and Closing the Gap. (Perhaps the last could be dubbed ‘Polyfilla Policy’.) We put these links and succinct comment under our thumbnail ‘Our First Peoples‘.
Occasionally, people draw interesting material to our attention and we wish they would do so more often. We are very much aware that the thumbnail items are very much a whitefeller’s view of what seems to be important (and easily accessible) in the field. On the other hand, we let out a heartfelt ‘right on!’ when we read the editorial by Jonathan Green (another whitefeller) in the latest Meanjin. Jonathan referred to ‘the relationship between possessors and dispossessed that is the foundation issue of the long Australian cultural conflict’. Yep.
In this week before the election, we found these:
- Murray Chapman in The Conversation reminded us that Indigenous suicide rates are way above those for settler Australians – in the Kimberley the Indigenous rate runs at seven times the national average.
- The Monthly for July just came out and includes Marcia Langton on the Dhu and Daley cases and what they say about attitudes to violence against Indigenous women.
- Also in The Monthly is Megan Davis on how the renewed interest in Treaty jibes with recognition. (Scroll down on our thumbnail to a couple of pieces posted on 22 June on this and related issues.)
- The Monthly again has Rachel Perkins on Arrernte women’s songs.
- Finally, The Monthly has Yolngu man, Galarrwuy Yunupingu, writing about his life and the importance of song cycles. ‘Yolngu balance our lives through the song cycles that are laid out on the ceremony grounds. These are the universities of our people, where we hone and perfect our knowledge.’
27 June 2016
