Indigenous Australia For Dummies

Foreword xvii Introduction 1 About This Book 1 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 2 Where to Go from Here 3 Part 1: An Ancient People: Then and Now 5 Chapter 1: Understanding Indigenous Australia 7 Indigenous Cultures: Then and Now 8 Ancient traditions 8 Diversity, diversity and more diversity 9 Contemporary painting, singing and dancing 9 Old and new ways of storytelling 10 And they can kick a ball! 10 There Goes the Neighbourhood 10 The takeover begins 11 The colony spreads 11 Loss of land 11 And children taken too 12 Fighting Back 12 The right to be equal 12 Changing the playing field 13 ‘We want our land back’ 13 Reconciliation, practical reconciliation and intervention 14 ‘Sorry’ — and then what? 14 New Problems for an Old Culture 14 Breaking the cycle of poverty 15 Challenging the rules and regulations 15 Setting up Indigenous enterprises 16 Doing It for Ourselves 16 Chapter 2: Rich Past, Strong Traditions 17 The First Australians 18 65,000 Years of Tradition 19 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Populations Today 21 Defining who is an Indigenous person 21 Counting the Indigenous population in Australia 23 Locating where Indigenous people live today 25 A Note about the Torres Strait Islands 27 Saying G’Day 28 ‘Aboriginal’, ‘Torres Strait Islander’, ‘First Nations’ or ‘Indigenous’? 28 ‘Aboriginal’ or ‘Aborigine’? 29 Us mob: Koori, Goori or Murri; Noongar or Nunga? 29 Opening an Event: Welcome to Country 30 Welcome or acknowledgement? 30 What do I say? 31 Whose land am I on? 32 Defining the Identity of an Aboriginal Person or a Torres Strait Islander 33 Stereotypes of Indigenous people 34 But some of us have blond hair and blue eyes! 36 Chapter 3: A Land of Cultural Diversity 37 Exploring the Indigenous Relationship to Land 38 Oral title deeds 39 Accessing another’s country 39 Celebrating Cultural Diversity 39 Clans and nations 40 More than 500 different nations 40 Freshwater people and saltwater people 41 Kinship and Totemic Systems 42 Moieties and skin names 42 Totems 44 Talking Languages 45 Who speaks what now? 45 Vulnerability of languages 46 Coming Together 48 Trade routes 48 Songlines 49 Maintaining Links to Traditional Country 49 Aboriginal land councils 50 Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation 51 National parks 51 Chapter 4: Traditional Cultural Values and Practices 53 Going Back to the Dreamtime 54 How was the world made? 55 The southern sky 55 An oral tradition of storytelling 56 Indigenous Worldviews 57 Sharing based on reciprocity 57 Respecting the wisdom of Elders 58 Separating women’s business from men’s business 58 Respect for the environment 59 Living with Nature 60 Hunting and gathering 61 Bush food 61 Bush medicine 63 Tools 64 Looking to the Skies 67 The Dark Emu 67 Controlling the Environment 67 Fire 68 Harvesting 68 Fish traps 69 Middens 69 Shelter 69 Contemporary Cultural Values 70 Caring for Country 71 Part 2: Invasion 73 Chapter 5: First Contacts 75 Looking for the Unknown Southern Land: Contact before 1770 76 Meet the neighbours: The Macassans 76 The Dutch were here 78 And then came the English 78 Landing in Australia: Cook’s Arrival 79 Cook’s instructions 80 Joseph Banks’ observations 81 The French floating around 81 Establishing a British Colony 82 Seeing through Indigenous Eyes: Perspectives on the Arrival 82 ‘We thought they were ghosts’ 83 ‘Are they human?’ 83 Chapter 6: The Brits’ First Colony: 1788 85 Captain Phillip and the First Fleet 86 The long trip over 86 The Captain’s orders 87 Establishing a Penal Colony 88 First impressions 89 A difficult start 90 Seeing How the Locals Dealt with the New Arrivals 91 Bennelong 92 Barangaroo 93 Pemulwuy 94 Patyegarang and Lieutenant Dawes 96 Chapter 7: Pushing the Boundaries of the Colony 99 Opening Up the Land: White Settlement Spreads 100 Spreading Disease Far and Wide 101 Meeting Aboriginal Resistance 102 Growing the British Colony 105 Over the mountains 107 To Van Diemen’s Land 108 Into Moreton Bay 110 The Adelaide experiment 110 Dealing with Frontier Conflict 111 A wealth of misunderstanding 111 Official responses 112 Refuge at a cost: Missions and reserves 116 Ignoring Prior Ownership: No Treaties 120 Chapter 8: Land, Livestock and Loss 123 Clashing Cultures: Conflict over Land 124 Aboriginal people, land grants and squatters 124 Conflict on the frontier 126 Aboriginal People and the Developing Pastoral Economy 127 Off the sheep’s back 128 The rise of the cattle industry 128 Aboriginal women and pastoralists 132 Asserting Rights and Other Acts of Resistance 133 The petitions of William Cooper 133 The Pilbara strike 134 The Wave Hill walk-off 135 Chapter 9: Taking the Children 137 Examining the Ideology of Assimilation 138 ‘Making them white’ 139 ‘Focus on the children’: Forget about the oldies 140 ‘For their own good’ 141 Formalising the Removal Policy: Rules and Regulations 142 The impact on Indigenous children 143 The impact on Indigenous families 144 Acknowledging the Stolen Generations 145 The report of the inquiry into the Stolen Generations 145 The official response 147 Unfinished Business: Reparations and Compensation 149 Saying sorry 150 Seeking legal justice 152 The realities of litigation and compensation 153 Part 3: Indigenous Activism 157 Chapter 10: Citizenship Rights 159 Early Claims to Better Treatment 160 Flinders Island 161 Coranderrk 162 Cummeragunja reserve 164 British Subjects, but Not Quite 164 Denying basic rights 165 For their own ‘protection’ 166 The realities of assimilation 167 Excluding Indigenous People from the Constitution 167 The states establish their powers 168 A legal ability to discriminate 169 War Heroes: Frontier Wars and Beyond 170 The black diggers 170 Returned soldiers and racism 173 Still Denied Equality 174 Dispossession increases 174 A piece of paper to say you’re white 175 Not Taking It Lying Down 175 Indigenous people organise 176 The 1938 Day of Mourning 178 Steps Towards Equality 179 Chapter 11: The 1967 Referendum 181 Growing Awareness of Indigenous Disadvantage 182 FCAA and FCAATSI 183 The Freedom Ride 184 The Referendum is Announced 186 Getting to ‘yes’: The constitutional campaign 187 Australia decides 188 Lasting Legacies of the Referendum 189 The power to legislate 190 But no protection against discrimination 190 The myths of the referendum 192 The unintended consequences 192 Not what was hoped for so what next? 193 Chapter 12: Land Rights 195 Establishing the Modern Land Rights Movement 196 Linking land rights and social justice 196 Setting up the Tent Embassy 198 Visiting the Black Panthers 200 Comparing Land Rights with Native Title 202 Legislating Land Rights 203 Recommending the Northern Territory Land Rights Act 204 Looking at the New South Wales Land Rights Act 207 Failing to Secure a National Land Rights Scheme 208 Following the Mabo Case: A Finding for Native Title 210 A native title package 211 The legacy of the Mabo case 213 Examining Public Reactions to Land Claims 214 Looking At the Work Still to Be Done: Taking Back the Land 215 Chapter 13: The Era of Reconciliation 217 Starting the Reconciliation Process 218 The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation 218 Paul Keating’s Redfern Park speech 220 Trying to deliver on land and social justice 221 Establishing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission 223 Defining the aims of ATSIC 224 Recognition, rights and reform 226 The Unfinished Business of Reconciliation 229 A pathway for reconciliation 230 ‘We call for a treaty’ 234 Why a treaty? 235 What would a treaty look like? 236 First steps? 237 Chapter 14: Practical Reconciliation 239 ‘The Pendulum Has Swung Too Far’ 240 ‘Practical reconciliation’ explained 241 Winding back Indigenous rights 242 The history wars, or culture wars 242 A walk across the bridge 243 A Human Rights Scorecard 244 The Abolition of ATSIC 245 After ATSIC 248 A new administration 249 The National Indigenous Council 250 Shared Responsibility and Mutual Obligation 251 Emergency! Emergency! The Northern Territory Intervention 253 Key aspects of the Northern Territory Emergency Response 254 Objection! 254 Chapter 15: From Apology to Uluru 259 A New Government — A New Era? 260 The apology 260 The Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 261 Controlling Lives: The Intervention Continues 264 Evaluating the Northern Territory intervention 264 International criticism 266 Finding a National Voice 267 Another representative body 267 Constitutional change 268 The Uluru Statement 270 International benchmarks 272 Part 4: Contemporary Indigenous Cultures 275 Chapter 16: More than Rocks and Dots: Indigenous Art 277 Understanding the Role of Art in Indigenous Cultures 278 Connecting to the spirit through art 278 Using art to inform 279 Reading between the dots: Knowing what the symbols mean 280 Considering Indigenous Art around Australia 282 Recognising rock art 282 Looking at bark painting 283 Dot, dot, dot art 285 Appreciating Indigenous crafts 287 Examining Torres Strait Islander Art 289 Contemplating Urban Indigenous Art 291 Pulling no political punches 291 Finding out more about Indigenous photographers 294 Moving in the Mainstream: Indigenous Art as a Means to an Economic End 296 Revealing Indigenous Art Fraud 299 Chapter 17: Singing and Dancing 303 Traditional Expression through Music and Dance 304 The sacred and the profane 304 Banging out a rhythm 305 Traditional songs 306 Cultural dance 306 Carrying a Tune: Contemporary Indigenous Music 307 Singers in the mainstream 307 Both types: Country and western 309 Rock and pop 310 Just a few of the best 312 Hip-hop, rap and metal: Young people have their say 313 Jumping into Modern Indigenous Dance 315 Indigenous dance companies 315 The Bangarra Dance Theatre 317 Torres Strait Islander dance 318 Chapter 18: Indigenous Literature: We’ve Always Been Storytellers 321 Moving From Oral to Written Traditions 322 Writing about the ‘Aborigine’ in Australian Literature 323 White people writing about black people 323 Black people writing about black people 326 Establishing Indigenous Literature 328 Breaking through with Indigenous novels 328 Putting it into verse: Aboriginal poetry 330 Publishing Indigenous Stories 331 Not Putting Your Foot in It! 332 Chapter 19: Performance Storytelling: Film, Theatre, Television and Radio 335 Acting the Part: Indigenous People in Films 336 Films about Indigenous people 336 Taking Over the Camera 341 Indigenous filmmakers 342 Noteworthy Indigenous films 343 Telling it like it is: Documentaries 346 Treading the Black Boards 348 The National Black Theatre 348 Indigenous theatre companies 350 Must-see Indigenous plays 350 Appearing on Mainstream Screens 353 Notable Indigenous television shows 356 Indigenous media organisations 359 National Indigenous Television 361 Getting onto Mainstream Airwaves 363 National Indigenous Radio Service 363 Koori radio 364 Chapter 20: Indigenous People and Sport 365 A (Traditional) Sporting Life 366 Marngrook 366 Coreeda 366 Other traditional Indigenous games 367 Playing Them at Their Own Games 369 Getting in and having a go 369 Teaching through sport 370 Slipping on the Whites: Cricket 371 The first Indigenous cricket team 371 Indigenous cricketers today 372 Women’s cricket 373 Stepping Up in the Boxing Ring 374 The boxing tents 374 Title fighters 374 We Love Our Footy! 377 Australian Rules Football 377 Rugby league 381 Rugby union 385 Soccer 386 Track and Field 388 Championing Other Sports 389 All-rounders at basketball 389 Excelling at netball 390 A few out of the box 391 Part 5: Dealing with Current Issues 395 Chapter 21: Closing the Gap: Health, Housing, Education and Employment 397 Looking Back at Past Government Policies 398 Moving from ‘amity’ to ‘practical reconciliation’ 399 Closing the gap 400 Closing the Gap Reboot 401 Examining Health Issues 403 Discussing particular medical issues for Indigenous people 404 Watching the emergence of Indigenous medical services and professionals 405 Looking at Housing Problems 409 Learning about Education Issues 412 Primary education 413 Secondary education 414 Tertiary education 415 Vocational education and training (VET) 418 Education as a step up the ladder 418 Working on Employment Problems 418 Realising why employment issues exist for Indigenous people 419 Running Indigenous businesses 421 No new Stolen Generations: Keeping Indigenous Children with their Families 422 Chapter 22: Working In the System and Changing the System 425 Black Lives Matter: Indigenous People and the Criminal Justice System 426 Examining the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody 426 Indigenous women and the criminal justice system 429 Stopping the cycle: Indigenous young people and incarceration 431 Inspecting the relationship between Indigenous people and police 431 Recognising customary law and sentencing 434 Changing the system from within 437 Reading the Australian Constitution: A Framework for Laws and Policies 437 The 1967 referendum 438 The 1999 referendum 440 Proposing Legal and Constitutional Reform 440 Considering changes 440 Responding to the Uluru Statement 442 Scrutinising Self-Determination and Self-Representation 442 Self-determination – more than a principle 443 Self-representation 443 Working within the existing process 446 Part 6: The Part of Tens 449 Chapter 23: Ten Important Indigenous Cultural Sites 451 Uluru, Northern Territory 452 Kata Juta, Northern Territory 452 Nitmiluk, Northern Territory 452 Windjana Gorge, Western Australia 453 Daintree Rainforest, North Queensland 453 Mungo National Park, New South Wales 453 Yeddonba, Victoria 454 Ngaut Ngaut, South Australia 454 Wybalenna, Tasmania 454 The Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Canberra 455 Chapter 24: Ten Indigenous Firsts 457 The First Indigenous Australian to Visit Great Britain: 1793 457 The First Indigenous Cricket Team Tour: 1868 458 The First Indigenous ‘Pop Star’: 1963 459 The First Indigenous Person to be Australian of the Year: 1968 459 The First Indigenous Person to be Elected to the Australian Parliament: 1971 460 The First Indigenous Lawyer: 1976 460 The First Indigenous Person to Make a Feature Film: 1992 461 The First Indigenous Surgeon: 2006 461 The First Indigenous Senior Council (SC): 2015 462 The First Indigenous Minister for Indigenous Australians: 2019 462 Chapter 25: Ten Myths about Indigenous People 463 ‘Indigenous People Have a Problem with Alcohol’ 464 ‘Indigenous People Are a Dying Race’ 464 ‘Indigenous People Who Live in Urban Areas Have Lost Their Culture’ 464 ‘Indigenous People Were Killed Off in Tasmania’ 465 ‘Indigenous People Are Addicted to Welfare’ 465 ‘Too Much Money is Spent on Indigenous People’ 465 ‘Real Indigenous People Live in Remote Areas’ 466 ‘Indigenous Organisations Mismanage Money and Are Prone to Nepotism’ 467 ‘Indigenous Culture is Violent and Accepts Abuse of Women and Children’ 467 ‘Indigenous Self-Determination Has Been Tried but It Has Failed’ 468 Chapter 26: Ten Key Legal Decisions (Plus One to Keep an Eye On) 469 R v Jack Congo Murrell: 1836 470 The Gove Land Rights Case: 1971 470 Koowarta v Bjelke-Petersen: 1982 471 The Mabo Case: 1992 471 The Wik Case: 1996 472 Kruger v Commonwealth: 1997 472 The Hindmarsh Island Bridge Case: 1998 473 Gunner and Cubillo: 2000 473 The Yorta Yorta Case: 2002 474 The Trevorrow Case: 2007 474 The Timber Creek Case: 2019 475 Glossary 477 Index 481