Justice means giving back our land
Well intentioned acknowledgments veil the fact that no lands have been returned for years, writes Nala Mansell
N AIDOC Week is a national week of celebration where Ab original people across the country come together to celebrate our culture, values, history and language.
It is also an opportunity for us to reflect on our endurance through a lifetime of discrimination, oppression, racism and white dominance while also celebrating our resilience, survival and many achievements.
The recent increase in the support of well-intentioned non-Aboriginal people has resulted in many white organisations planning their own activities and events during NA I DOC Week or insisting that their Aboriginal staff run workshops to educate theirnon-Aboriginal colleagues on Aboriginal history.
Meanwhile, most of them remain completely oblivious to their intrusion on Aboriginal people’ s right to celebrate on our own terms, who we areas a people, how far we have come and wherein the future we want to be, free of any instructions, input or dominancebynon-Aboriginal people.
Engaging an Aboriginal person to deliver a Welcome to Country speech or a white person to deliver an ac know led gm en tat the beginning of meetings, lectures, gathering sand events has also become a very popular method for white people to show their support and understanding of Aboriginal people and our history.
While some might sc off at the idea of Aboriginal people, after having had our country invaded and our land stolen,
WHILE IT MAY PLEASE THE AUDIENCE TO HEAR THAT THE LAND THEY ARE MEETING ON IS “ABORIGINAL LAND’’, IT COMPLETELY DISTRACTS US FROM THE REALISATION THAT AFTER 220 YEARS OF STRUGGLE, TASMANIAN ABORIGINES REMAIN A LANDLESS, POWERLESS PEOPLE
being invited to stand up and warmly welcome those who live on our stolen lands and continue to benefit from the invasion of our country, the majority thinks it’ s a great idea.
And while it makes no sense to some that white people would acknowledge Tasmania as being Aboriginal land at the beginning of every meeting, knowing full well the land was stolen from Aborigines and now belongs to white people, most people think these ac know led gm ents area great idea also.
This year’ s national NA I DOC theme“Always has, Always will be” give susan opportunity to reflect on what Aboriginal land really means. While it may please the audience to hear that the land they are meeting on is “Aboriginal land’’, it completely distracts us from the realisation that after 220 years of struggle, Tasmanian Aborigines remain a landless, power less people who are treated as second-class citizens in our own country.
Prior to the arrival of the English invaders and settlers in Tasmania, Tasmanian Aborigines owned 100 percent of the lands, river sand forests that makeup Tasmania’ s beautiful landscape. We now own less than 1 percent of it and we have never received any form of compensation for the lands that were taken from us.
If Tasmania and our many non-Aboriginal friends, supporters and allies are sincere in their support for Aboriginal land ownership, they must open their eyes to the continual denial by government to return our lands that were taken from us and join in, or even lead, the campaigning for the return of stolen lands to Aboriginal ownership.
In 1995, after our community spent decades of marching the streets for Aboriginal land rights, petitioning the Queen, lobbying state parliaments, and many arrests, the Tasmanian government finally took some action to recognise past injustices.
In a historic act of fairness, the Ray Groom Liberal government kept the commitments of his predecessor, then Premier Tony Rundle, and returned more than 10 areas of historically and culturally significant land to the Aboriginal community.
Many of us still remember that day, when our Elders stood so proudly grasping onto the land titles, while the crowd of hundreds of Aborigines cheered them on. It was indeed a historic occasion. And every year since, we have commemorated that day with annual celebrations.
Twenty-fiveyearshave passed since that day and unfortunately none of our Elders who accepted those land title son behalf of us all are still with us. But their spirits remain with us and remind us that there is still such along way togo for justice and rights.
In 2005 we finally won the return of Cape Barr en Island and Wybalenn abu twe’ ve heard nothing since.
This year’s NAIDOC theme provides a perfect opportunity for our many non-Aboriginal allies to honestly and sincerely acknowledge the traditional owners of this land and pay proper respects to“elders past and present” by joining in the campaign for the return of land to the Aboriginal community as traditional owners of the lands so many now call home. Then, and only then, will we be able to stand proudly in welcoming you all to what always has and always will be, Aboriginal land.