The Black Rising magazine (Issue 6) by The Black Rising Magazine

THE BLACK RISING A publication of the MOVEMENT, by the PEOPLE, for the FUTURE

issue #6

july 2016

www.facebook.com/blackrisingmagazine

We cannot let our identity fade away ISSUE 3

Magazine name change You may have noticed we have changed the magazine’s name from ‘Black Nations Rising’ (BNR) to ‘The Black Rising’ (TBR). We want to explain our reasons for doing this. The publication first started out under the name ‘Brisbane Blacks’. It attracted quite a lot of attention and so the team at the time decided to extend its reach and rename the publication to align with a more national focus. A public poll of Brisbane Black contributors and other interested Aboriginal people voted that ‘Black Nations Rising’ would reflect the publications purpose. After it was established, the team was informed that the similarity of the magazine’s title of Dr Ross Watson’s ‘Black Nations’ newspaper caused distress to some of members of his family. The name BNR was never intended to imply the magazine was a continuation of his work or endorsed by his family. There was no intention for the use of the publications title to disrespect Dr Watson, his family or his legacy and for that we are deeply apologetic.

We wish to address this before the next issue is produced and hope it can go some way to commencing the process of healing the hurt people have experienced and repairing some of the personal and community rifts associated with it. A name change of a publication is not a simple task and involves a lot of coordination between our team who give their time freely. Whilst it takes much time and energy to navigate the administrative requirements of a name change, we wish we could have done it sooner. We feel the new name justly conveys the purpose and character of the magazine. The content of TBR will not change - it will still contain powerful and influential content from Aboriginal people and Indigenous people around the word and our team looks forward to furthering the production of this magazine. Our plan is to take TBR to a new online platform in the near future - look out for it!

contents Young Aboriginal Emerging Artist - Ashlei Major

The Black Rising: the self determination of black media Anita Goon Wymarra and Pekeri Ruska

South Australia’s Flinders Ranges declared a nuclear dump site - Enice Marsh

Black Mist, White Rain - Sue Coleman-Haseldine

Food is medicine - Stephen Thorpe

Awakening Poem - Matt Gale

Sovereign Perspectives - Nawoola Loonmi Miriwoong

Remember the Frontier Wars 1788-1934 - Brisbane Aboriginal Sovereign Embassy

Invasion Poem - Sandra Onus-Kappatch-Jarr

Ignite Photo Exhibition - Tim Kanoa

A History of Exploitation: A Common Enemy (part two) - Meg Rodaughan

The Black Rising (TBR) magazine is published by Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance (WAR) in both print and online. If you would like to contribute &/or subsribe to TBR send an email to theblackrisingmag@gmail.com

PRINTED AND/OR DISTRIBUTED BY: Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union Brisbane Aboriginal Sovereign Embassy Community Food Program Inc

We thank all who have made this publication a reality; the writers, photographers, and artists, along with the organizations assisting with printing and distribution.

Electrical Trades Union

Co-editors: Pekeri Ruska and Anita Goon Wymarra

Queensland Council of Unions

Layout/ Design: Tahnee Edwards

Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre Inc

Front cover illustration: Ashlei Major

United Voice

National Tertiary Education Union

Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance 2

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Photo credit: Michelle Kotzas

Young Aboriginal Emerging Artist Ashlei Major Can you tell us a bit about yourself, where you are from and your people?

Why did you feel compelled to draw David Gulpilil?

What have been your achievement and awards to date?

My name is Ashlei Major, I’m 18 years old and was raised in Hughenden, a small town five hours west of Townsville where I currently live. I do not know much about my people and about my family, I did not grow up with much knowledge of who I am culturally, I am still finding my roots.

I did a portrait of David Gulpilil as he an Aboriginal elder, and the other two portraits are two younger generations. He has also acted in many prominent Aboriginal movies and films and is very well known within the white Australian society, as well as the Aboriginal community.

What is the title of the painting and can you explain your story behind it?

In what way do you feel your perspective of the painting reflects Aboriginal society today?

I entered the Maggie’s Archibald Price similar to the Archibald Prize where we had to draw a portrait of a particular subject and won that competition in 2014. I have entered in the ArtNOW competitions at Pinnacles Gallery in both 2014 and 2015, receiving the encouragement award in 2015. I also received the Cathy Meharry Art Acquisition Award at the St Margaret Mary’s College Awards Night in 2015.

My painting is called “Who am I?”. It is a triptych piece (divided into three parts), with two other water colour paintings with an incorporation of sand art underneath the three paintings. It is about Aboriginal culture and how through the generations, our culture has been slowly lost due to devastating circumstances and events in the past. Was there anything in particular that inspired this painting? What inspired me to tell this story was my personal experience. It was a reflection of my life culturally and how I viewed the world as an Aboriginal adolescent.

Aboriginal society is very strong in our culture. But throughout the years and from the effects of the pain, trauma and displacement, we are losing the richness of our traditions across the generations. Although our ancestor’s teachings and stories have been slowly fading away, it is the younger generations bringing our culture together in more of a modern way. We are creating a new destiny for our culture and for our traditions to be seen in a contemporary way.

Do you have a specific artwork Facebook page/website so that our readers can follow or view more of your artistry? People can head on over to my Facebook page under Ashlei Major Artist and check out my other pieces https://www.facebook.com/AshleiMajor-1024059941021080/

Do you have any advice for any other young indigenous artists wanting to tell their story through art? All I can say is, paint, draw, and sketch your feelings and emotions. It does not have to be traditional art paintings such as dot painting. Just let your mind and emotions flow with the pencils and brushes to create your view of our culture today.

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The Black Rising: the self determination of black media Anita Goon Wymarra and Pekeri Ruska (Co‐editors of The Black Rising magazine)

The Black Rising (TBR) was established to provide a platform for Aboriginal people (and Indigenous people from around the world) to share their stories of resistance and revival. With each issue, we aim to inspire our readers to take steps to decolonize through resisting and reviving in their daily lives. TBR is the evolution of Brisbane Blacks, a magazine that was founded around the sacred fire at Musgrave Park. With our recent name change, it has developed into a publication that ensues a national and international focus of decolonisation. We produce content that is thought provoking and educates about issues Aboriginal people face today (politically, culturally, environmentally, legally etc). We provide and demonstrate practical ways in which Aboriginal people can resist and revive on an individual and collective level and also inform our readership about the struggles of other colonized people around the world. The magazine is produced four times a year by Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance (WAR). Our entire team is Aboriginal and volunteer based, giving approximately two days a week to pull the magazine together. It is made up of editors, a graphic designer, printing and distribution managers and a cartoonist. But of course, our publication would not exist if it were not for each of the contributors from around the country and 4

the world who support our cause.

Indigenous) person.

We are all too familiar with how our history has been recorded and adjusted to suit the invaders language, to predominantly appease their conscience, and ultimately, continually disregard our complex ways of being. Yet we have learnt to use the English language as one of our strongest weapons to fight the system, colonialism and all that it produces, we use it to our advantage and pride ourselves on the fact that you do not need to be a journalist to write for TBR, our contributors tell their stories in their own voices.

Our publication is not dictated by government funding, it is not about raising revenue, it is about raising awareness as a powerful vessel for our own voices to reaffirm our position as Aboriginal people. Essentially, it is an alternative source to mainstream media.

The magazine provides a space for Aboriginal people to bring to light issues that affect us personally, to write and rewrite our own history, from our own unique perspectives, as we remember and understand it. It is not through the eyes of external onlookers or historians. Ultimately, TBR is the conscious undoing of white paternalism that exists in almost every aspect of Aboriginal affairs. If anything, we hope that TBR opens the minds of our readers, allowing them to question all that exists around them, to want to dig deeper and understand entirely our true history and all that it is required to decolonise as an Aboriginal (or

We cannot rely on mainstream media to get our stories correct, all too often we hear and see the paternalism and underlying racist tones they use when reporting about Aboriginal people. You only need to look to the recent uproar that gained significant attention over university students being advised to use the term ‘invaded’ instead of the prefered terminology, ‘discovered’ when referring to the arrival of Captain Cook to Australian shores. One might consider this being attributed to a ‘generational gap’ and the lack of awareness but sadly it highlights the true state of affairs of how Australia continues to hide its Aboriginal history. We want to change that, one reader at a time. This is why TBR is so important and must continue on from the collapse of vital Aboriginal media that were integral to advocating for the Aboriginal rights agenda such as Tracker and the National Indigenous Times. Our stories talk about real change, we offer a platform for people to share their alternative views on Government push

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propaganda such as constitutional recognition. Our writers talk treaty, treaties and alternative ideas to progressing our people locally and nationally - we do not limit or control their voices. Our stories inspire healing of the individual and entire communities. Further, our publication is unlocking the want and yearning of young activists, reigniting the fighting spirit within to challenge and question the status quo. The previous five issues of TBR have been jam packed with invaluable experiences, knowledge and stories that teach and inform the wider readers how we as Aboriginal people are continuing our fight to resist, revive and ultimately, decolonize. Issues one to five have included a Decolonise Your Diet segment, promoting the importance of reviving traditional foods and using them as medicine. Our Warrior Profile have allowed Aboriginal people to share their motivations to actively resist colonisation whilst ensuring the revival of their culture. We have covered the importance of invasion day rallies, the 2014 G20 resistance, the relevance of NAIDOC activism (or lack thereof), the importance of nationalism in sport, the false hope depicted by native title, racism faced and fought in our everyday lives, climate matters, lock ons and stand offs to protect land, shutting down of major city centres to fight against the forced closure of Aboriginal communities who are being coerced and driven off their sacred

land the list goes on. In every piece, there is a message of struggle and survival, of fight and revival. To read all of these articles and more, head to www.issuu. com/blacknationsrising. In issue 4, Yugambeh and Mununjali man, Shawn Andrews tells about the importance of changing the approach to education, to ensure the truth is told. Gomeroi man, Cameron Manning Brown shares why he chooses to represent his culture through the modern medium of tattoos and Yuggera and Butchulla woman, Kamarra Bell-Wykes talks decolonising theatre. There is a call out by the youth to be trained and mentored by elders, to be able to teach them of the moral responsibilities and obligations inherited and yet to be inherited to become true leaders. We have also featured stories of international resistance from the Mapuche, the Miâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;kmaq and the TImorese. TBR is vital because these fundamental stories paint a picture, that we need Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people to be fully conscious of in order to challenge the current conditions in which we are subjected to and ultimately lay a foundation for autonomous, selfdetermining futures. We have numerous unions who support TBR by printing high-quality copies each edition, who without, we would not get the magazine printed. We work on a

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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;pay-the-rentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; model of subscription requiring non-Aboriginal people to pay, allowing us to cover the postage costs of our Aboriginal subscribers who receive the publication for free. By all means it is a difficult process producing a magazine with no funds to pay our team, our contributors or print ourselves. But ultimately we set up TBR using the principles of self-determination ensuring autonomy of content at all times. It is time consuming, but we do it because we feel it is the right thing to do, it is what we need to do for our current and future generations. It is a labour of love, of empowerment and of strength, that we feel is important and worth every minute the team puts into it. In all that we do, we must remember all that our ancestors did, knowing that they are always watching.

More details: We are always looking for Aboriginal people locally and Indigenous people from across the world to contribute to the magazine in any way they can. We take submissions in the form of articles, poetry/ spoken word, interviews, photographs, cartoons and artwork. Contact the TBR team via email (theblackrisingmag@gmail. com) to discuss contributions to our magazine. Our voices must be heard!

South Australia’s Flinders Ranges declared a nuclear dump site Aunty Enice Marsh, Adnyamathanaha

Recently, six sites had been proposed as the Australian nuclear waste dump, at the end of April 2016, it was narrowed down to one, the foot of the Flinders Ranges, home of the Adnyamathanha people in South Australia. The land was nominated by former Liberal Party Senator, Grant Chapman and his nomination has been endorsed by the Liberal government in Canberra. Adnyamathanha Traditional Owners have not been consulted about the dump site, even Traditional Owners who live next to the proposed dump site at Yappala Station were not consulted. The Adnyamathanha people extended an invitation to Minister Josh Frydenberg back in March to come and consult the Traditional owners. They challenge him on his claims that this waste is just “gloves, goggles and test tubes” who has white washed and downplayed the seriousness of intermediate-level waste and its toxicity to land, animals and people. The Adnyamathanha people have been fighting the anti-nuclear fight since the late 90’s to stop the Beverley Uranium Mine

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and now in 2016, face another struggle to try and stop their sacred lands being turned into a toxic, radioactive uranium dump-site. TBR spoke with Aunty Enice Marsh, traditional owner of the proposed nuclear waste dump site. She was feeling physically sick by the announcement and could not understand how this was still happening to black people in 2016. The proposed site sits less than half a kilometre from an Aboriginal Protected Area, a land that is a sacred women’s site that has a lush, blue-bush gum lined creek that runs through the centre of the area, bordering with the proposed site. It has springs and waterfalls which are extremely spiritual to the Adnyamathanha people, water that flows through the hills and floodplains; the same sacred lifeforce which has been continually stolen by surrounding farm lands as a result of white pastoralism. Aunty Enice said that the place where the site is proposed is so sacred because of its dreaming, the place of creation, the Urngurla Yarta; a most spiritual place.

She wants to share the following with our readers; “This predatory behaviour is unethical and is an abuse of human rights. An Indigenous Protected Area is a Federal Government initiative, but it seems that in the case of Yappala this means nothing to the government. We ask you to honour this commitment to protect, not pollute and damage our land. This facility will cause immeasurable damage to the whole area which is covered with thousands of artefacts, home to people, animals, birds and reptiles. The building of this facility will cause widespread damage. It will scar the area and break the spiritual song-lines like never before in the 60,000+ years of human occupation. We do not want this waste in our country, it’s too toxic and long lived.”“we don’t want it on our land. We know what happens with Radioactive Fallout- you don’t need to be a scientist to know that stuff is no good. They are ripping our country apart and we don’t want it. Nothing. Never”. She is determined to fight the dump site but acknowledge that the whole

process is tearing their community apart and gradually destroying the old people. The whole process has become so deeply political and the colonialist agenda of conquer and divide within the community is having its impact. It disregards their sacred lands and the wellbeing of Aboriginal people in their pursuit of a better life, ultimately upholding the colonialistic traditions of profits above people. Aunty Enice explained that government is taking advantage of already vulnerable people in trying to garner support for the mine with promises of cash, however she believes that no amount of money can compensate for the loss they will feel if the project goes ahead. Women are speaking up for this sacred country and have the full support of the men. Adnyamathanha Traditional Owner, Jillian Marsh revealed: “The First Nations people of Australia have been bullied and pushed around, forcibly removed from their families and their country, denied access and the right to care for their own land for over 220 years. Our

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health and wellbeing compares with third world countries, our people crowd the jails. Nobody wants toxic waste in their backyard, this is true the world over. We stand in solidarity with people across this country and across the globe who want sustainable futures for communities, we will not be moved. We challenge Minister Josh Frydenberg on his claim that this waste is just “gloves, goggles and test tubes” – the intermediate-level waste is much more toxic so why not talk about it? What about the damage to the area that construction of this site will cause? You can’t compensate the loss of people’s ancient culture with a few dollars.” Although the announcement is shocking and new, the Adnyamathanha Traditional Owners are determined to fight this all the way and need the support of the broader Aboriginal community to get behind them. Developments of the campaign can be found on at http://www.anfa.org.au and on the Australian Nuclear Free Alliance Facebook page.

Black Mist, White Rain The ongoing threat of nuclear destroying our homelands Sue Coleman-Haseldine, Kokatha Mula

My name is Sue Coleman-Haseldine I am Kokatha Mula elder. I was born on Koonibba Aboriginal Mission in 1951 which is about 40 km west of Ceduna in South Australia. I now live just out of Ceduna with my husband. For those that do not know, we are on the edge of the Nullarbor where the desert meets the sea. Our country takes in one of the last stunted mallee tree regions (rare and critically endangered ecosystem) regions that is still in pristine condition. We still carry on looking after our country as our people did even though we do not live out there now. I remember the good life of hunting for wild game and collecting bush fruits. Life was healthy. We still do all this today. I teach the young ones about the land and all the life it gives. I am a mother, grandmother and greatgrandmother. My second great-grandson was born recently. And now I am out on this tour ‘Four Cities, in Four Days,’ speaking about past and present day problems and what we want for the

future. I am fighting for all my grannies and all the children of the world to keep the dream alive of a clean, safe future where there is no nuclear fear hanging over our heads. And like I tell the children, I’m fighting for the animals too. We are all connected, a world without animals would not be a world at all. I was two years old when the first atomic bomb tests began in the desert areas north-west of my mallee country in 1953. A full scale atomic bomb was detonated on 15 October 1953 at Emu Fields. It was labelled ‘Totem 1’ and it caused a death cloud known by many as the ‘Black Mist’. It killed people, blinded others and made people very sick. Its effects are still being felt today. I was not on ground zero but the black mist went all over. And who knows where the radiation went for the many the tests that followed. I remember older people talking about Nullarbor dust storms. It was the fallout from the Maralinga tests. The dust did not stay in one place.

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Our district is full now of cancer. My 86-year-old Aunty once told me, “that minga – that cancer sickness was never here before those bombs”. Cancer is the big one, but it is also common for people to suffer from thyroid conditions or stomach and bowel problems. This is the case for myself and some of my grandchildren. Fertility problems, stillbirths, birth defects became more common from the time of the testing. Woomera Cemetery is full of babies who started dying around this time. We still wonder and worry about the effects of the ongoing radiation and the long-term genetics issues that could be passed down through generations. Like all people, the giving of life and raising children is so important to us and it is our human rights to be able to continue raising our family and sharing our culture forever. There are lots of Aboriginal groups in Australia. We are all different. But for all of us our land is the basis of our culture – it is our church, our grocery

shop, our schools, our chemist. But living a life and practising culture out in the desert was not recognised as worthy by governments back then and still today. In fact, we still have to work hard to have all the life, all the plants, all the animals and the underground water out in the desert recognised and protected. This is one reason why Emu Fields and then Maralinga were picked for testing. The English and Australian governments did not think that land was valuable they called it a wasteland. But Aboriginal people were still looking after and living their culture on the land that supported them. Aboriginal people were still present in the testing area when the bombs went off. The government was no good at ensuring everyone was safe. They had one patrol officer and some signs in English that people could not read. Australia was even more racist then. People have to remember this was before Aboriginal people had the right to vote. I believe the government really did not care about what happened to Aboriginal people or their land. The bomb tests continued for many years right until 1967; big atomic tests that the British and Australian governments were proud of and then a whole lot of secret tests that the British did with plutonium. These tests contaminated a huge area and everything in it, but people 100 kilometres away were also impacted including my family and the broader community where I live. It is good more people are learning about the bombs in Australia. I want more people to think about the ongoing impacts. Especially in my region because it does not matter if you are black, white or brindle, everyone has a sad story about premature sickness and death in their families.

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I grew up hearing about the bombs but I did not necessarily know about how the sickness passed down through the generations. When mining companies started eyeing off areas of my country I started to look more into it and I went to an Australian Nuclear Free Alliance meeting to learn about fighting mining companies and radiation fall out. What I learnt devastated me. To find out that our bush foods were possibly contaminated was a real blow to me. It was at these meetings I also learnt about other nuclear bombs, about other places where tests happened and about Japan during the war. I also learnt that uranium mined in Australia was used in these weapons of destruction. To learn that uranium from our country was devastating other countries and people broke my heart. I decided to fight any kind of mining then. There are too many illnesses and cancer deaths in our country. What has changed to cause this? I believe it is caused from radiation contamination, but I cannot prove it. I think any kind of mining in our area would be digging up contaminated earth and sending it back to us on the north, north-west winds. The bomb tests destroyed a beautiful part of Australia and despite several attempts, it will never be safe or clean. There are many Aboriginal people who cannot go back to their ancestral lands and their children and their children’s children and so on will never know the special, religious places it contains.

Having whole displaced communities has also created confusion and conflict for other Aboriginal groups. These are ongoing issues which cause stress and heartbreak. We have been poisoned and we do not need the threat of being poisoned again by a nuclear waste dump – whether it is Australia’s waste or waste from around the world. We do not need this stress hanging over our heads. It is not our right to condemn our children to the risk of leakages and ongoing damage. This is condemning them to a life of fear. It is about time people see the desert and arid regions as places full of life instead of wastelands for dangerous activities. Aboriginal people have worked really hard to have their culture and their land understood. We do not need governments telling us we do not understand or are too emotional about these things. We do understand the risks and we do not want them. But more than that, people all over the world do not want all these problems. The uranium should stay in the ground. We need to stop making waste. And it is not just the physical impacts of the nuclear industry I worry about. To have a nuclear waste dump back on the cards has already caused a lot of anxiety in our region. Aboriginal people in particular have a lot of issues to deal with. There is still a lot of poverty, issues with education and job opportunities and self-medicating through drugs and alcohol. We are still being made refugees in our own country because if the government or mining companies want something they take it which also causes a lot of anxiety and mental problems.

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I worry there is no security for the future. It is a different kind of black mist hanging over us now. The original blast brought a black mist and nobody knew what it was. Now people are a lot wiser but we still cannot see through to the future. There is no guarantee that any nuclear facility – whether a mine, a reactor or waste dump will be properly looked after. And I want you to know I do not want people today to shoulder the blame of the past and to feel responsible for all the wrongs that have happened. I am talking to you now because I think we need to join forces and make better future for future generations, all over the world. A site at the foot of the Flinders Ranges has recently been shortlisted as of today and that I’m ready to go down there and stand with them. The government cannot be trusted to keep this at low level waste and we must stand together. Always remember, the future forever belongs to the next generation!

Speech delivered at Drill Hall, Melbourne on 5 April 2016

Food is Medicine Stephen Thorpe, Gunnai / Gunditjmara

In the past year I have grown whilst experiencing a world of native foods that are still being eaten around the country. Through my journey at Melbourne based restaurant, Charcoal Lane, I have learnt more about where native foods come from. I am also researching how they are grown and most importantly, how to use and cook the food. I have learnt ways to adapt native food to a modern restaurant plate. I have recently returned from Sydney based restaurant NOMA where I was chosen to work alongside one of the world’s best chefs, Rene Redzepi for 10 weeks. From this experience, I was able to see and use native ingredients in different ways; the experience has inspired me to continue my journey and discover my own path with native food. I really connected with Rene Redzepi as he has revived Danish food in the same way we are reviving our native food. Foraging for native foods, reminds me that our people had a deep understanding and respect for food before colonisation - but we can still have that, we just need to take the first steps to embark on that journey.

me. I had also learnt that some middens in the region date back at least 25,000 years. I shared some of my knowledge in return and taught them how to cook food in paperbark which steamed the food whilst adding a beautiful flavour. My most recent experience foraging was with NOMA and I collected foods I did not know were edible, such as Lomandra (also known as mat rush) and Moreton Bay Figs. It has been great to be exposed to opportunities that have ensure I am continually learning about our foods. I am committed to learning more about native food and have read ‘Dark Emu’ by Bruce Pascoe which challenges the presumption that our people were hunter gatherers. I am currently reading another called ‘The Oldest Foods on Earth’ by John Newton.

qualities and one reason is the extreme conditions that our food has adapted to and continues to thrive in. The triumph of our native food to survive and thrive bestows upon them amazing healing and sustaining qualities and is the reason they belong on our plates and not the introduced colonizers food. They belong to this land and the land belongs to them. I encourage everyone to learn about the native foods traditional to their homelands and the rest of the country.

If food is medicine then super food is super medicine and if that is so, then our native food is super-duper medicine. You only have to look at the native Kakadu Plum which is identified world-wide as the single natural, food source with the highest vitamin c. There are scientific reasons why our native foods have amazing levels of nutrients and medicinal

During a visit to North Stradbroke Island over the New Year, I was taken mud crabbing by some local Aboriginal men. They taught me how to catch and prepare our catch. I learnt how to collect and cook yugaries (pippies). After eating the mud crab and eugaries I added them to a 27 year old midden. This was a very important and moving moment as it felt spiritually healing and in that moment, I felt connected to the land. That was a very important and moving moment for

You can read more about Stephen’s native food journey in Issue 3 of Black Nations Rising (page 6): https://issuu. com/blacknationsrising/docs/bnr_issue_3

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Illustration credit: Nada Aldobasic

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Awakening Matt Gale, Heralaugia (Solomon Islands Salinas)

In your awakening, be still in the quiet misty morn. In your awakening, listen to your breath. In your awakening, breathe in that cool air. In your awakening, listen to your heart sing. In your awakening, lift your head up. In your awakening, open your eyes and see. In your awakening, feel the dew on the grass under your feet. In your awakening, stand. In your awakening, take that first step. In your awakening, follow that new path. In your awakening, be your guide on that new path. In your awakening, walk that new journey. In your awakening, know that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not alone. In your awakening, walk on, walk on, walk on. For your journey has begun!

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Sovereign Perspectives (PART ONE) Nawoola Loonmi Miriwoong, Kununnura, Western Australia Interviewed by Les Thomas of #SOSBlakAustralia

Can you tell us your name, your mob and a bit about the work you’ve been up to? Celina Newry is my gardiya [white] name. My bloodline is through Gelberd and Jebabi, which is all the Miriwoong elders. I’m a Miriwoong woman living in Kununurra [in the North-East, Kimberley], a grassroots community member, a younger Miriwoong person who takes teaching and language from my old people and I receive all my mandates from my cultural leaders. Kununurra is 45 kilometres from the Northern Territory border, right at the top of Western Australia. We kind of come under two jurisdictions because part of our land is on the West Australian side and part of our land is on the Northern Territory side. My dawang (country) is Wirrjilwarrim (WA side) and Jarnum (NT side). You’ve had large protests last year opposing community closures. Certainly some of the earlier rallies took place in Kununurra and other parts of the Kimberley and WA. Can you tell us your experience of that? Yes, I was the one that coordinated the rally in Kununurra. I did it from a total grassroots perspective with all of the backing from my old people and from community leaders. Kununurra is such a transient town, so we had a lot of people from out of town, a lot of people on country. We managed to get about 80 to 100 people down at the park for the rally, which was really good and really powerful. I also invited the mob from Wyndham and Oombulgurri to come and speak at our rally. That was really powerful, having one of the younger leaders [Ronald Morgan] from Oombulgurri talk about the process the government went through in removing them from country and closing down their community. It’s just really heartbreaking hearing what they went through and the promises made to the community, which nothing has ever eventuated from. 14

We do have quite a few people from Oombulgurri living homeless, on the streets in town and it’s really disappointing to see these people have been left with nowhere to go and no real support in trying to address their needs. Yes. I guess that was part of the wake up call, seeing that the WA government had done nothing to provide any kind of shelter or services for people who had nowhere to go. Yeah, and that’s what brother boy Ronald was saying from their perspective: don’t believe this is just a threat; this will happen and they’ve experienced it themselves. There were promises from Holmesworth to help people into housing that’s never happened. From our point of view, on the Kununurra side, from the list that was handed out that had the different town-based communities with the different categories — Category A, Category B, Category C — we had 15 communities in the Category C and they were the ones that were most threatened with being closed down. When I did more research, it said that Category C had “no room for economic development” and that’s why they were at risk of being closed down. But it was really concerning because some of those communities sat right under our native title. Like I’ve always said, native title is just a fraudulent title. It’s just a title and we don’t need a title when it’s our land anyway. We’ve been guaranteed by our corporation that communities are safe and our land is safe, but we’re also aware of the compulsory acquisition clause under Native Title. Kununurra and its surrounding area is very rich in minerals. We have pretty much every mineral that you can think of up here, so we’re very aware that the government has plans for mining our country. The government doesn’t take into consideration that us being on country is not a lifestyle choice. It’s our cultural obligation to our T H E B LA C K R I S I N G

Photo credit: Michael Butler

old people and to our culture to learn everything we can from our old people and protect that land for our future generations. What would you say the mood is with your old people and the wider community, one year on? How are people feeling? I think people are feeling really disheartened, because my old people sit on the committees and councils that are set up through native title, but our old people’s voices aren’t getting heard. The people that are the top of these committees are supposed to be the voices for the old people, but information isn’t getting filtered through to the grassroots mob and old people like it’s supposed to be. That’s why my old people are really on me to gather that information about what’s happening at a political level and from the rest of our political networks as well. And they also know the information I give them is true and that at least we’ll speak up for them. Everybody is really disappointed because they feel like anything they do is not going to help. They don’t see any of the situations getting any better. We still have people living in such gross poverty; we still have overcrowding of housing; we still have domestic violence and alcohol and drug issues; lack of employment; lack of skills; lack of education.

The government is making everybody stay in town to be part of these job network providers so that their Centrelink doesn’t get cut off through the White Card, which means that they can’t be out on country because they have to be in town to sign off on the participation agreement, so it’s a real double edged sword. So, Nawoola, are those cards already in full effect in Kununurra at the moment? No, as far as I’m aware, it starts in a month. OK. And basically anyone outside a larger town won’t have the ability to purchase essentials? Yes. The only people that will be exempt from the Healthy Welfare Card will be pensioners, which we fully believe will put the pensioners at risk from the young people, because, when we’re talking about people with addictions, they’re going to need to access money to fulfill their own needs. And we feel this Healthy Welfare Card and the way it’s being set up will make our old people very vulnerable. Has there been any protests or opposition to the cards around Kununurra? No. I’ve just been speaking to my elders this afternoon and some of my other family members who’ve said they want a community meeting to try and block the Healthy Welfare Card. We’re aware that Halls Creek has already blocked the Healthy Welfare Card. And, like I’ve reiterated to my old people, that has

happened because that community has stood strong. We have the opportunity to be able to do this here, but it’s going to take the whole community to stand strong. And when people are stuck in a cycle of welfare dependency it makes it really difficult, because people are frightened for their housing and frightened for their payments as well. Can you tell us about the experience you had with a film crew earlier today? It sounds like a very telling example of how outside media treat our communities. I’d been contacted last week to be involved in this interview regarding the threat of community closures and also the Healthy Welfare Card. So I’ve actually taken the afternoon off work to able to go and do that. They’d come to my work and I couldn’t give them permission to film without the committees’ approval. So I’ve taken them down the park to meet my old people. My old people told them straight out, Nawoola is the one that will speak for us. I did tell them about the situations that we have with overcrowding of houses, poverty, alcohol and drug abuse. So then they’ve said they wanted me to drive them through communities so that they could see an overcrowded house where there was drug abuse and stuff happening. I’ve said I can’t do that. I said they might be able to be arranged with my brother and my elders directing that, but I’ve said to them I can’t make that call and I will not make that call. So now they’ve just said, for them to interview me, it won’t even make the cut. So now they’ve

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gone to speak to the corporation bosses and lawyers. So that’s really frustrating, because once again our voices aren’t getting heard and they’ve gone to speak to the people who are not listening to the grassroots people anyway. It’s the sort of stuff that happens time and time again. What do you feel is the most critical message for the wider world to understand? The thing that people need to be aware of and need to understand is that we have cultural ties to our land. Speaking as a woman who didn’t have culture when I was young, I was very lost. I know through personal experience, coming home and finding my culture and learning my language has really empowered me and given me that strength to handle life in Western society as well. I feel that everything that’s happening with the closure of communities is in total contradiction to what the government is suppose to be doing. They’re supposed to be empowering us people. The government should helping us working towards asserting our sovereignty, going off the grid and helping us establish our own economically viable and sustainable communities. We have so many resources and minerals that we could utilise ourselves in our communities that wouldn’t damage our land, that we could our own eco businesses out there that we could employ our people and have all our people out on country, but the government won’t support that. Everything the government is doing in terms of the Healthy Welfare Card and moving people off land is coming through Empowered Communities, but we’re all aware that it’s Noel Pearson’s model from the Northern Territory Intervention that’s just been tweaked. Everything revolving around the healthy Welfare Card is a band-aid fix. There’s nothing being put in places that helps people address their core issues. 15

#FrontierWars #LestWeForget

Remember the Frontier Wars 1788-1934 Brisbane Aboriginal Sovereign Embassy

Historical Amnesia ANZAC Day is a commemoration of all Australians and New Zealanders “who served and died in wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations”. However, only recognising wars and conflicts since World War 1, it effectively erases the history of conflict between First Nations peoples and colonial settlers from 1788 - 1934. The conflicts and struggles for freedom during this time are known as The Frontier Wars.

These wars involved the courage, sacrifice and strength of hundreds of thousands of First Nations freedom fighters to protect their land, people and culture from the violence and brutality of the colonial invaders. The Frontier Wars have shaped the nation we now call Australia far more significantly than the nation’s involvement in wars abroad ever have. Erasure of the resistance to the genocidal reality of the

massacres, enslavement, displacement and diseases brought to the land by the European forces, that is so strongly embedded in ANZAC Day, contributes to a nation-wide historical amnesia. This historical amnesia not only prevents us from commemorating all wars and conflicts affecting the people living in this land, but also prevents us from seeing the ongoing reality of genocide across this land today. EVERY ANZAC DAY: REMEMBER THE FRONTIER WARS

B L A C KTNHAT E BI OLA N SC KR IRSI ISNI G NG

#FrontierWars #LestWeForget

Acts of War in Queensland Around 150 First Nations peoples were killed by poison hidden in colonial â&#x20AC;&#x153;giftsâ&#x20AC;? of flour laced with strychnine in Kilcoy and Whiteside. This poison produces some of the most dramatic and painful symptoms of any known toxic reaction. In humans the presentation includes severe muscle spasms starting with the head and neck and extending to the whole body. These convulsions lead to symptoms including nausea, vomiting, rapid deep breathing,

The Death Tolls weakness, hyperthermia, confusion, muscle breakdown and kidney failure, which is then followed by an altered state of consciousness similar to that following an epileptic seizure. Death comes either from asphyxiation when the neural pathways that control breathing become paralysed, or exhaustion from the convulsions, within 2-3 hours after exposure.

Debates have continued over the years regarding the death tolls from the Frontier Wars. The most recent historical research suggests: FIRST NATIONS DEATH TOLL: 60,000 IN QLD ALONE EUROPEAN DEATH TOLL: Total 2,000 - 5,000

Massacres many of which are not indicated on the map Hornet Bank - 1857 300-500 First Nations peoples massacred by police and European squatters in central Queensland. Skull Hole Massacre Around 200 First Nations peoples massacred There were many more massacres across the land throughout this period, many of which are indicated in the map.

ISSUE 6

Warriors of the frontier wars

PEMULWUY - EORA Resisted British occupation in the Sydney area, uniting and leading people from the Eora, Dharug and Tharawal nations in raids. Pemulwuy was shot and killed by a British sailor in 1802. His head was preserved in spirits and sent to Sir Joseph Banks in England. LEST WE FORGET

JANDAMARRA - BUNABA Led a guerrilla war against police and European settlers for three years in Western Australia. Jandamarra was admired with awe by both First Nations peoples and European police for his skills in escaping. In 1897 he was shot and killed by an Aboriginal tracker, Micki. White troopers cut off his head and it was preserved and sent to a firearms company in England as an example of their firearmsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; effectiveness. LEST WE FORGET

YAGAN - NOONGAR Involved in many acts of resistance and retaliation to attacks on Noongar people and theft of land by colonial settlers. Yagan was killed in 1833 by two European brothers, one of whom was speared to death by Noongar people who witnessed the murder. The settlers cut off Yaganâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s head and skinned his back to obtain his tribal markings as a trophy. LEST WE FORGET

READ MORE ABOUT THE FRONTIER WARS: tinyurl.com/frontierwars 18

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Invasion Sandra Onus-Kappatch-Jarr Yigar / Kilkarra / Eurite / Gilgar / Kerrup Mara / Gunditjmara / Dhaurtwurrung

It was not so very long ago, just as many of you know, that members of the British Race, did come into this sacred place, and cause such mass destruction. To torture and to murder too, well, it was the thing too do, we were as animals in the zoo, our land was for the taking. First the squatterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s they rode in, and murdered many of our Kin, they paved the way for Government, to carve up all our country! The whalers they would come and go, our peoples helped, they did not know, that soon their stay it would be long, then followed by an Evil Throng, the force, was swift and sudden. Now today our history flows, and many people really know, the truth, about this country. Today our fight continues on, we still fight an evil throng, but we know it wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be long, before we get some country!!!

Photo credit: Dtarneen Onus-Williams ISSUE 6

Ignite Tim Kanoa, Kerrupmara Clan of Gunditjmara Nation Ignite is a series of images that were taken throughout the rallies that were held in Melbourne against the forced closures of Aboriginal communities in remotes parts of Australia.

TH E B LA C K R I S I N G

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A History of Exploitation: A Common Enemy (part two) Meg Rodaughan, Jaadwa Jardwadjali

Blood money, fossil fuel, oil and gas the key motivators for Australia’s perpetration of human rights abuses against the Timorese nation. The Australian ambassador to Jakarta, Richard Woolcott, stated “this Department might well have an interest in closing the present gap in the agreed seabed border and this could be much more readily negotiated with Indonesia ... than with Portugal or independent Portuguese Timor...... I know I am recommending a pragmatic rather than a principled stand, but that is what national interest and foreign policy is all about.” In other words, putting profit before the lives of the people and authorizing the mass murder of the Timorese people. An insanely generous boundary that saw 80% of the Greater Sunrise oil field in Australian territories, forged an agreement between the two nations in return for Australia turning a blind eye to the Invasion of Independent Timor. On December 11, 1989, well into the brutal occupation of TimorLeste, the Timor Gap Treaty was signed between Australia and Indonesia, again reasserting Australia’s acknowledgment of Indonesian sovereignty.

Today, an independent East Timor enjoys 90% of the government revenue from one of the key fields in the Timor Sea, BayuUndan. However, the dispute over other significant deposits located nearby is still raging and some deposits, namely the LaminariaCorallina fields, have nearly been depleted without Timor receiving a cent. Since TimorLeste’s independence, Australia has worked very hard at undermining Timor-Leste’s rights to their own oil. They have taken advantages of Timor’s weaknesses and instability following the decades of conflict and made sure they are well timed to extort profits. Australia’s withdrawal from the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice has incapacitated any avenues for legal proceedings for Timor-Leste. In 2012, it was revealed that Australia bugged the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste Presidential Offices so that they could spy on the Timor-Leste cabinet room during the negotiation process of the resources treaty and using what it learned to force an unequal outcome. After Timor-Leste took this case to the International Arbitration Courts of The Hague, Australia responded by raiding the offices of Timor-Leste’s barrister and seizing documents as well as the home of the key witness of the case.

TH E B LA C K R I S I N G

Movement Against the Occupation of the Timor Sea (MKOTT) asks the following of the Australian Government: Indigenous Solidarity I have spent a lot of time in Timor and have learnt the stories that do not filter through the Australian media by talking to the old people, to the exresistance fighters, from the women and children that were imprisoned on an island concentration camp, been shown the places where churches once stood but were burnt to the ground full with community members and locked by the Indonesian army. I have seen the scars on peoples bodies, heard memories of those who were lost in the war, seen their tears and heard their sadness. These sorrowful stories will remain with me forever, but, when I think of Timor and the Timorese I think of strength, determination but always the undertone of every story; a story of a people’s uncompromising love and commitment to their land and their culture. I have shared many a story about my own culture and my family history with the people I met there. Our suffering is their suffering and their suffering is ours. Patjangal (pelican), my totem can be found living on the sacred lake Illilala to the far east of the country. I do not identify as Australian, although it is hard not to feel a sense of shame when I go there because of the horrendous exploitation of the Timorese people and the Timorese resources committed by the Australian Government.

Australia should respect the sovereignty and dignity of the nation of TimorLeste, as it does for other nations in the world.

Australia should return to the mechanisms for resolving maritime boundary disputes of the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.

The Government of Australia should negotiate with the Government of TimorLeste in good faith.

Australia should not continue to use the “Continental Shelf” argument which is no longer valid under international law.

Australia, as a large nation, should not use its economic and political power in the region to continue to take advantage of the Timorese people’s future.

Resistance The Timorese have been staging massive demonstration calling for the establishment of permanent maritime borders. Currently there is only 2% of the Australian Maritime borders that have not been permanently established in accordance with international law this is Timor’s oil reserves. Since 1999, Australia has provided approximately US$1.7 billion in military and civilian assistance for TimorLeste through bilateral and multilateral mechanisms. During the same sixteen years, the Australian government has received nearly $5 billion dollars in revenues from oil and gas fields, which rightfully belong to TimorLeste. TimorLeste has “given” more than three billion dollars to Australia, which makes TimorLeste Australia’s largest aid donor, not the other way around.

We, the Sovereign Aboriginal people of socalled Australia have the same enemy and we have an obligation to protect our brothers and sisters in TimorLeste against this greedy colonial government. Viva TimorLeste! Viva the Maubere People! Down with Australia’s Occupation of the Timor Sea!

ISSUE 6

#CirculateToEducate

WHAT? WHO? HOW?

TREATY

WHEN? WHERE? 24

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