Recognise Me A large crowd of around 1200 people gathered together for a National Reconciliation Week Breakfast hosted by Reconciliation SA on 27 May 2016 at the Adelaide Convention Centre. Centrepiece of the event was a topical speech on reconciliation and recognition from the then Joint Campaign Director of the National Recognise Movement, Tanya Hosch. Talented South Australian
performer Nathan May performed songs from his newest EP ‘Reflections’. Aboriginal Young Achievers Ebonie Frankel, Marcellus Enalanga and Arabella Hart addressed the large crowd, sharing their experiences, inspiring achievements and hopes for the future. Rebekka Rogers, a Recognise Youth Rep, asked to be Recognised in a personal and powerful speech.
RECOGNISE ME My name is Rebekka Elouise Kantjupayi Rogers; I am a 16 year old student and I attend Adelaide High School. My grandparents are Badimia (Buddymaya) and Wunmuna (Wunmulla) Martu and I am a Yamatji Nyalu (Nyarloo) born on the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia. I am here today representing the Indigenous Youth of South Australia and we are demanding to be recognised. I am one of eight Recognise Youth Ambassadors in South Australia and we are advocating for Indigenous Rights in a national conversation about recognition. We are striving for change that is genuine, meaningful and born of all voices, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. My voice, along with many others, will contribute to a conversation that will become a turning point in the reconciliation of our Nation. RECOGNISE ME. Because, I know change is possible, I am here today speaking for my Nanna Pat and my mother who were both born on their own land, yet at the time of their births were not recognised in the constitution as human beings. I am again speaking for my Nanna, who as a child was sent to Karalundi Mission because it was the deemed “best thing for her”. These problems that have plagued Indigenous Australia are not only limited to the last century or the ones before, these problems are still prevalent today and are echoes from the early colonisation of our country. RECOGNISE ME. Because I have a strong future ahead and I will continue to carry the same torch that my elders have carried before me and will continue to pursue unequivocal recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, both in this country and across the globe. RECOGNISE ME. I am the young face of Indigenous reconciliation and recognition and I am here to ensure that my brothers, sisters, uncles, aunties, grandmothers and grandfathers can rest easy knowing that we are recognised in our own country and on our own land. I will not sit and let the First People’s voice go as unheard as it has been, for far too long. Recognition is not the end of the road, but one step in the ongoing journey of reconciliation. Our generation is ready for change. RECOGNISE ME. AND allow my soul to be given back to my body, only then will the relationship I have with the lands and waters become recognised and legitimised. RECOGNISE US.
Above, from top: Rebekka Rogers; Arabella Hart; Marcellus Enalanga; Peter Buckskin addresses the audience.
14 Aboriginal Way, Winter 2016
Because only together can we make lasting change for the future generations of Australia
