The long challenge of indigenous people has been overcome by not only their feeling of dispossession of their land but also that dispossession of being emotionally hurt through that of indigenous culture and family. Passage one Red Indian Heritage is my reading of a plea by Chief Seattle to keep his peoples land and this their way of life; it informs my reading of Garry Foley’s article White Myths Damage Our Souls which was writing over one hundred years after Seattle’s. Both texts explore similar ideas of dispossession within indigenous people. Foley’s article informs the reader of that forced assimilation of Koori people in Australia has cost them their Aboriginality which is also something Chief Seattle mentioned in his speech as to what…
“We Are Going” a poem written by the famous Oodgeroo Noonuccal is in its own way a masterpiece for communication to the present world about the impact of modernisation on the Indigenous people of Australia. If anything, Oodgeroo expresses the reality of the fading of the Aboriginals and expresses the sadness and pain that follows. The constant use of the word “We” in this poem creates the sense that Oodgeroo is not at all speaking for herself. She is speaking for the entire Indigenous population.…
The author of “Self-Determination and Indigenous Women’s Rights at the Intersection of International Human Rights”, Rauna Kuokkanen works as an associate professor at the department of Political Science and Aboriginal Studies program at the University of Toronto. She is well known for many of her works on Aboriginal Studies. In this journal, Kuokkanen makes an attempt to explain the relationship between Indigenous self-determination and Indigenous women’s rights under the principle of the international human rights framework. In spite of the “growing studies on indigenous peoples and self-determination, there is a striking absence of research into the gendered process and effects of indigenous self-determination or in other words, indigenous women and self-determination”…
Within a harsh environment, for a marginalised individual or group to forge a strong sense of connection to its surroundings; a resilient sense of identity and personal qualities such as pride and determination are needed. Nan Dear of Rainbow’s End maintains this resilience by retaining her affiliation with the people of the Murray River as well as her close connection with her land. She demonstrates this through her use of colloquial yet highly modal language and the possessive first person pronoun ‘my’ in the line; “My birth certificate says ‘Murray River.’ Born there and, by crikey, I’m gunna go back and die there.” Nan Dear is well aware of the inequities arising from her Aboriginal heritage. Through the evocative sentiment and unspecified third person pronoun in ‘they took us from our homes,’ she collectively broadcasts the negative impacts of enforced displacement. However, Nan’s display of defiance and determination to surpass governmental barriers and reconnect with her…
Good evening, thank you for inviting me here this evening. I would like to discuss how Carmel Bird’s non-fiction book The Stolen Children-Their Stories (TSC) and Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s poem, “We are going” (WAG) gives us an understanding of how Australian voices reflect Australian values. Both texts explore the unfair treatment and effects of suffering inflicted upon Aboriginal communities and individuals by past government’s policies, as well as western society’s disrespect and ignorance. By analysing the texts, we learn about the values of egalitarianism from the perspectives of both indigenous people and the government. Egalitarianism means a fair go for all people where everyone is equal in fundamental worth and status. Getting this kind of insight into social and political issues of assimilation changes the view on problems of equality in this country. It reveals we should have sense of responsibility towards Aboriginal people and provide justice for their suffering.…
The 20th century was a time of great change in the way women were perceived as members of Australian society. A notable example of a person who helped to bring about this change is the feminist Vida Goldstein, who campaigned for women’s suffrage and social reform in regards to gender inequality. She was an influential leader in the history of Australia’s feminist movement, and her actions were critical in the formation of the gender equal society we live in today.…
Cited: Brewster, Anne. "Whiteness and Indigenous Sovereignty in Kim Scott 's That Deadman Dance." The Journal of the European Association of Studies on Australia 2.2 (2011): 60-61. Web. 11 Aug. 2012.…
Paul Kelly, an Australian artist, composed a song known as the “Special Treatment”. The special treatment tells us about the dis advantages the indigenous people had experienced during their life. The way Paul Kelly had presented this song gives us a feeling of grieve and sorrow towards the indigenous. The sound, rhythm and the stanzas gives us a clear message that the aboriginals feel ashamed and aren’t pleased by how the Europeans treat them unfairly.…
The progression of the rights and freedoms of women has changed drastically over the past 100 years. Women have felt the need to stand up for their rights and change the traditional stereotype of women from, weak and unambitious to strong and determined beings. There were two main time periods where their rights were recognized throughout Australia. The first took place in the early 20th century, where women rallied for the rights to vote and stand for elections. The second took place in the 1960s and 1970s, when traditional roles of women were challenged. The third aspect that will also be looked at in this essay, are influential women in the two time periods that made the rights and freedoms of women change for the better.…
‘Women produce children; women are mothers and wives; women do the cooking, cleaning, sewing and washing; they take care of men and are subordinate to male authority; they are largely excluded from high-status occupations and from positions of power.’ (Haralambous and Holborn 1995, Sociology Themes and Perspectives, HarperCollins Publishers) These stereotypes have come from our past and have now become quite frequently used in today’s society. Women have been seen as the maintainers of the household while the men go out to work and earn a living. “When our ancient ancestors switched to hunting as a way of life, the relationship between males and females was dramatically altered. Females with their heavy reproductive burden were unable to play a major role in this new feeding pattern, which had become so vital for survival. A much greater division of labor between the sexes arose.” (Tiger). This statement shows the view that males are seen as the more successful gender within society, as they are able to maintain and keep their families alive. With this in mind, it is easy to see how gender roles have been maintained through out the ages. Children grow up seeing their mothers cooking and cleaning and fathers going out to work and support the family’s financial needs. From birth our families and friends instill gender ideals onto us, from buying little girls pink clothing and dolls, to buying blue for boys and trucks and trains to play with. Children do not have the ability to choose their own gender pathway, and therefore have to rely on their parents and elders to lead them in the correct direction and trust their selection of gender roles. Once a child has become old enough to be able to choose for itself, they develop a more individual personality variance and definition of gender. From these roles being passed on through generation-to-generation, people in contemporary Australian society have…
Colin and Sandra demonstrate sheer determination in maintaining educational rights and practices for the children of rural Warrego through never giving up on their shared dream with Indigenous Elder Colin Freddie (ECF) to provide purposeful education to Aboriginal students whom would otherwise potentially become uneducated. The couple appear to promote the core values of Aboriginal Terms of Reference whereby they demonstrate self-determination in enhancing political and social development for Aboriginal peoples, they establish positive social change (Oxenham, 1999) by helping children to be released from the town where alcohol is an issue to become educated at Warrego. The couple also appear to be advocates for social justice whereby they are committed to working and living with the students to provide them with educational opportunity.…
The history of Australian literature is extremely masculine. Written by men, about men, for men, a most ‘typically Australian outlook.’ In fact Norman Mackenzie goes as far to say that ‘Australia is more “a man’s country” than other industrial democracies’ (Wilde 271). However, women are represented within this masculine dominated literature, (Wilde 271). Nevertheless, this was a masculine world, with very few women with differing roles in society, to be represented in literature. Therefore, the ratio of men to women in early Australian literature is responding to this ratio.…
This poem however can be indirectly confronting to those who don’t share the same viewpoints as Walker. good observation The also poem has a degree of stereotyping in the sense where ‘love your people, freedom to the end’ takes place however there none that really strikes out as it. The white Australian perspective above all is silenced in this text, marginalized are her perspectives…
In her excerpt ‘Sitting on a Man”, she more explicitly shows change in gender relations by explaining the political participation of Igbo women before the British and how this ends after their intrusion. In her piece, women gain political influence through collective action. This action comes in the form of mikiri, female only meetings and the practice of “sitting on a man”- strikes. These mikiri mimic the male dominated village meetings and allow the women to have an equal platform for expressing grievances. Through humiliation, destruction of property, refusal to cook and even threats of these actions, “women could take direct action to enforce their decision” (Van Allen 401-402). This created a stable balance between the power or man and women within the Igbo community. However, we see a change in their society when the British introduce native administration and Victorian ideals. Van Allen states “It was a violation of Igbo concepts to have one man represent the village…and more a violation that he should give orders to everyone else”(403). With the outlaw of the village assemblies the “self-help” practices of women to cease to exist and ends their “illegitimate use of force”(406). Victorianism adds to this transformation by forcing on women the ideal that politics is for men(407). Van Allen’s investigation emphasizes processes of change by evaluating how institutions that were thought to be…
2. Assumes patriarchy is universal historical references of Aboriginal women having high status and power in their society, positions of authority and autonomy…