Tent Embassies

A group of Indigenous campers on Heirisson Island say the self-declared refugee camp is “for all homeless and displaced person” and not a protest. The camp has been running since Sunday, with a sign declaring the area “Private property of the Djurin Republic”. The group are reportedly also protesting the proposed closure of remote communities in the State’s north. “This is a refugee camp, and it’s dry and peaceful,” one camper Willow said. “It’s for all homeless and displaced persons, we are not protesting or declaring war.

A group of First Nations women have established a 'Sovereign Tent Embassy' at Matargarup (Heirisson Island) WA which also hosts a "Refugee Camp" for their homeless sisters and brothers and for the displaced First Nations people from their Homelands. Elder Maureen Culbong said, "We will stand in even stronger numbers together than even the two years ago where we stood for so long. There are so many issues our peoples face that we need the Embassy as a place of sanctity for all those hurting ... "

The Aboriginal Housing Company posted the trespass signs in February, giving the protesters 72 hours to vacate the property. The protesters rallied to bolster their ranks and were still in their 'tent embassy' more than a week after the deadline passed. Wiradjuri elder Jenny Munro has been camping at the site since May 26 last year, to demand more affordable Aboriginal housing on the land which was purchased by the Aboriginal Housing Company with a federal government grant in the 1970s.

Property investors have been promised a suburb "free of Aboriginals," but protesters in Sydney's most well-known Indigenous community aren't giving in without a fight. According to Munro, occupants of the Redfern Aboriginal Tent Embassy (RATE) were slapped with eviction notices at mid-afternoon, and given a 48-hour window to respond. That means activists must take their case to a court before Sunday afternoon. “He served it knowing we won't be able to access the courts. It's just more filthy politics,” Jenny Munro stated.

The men at the forefront of the Aboriginal tent embassy at Airds are frustrated their site was valdalised on Saturday night. Tents were torn in half and banners were burnt when the site was unattended for just one hour on Saturday when the incident occurred.

The tent embassy was established local indigenous men to highlight their concerns over the protection of land and wildlife in Airds as part of the Airds Bradbury Renewal Project.

Joseph Roe, First Nations Activist from Broome in Western Australia defied money, arrests, threats and compulsory acquisition of his people's land to maintain integrity of First Nations culture and the environment.

"The law and song cycles of Walmadan are not ancient dreamtime history." Joseph Rowe said "This law has been kept alive through my grandfather Paddy Roe and now through me

"Remove law boss Joe Roe ... from history, and the massive gas factory planned by Woodside Petroleum for north of Broome would by now be wrecking the Kimberley coastline," Dr Bob Brown said.

Campbelltown NSW has the start of a Tent Embassy as First Nations people gather to raise their voice over the protection of land and wildlife in Airds.

Three First Nations original men erected two tents this week to show their concerns over the Airds Bradbury Renewal Project.

“This is our own solidarity march. This is sacred land that we are on,” Gungadin, one of the men said

Historic Resources and Activism Links

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