Archives November 2015

Ghillar Michael Anderson exposes the consequences of the insidious nature of colonial social engineering which used the 'dog tag' to divide against First Nations. People issued the 'dog tag' or 'exemption certificate' were 'exempted' from being Aboriginal and partially accepted into the colonial society on its terms, namely they were not allowed to associate with their own kind, known as the 'grassroots communities'. [node:read-more:link]

Ballarat indigenous artist Aunty Marlene's depiction of the 1842 hanging. Photo: City of Melbourne

Clare Rawlinson ABC 27 November 2015

A swing set reminiscent of the gallows where two Indigenous men were hanged in 1842 will be erected as a memorial to colonial conflict in Melbourne. [node:read-more:link]

The number of doctors working in Western Australia's First Nations Community Controlled Health Services (ACCHS) will be reduced from 56 to 19 under a policy proposed by the Federal Government, according to the Aboriginal Health Council of WA.

"We currently have 56 doctors working in our sector. With this decision that will severely reduce that back to 19 doctors," the council's chairwoman Michelle Nelson-Cox told ABC Kimberley. [node:read-more:link]

Letters by Noongar people pleading for the return of their stolen children or requesting access to the old age pension after a lifetime's work will come together in a new project aimed at uncovering a hidden side of Indigenous history.

Curtin University researchers are set to collate letters from state archives and correspondence held by families across Western Australia, dating from the 1860s to the 1960s. [node:read-more:link]