country

"We work together so hard, we always stick together to come to every meeting and we talk about everything — like our country, our Mirrar children, we don't want them to wander off somewhere else — we want to keep them here, and help us work in our country, to look after our mother country," says Annie Njalmirama, TO.
 
At the heart of it all, traditional owners are calling for fundamental changes to the lives, opportunities and living conditions of Indigenous people in Kakadu - and that this time, the spoils of tourism will be shared equally.

The British have waged undeclared wars on First Nations peoples ever since 1788.

The murder and misery inflicted today reminds us of when settlers rode into communities on horse back and cut down extended families. In current times, the government does not only allow multi-national mining giants to rape the country and destroy ancient cultures, but they are trying to force First Nations people to live with the poisonous waste. [node:read-more:link]

"We draw the line today. We declare our right to our land. There is no surrender. There is no land use agreement. We are the people from that land. We’re the rightful Traditional Owners of Wangan and Jagalingou country, and we are in court to prove that others are usurping our rights”. said Adrian Burragubba. “Our people are the last line of legal defence against this mine and its corrosive impact on our rights, and the destruction of country that would occur. Senator Brandis has been disingenuous in prosecuting his argument for these changes to native title laws, while the hands of native title bureaucrats and the mining lobby are all over the outcome. [node:read-more:link]

Chain gangs and slave labour in Australia" width="690" height="300" border="0">
Notice the tin mugs placed in strategic places on the tin wall behind the prisoners - if one wanted a drink or go to the toilet the whole gang would have to go with them. In some cases, people were chained next to a member of a tribal group that is culturally inappropriate to even to speak to, never-loan the different customs and language barriers. It's no wonder they had difficulty fitting into their own family group when they were 'lucky' enough to return to their home. [node:read-more:link]

In 1926 a group of colonists with self acclaimed 'high moral standards' and with a small touch of guilt, came up with the idea to create an Aboriginal state. The idea was to give Arnhem Land to Aboriginal people and teach them how to be self-sufficient ... "It is a bold scheme, but the committee behind it includes men who know the aborigine, and who have sufficient faith in it to call for signatures to a petition to be presented to the Commonwealth Parliament asking for its inauguration" [node:read-more:link]

Archeologists working on the Dampier archipelago off Australia’s north-west coast have found evidence of stone houses dating back 9,000 years – to the end of the last ice age – building the case for the area to get a world heritage listing.

A team from UWA are exploring the Dampier Archipelago (Murujuga). What they have uncovered so far is astounding, and pushes back the known occupation of this place to before the Last Ice Age. [node:read-more:link]