Culture

Past experiences of forced removal off country have proved disastrous. The result is more fringe dwellers, social problems, suicides and incarceration. Western Australia already has the highest rate of incarceration of Indigenous people, around 20 times the rate of non-Indigenous Australians. In fact Barnett hypocritically admitted that it “will cause great distress to Aboriginal people who will move, it will cause issues in regional towns as Aboriginal people move into them.” [node:read-more:link]

Aboriginal leaders and advocates are warning the "chaos and dysfunction" caused by closing down remote Indigenous communities will cost the West Australian Government far more than addressing existing issues. Amnesty International's indigenous peoples' rights manager Tammy Solonec said there was no plan to help people when Ooombulgurri community was closed down and people were required to integrate into Wyndham or other towns, leaving them "highly traumatised". [node:read-more:link]

By now we know that traditional Indigenous languages are losing speakers rapidly and tragically. Of the 250 languages once spoken in Australia, only 40 remain and just 18 of these are still learnt by children. But if children in remote Indigenous communities aren't still learning traditional languages, then what are they learning? It is generally assumed they are shifting to English, but this is not the case. - Article by Felicity Meakins from The University of Queensland [node:read-more:link]

Be careful what you pray for. By proposing to strip away protection for Aboriginal people's heritage across the board, and throughout the State, the Barnett Government appears to have unwittingly conjured up a strong, united and angry Aboriginal coalition which is now mobilising against the AHA amendments.

Written Dr Stephen Bennetts, who is a consultant anthropologist that has worked with Aboriginal people in Northern Australia since 1994. [node:read-more:link]

Half the country's rock paintings – some dating back 30,000 years – could disappear within 50 years, experts warn. Oliver Milman meets the Indigenous rangers and researchers working to protect delicate sandstone from the triple threat of mining, graffiti and feral animals.

It's a race to protect Australia's most ancient treasures. For the traditional owners of land near the remote town of Laura, a four-hour drive north-west of Cairns, Far North Queensland, the job is essential – and urgent. [node:read-more:link]

Jane Simpson writes that Indigenous languages won't survive if First Nations kids don't have the opportunity to speak their native languages at school. Ms Simpson is the Chair of Indigenous Linguistics and Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the Dynamics of Language at Australian National University asks the question of what language(s) to teach Indigenous students, what languages to teach them in, and how to go about it has been generating a little political heat (but not quite so much light) of late. [node:read-more:link]

The First Nations peoples of the continent now called Australia were not ignorant savages stagnating in their primitive inadequacies and laziness, as the British invaders have been maintaining and indeed teaching for the past 230 years.

Archaeologist's findings together with scientific analogy is now pointing towards the history of these people as the beginning of what is known as 'modern man' in this region, at least. [node:read-more:link]

Western Australian law intended to maintain social responsibility is in grievous danger. This is because WA's parliament plans to revise legislation designed to protect Aboriginal heritage. The revisions will make it easier for developers to disturb this heritage. We have to take a step back tens of thousands of years to see why.

An overview by Dr Nick Herriman from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at the School of Social Sciences and Communications at La Trobe University. [node:read-more:link]