February 13 2008 – An Apology and a new heart for Australia
Messages of ‘Sorry’ and ‘support’ started flooding in via sms and email on Monday. They reached a peak as the speeches ended yesterday morning and I stood amongst thousands on Parliamentary Hill, breathing in fresh air that was filled with hope, history, forgiveness and unity.
Every time my phone rang or beeped the lump in my throat grew as I took messages and calls from people all around the country. Some were ex-students of mine, others were people I’d been to primary school with. One message came from someone I met on the Gold Coast at schoolies in 1986. I was just one of many blackfellas who received an outpouring of love and support from friends and colleagues that for me included publishers, producers, professors, fellow artists, public servants and stay at home mums. I even received a couple of emails from people I didn’t really know that well.
While many of the people who contacted me don’t know each other, they had many things in common. Firstly, the group I am talking about were all non-Aboriginal. Secondly, they shared a common language that included terms like ‘sorry’, ‘healing’, ‘relief’, ‘justice’, ‘hope’, ‘peace’, ‘solidarity’, ‘renewed hope’, ‘there in spirit’, and ‘moving forward together’. These words were accompanied I’m told, by a lot of emotion, many tears and boxes of tissues.
On the ground, I shared the joy of Kevin Rudd’s words with my family and friends, but also with thousands of complete strangers standing around me. There were hugs and tears and sighs of relief. The applause that echoed around Parliament House came from Australians (and some tourists) who’d taken leave from their work and their normal daily lives to be part of one of the most pivotal moments in this nation’s history.
To be honest with you, the apology for me was about finding some peace for those stolen and our families, and there were many levels of relief experienced when Rudd finally said ‘SORRY’, six times! His carefully crafted and sincere words finally provided Australians of all denominations the opportunity to heal themselves, and to share what was in their hearts. An apology from the national parliament also legitimised what many had felt for many, many years.
I heard many non-Aboriginal Australians say yesterday “I am so proud now to be Australian.” One text message I received said, “I now know what it means to be a proud Australian.” It seems to me that Kevin Rudd gave our nation a new sense of identity and perhaps a new sense of patriotism with his words.
As for Brendan Nelson channelling John Howard through his speech, well that’s another blog altogether, but quite frankly I’ve got better things to do with my words than respond to his lack of insight. The Liberal Party was left behind yesterday as the rest of Parliament and Australia made history for the betterment of this great nation.
I am still emotional about what the last 24 hours has done for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. But I am filled with hope and expectation for what we can do now to ensure real social equity and sovereignty for the First Peoples of Australia.
Peace,
Anita Heiss
Anita's blog is largely about gratefulness - hers and others - but she also posts about things important to her including books, reading, literacy and Aboriginal arts and culture. The above photo was taken by Tammy Law at Anita's TEDx talk in Brisbane, 2013.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Rallying the troops – TO GET OUT OF THE NT
Rallying the troops – TO GET OUT OF THE NT
While tomorrow’s apology to the Stolen Generations has been the topic of news headlines, Liberal Party bitching, talkback radio and dinner table conversations for the last two weeks, the much awaited ‘Sorry’ comes immediately on the back of today’s rally which saw around 2000 gather to demand the human rights of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory be re-instated.
The rally saw people travel across the country specifically to declare their disgust at the current racist legislation. I met one young Nyungah woman Natasha Moore who had travelled from Perth just for the day. We met as the crowds gathered at the site of the Tent Embassy on the lawns of Old Parliament House (the building that should’ve become the Aboriginal Embassy once!!!). We stood there after Ngambri Elder Matilida House had welcomed politicians to the 42nd sitting of Parliament – a groundbreaking moment in Australian political history.
After we were given a welcome by the Tent Embassy mob at the ceremonial fire we marched, lead by our brothers and sister from the Northern Territory. I marched alongside friends I went to university with 20 years ago, supporters of Residents for Reconciliation in Western Sydney I’d met 10 years ago, family members I was meeting for the first time, local school students in full uniform, and many others (black and white) who were united under the banner ‘STOP THE INTERVENTION – HUMAN RIGHTS NOW’.
We chanted (not so in-time, but I’ve never been to a rally where the chants are ever in sync), and I noticed that even though I’d rallied in four different states in the past 15 years on issues such as land rights, Black Deaths in Custody, the Stolen Generations and the NT Intervention, this was the first rally I had ever participated in that didn’t have police lining the streets or watching our moves. There was not ONE cop to be seen, until we arrived at Parliament House where they formed a protective coating to the building.
The wide range of media present spoke volumes about how the convergence on Canberra was being regarded generally. Apart from the expected Indigenous print, TV and radio media, there was mainstream media from every medium also. I won’t ‘out’ any of the normally considered right-wing stations that employ the shock jocks I never listen to, but these outlets were covering the rally and interviewing key members of the NT representatives on-site. I was heartened by that because it meant that our issues, the issues of Australia, would get some mainstream coverage. It would further put the Rudd Government on notice for what we expect from his term in office, aside from the apology.
I spent much of my day with Aunty Eileen Cummings from the Northern Territory whom I’d met at Sydney meeting of Women for Wik (WFW) in 2007. Aunt is part of the WFW monitoring project to keep a check on what is happening in the NT in lieu of any formal accountability process put in place by the Government.
As a collective WFW supported today’s rally as a statement to the Rudd Government that we demand to see Aboriginal rights as a priority on their agenda. We want to see an end to the lack of respect for the First Nations peoples of this country, which has allowed racist legislation to be enacted in the NT and the human rights of Indigenous Australians to be denied. We believe than an apology will be the first symbolic step in a process that will require actions and resources to ensure Indigenous Australians retain control over our own lives.
When I listened and watched Aunt be interviewed by filmmaker Richard Frankland she made it perfectly clear what needed to be done in the NT: the Government needs to start talking to communities, CDEP needs to be restored so that people can work, and the quarantining of wages needs to end.
She said, “Our people need to get back the power to control what’s happening in our communities. We’re now reliving what happened to us as children when the Native Police came in. Right now in the Territory, I’m reminded of growing up on a mission settlement.”
It is ironic that Kevin Rudd, the man we have placed so much hope in, will be apologising tomorrow for the past injustice, while in the Northern Territory a whole new set of injustices are still be carried out.
Most of us see the apology as an important symbolic and healing gesture for those who have directly suffered under legislation that stole our parents, grandparents, unless, aunts, cousins and friends. Some of us also hope that it comes with some very practical actions to ensure that the future ensures sovereignty for our people as well.
Anita Heiss
While tomorrow’s apology to the Stolen Generations has been the topic of news headlines, Liberal Party bitching, talkback radio and dinner table conversations for the last two weeks, the much awaited ‘Sorry’ comes immediately on the back of today’s rally which saw around 2000 gather to demand the human rights of Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory be re-instated.
The rally saw people travel across the country specifically to declare their disgust at the current racist legislation. I met one young Nyungah woman Natasha Moore who had travelled from Perth just for the day. We met as the crowds gathered at the site of the Tent Embassy on the lawns of Old Parliament House (the building that should’ve become the Aboriginal Embassy once!!!). We stood there after Ngambri Elder Matilida House had welcomed politicians to the 42nd sitting of Parliament – a groundbreaking moment in Australian political history.
After we were given a welcome by the Tent Embassy mob at the ceremonial fire we marched, lead by our brothers and sister from the Northern Territory. I marched alongside friends I went to university with 20 years ago, supporters of Residents for Reconciliation in Western Sydney I’d met 10 years ago, family members I was meeting for the first time, local school students in full uniform, and many others (black and white) who were united under the banner ‘STOP THE INTERVENTION – HUMAN RIGHTS NOW’.
We chanted (not so in-time, but I’ve never been to a rally where the chants are ever in sync), and I noticed that even though I’d rallied in four different states in the past 15 years on issues such as land rights, Black Deaths in Custody, the Stolen Generations and the NT Intervention, this was the first rally I had ever participated in that didn’t have police lining the streets or watching our moves. There was not ONE cop to be seen, until we arrived at Parliament House where they formed a protective coating to the building.
The wide range of media present spoke volumes about how the convergence on Canberra was being regarded generally. Apart from the expected Indigenous print, TV and radio media, there was mainstream media from every medium also. I won’t ‘out’ any of the normally considered right-wing stations that employ the shock jocks I never listen to, but these outlets were covering the rally and interviewing key members of the NT representatives on-site. I was heartened by that because it meant that our issues, the issues of Australia, would get some mainstream coverage. It would further put the Rudd Government on notice for what we expect from his term in office, aside from the apology.
I spent much of my day with Aunty Eileen Cummings from the Northern Territory whom I’d met at Sydney meeting of Women for Wik (WFW) in 2007. Aunt is part of the WFW monitoring project to keep a check on what is happening in the NT in lieu of any formal accountability process put in place by the Government.
As a collective WFW supported today’s rally as a statement to the Rudd Government that we demand to see Aboriginal rights as a priority on their agenda. We want to see an end to the lack of respect for the First Nations peoples of this country, which has allowed racist legislation to be enacted in the NT and the human rights of Indigenous Australians to be denied. We believe than an apology will be the first symbolic step in a process that will require actions and resources to ensure Indigenous Australians retain control over our own lives.
When I listened and watched Aunt be interviewed by filmmaker Richard Frankland she made it perfectly clear what needed to be done in the NT: the Government needs to start talking to communities, CDEP needs to be restored so that people can work, and the quarantining of wages needs to end.
She said, “Our people need to get back the power to control what’s happening in our communities. We’re now reliving what happened to us as children when the Native Police came in. Right now in the Territory, I’m reminded of growing up on a mission settlement.”
It is ironic that Kevin Rudd, the man we have placed so much hope in, will be apologising tomorrow for the past injustice, while in the Northern Territory a whole new set of injustices are still be carried out.
Most of us see the apology as an important symbolic and healing gesture for those who have directly suffered under legislation that stole our parents, grandparents, unless, aunts, cousins and friends. Some of us also hope that it comes with some very practical actions to ensure that the future ensures sovereignty for our people as well.
Anita Heiss
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
My First Blog
Hi
This is my first blog. It's the one I wrote for ANTAR on 26 January, known in Australia as Survival Day.
I intend to post here regularly now.
Happy reading!
Anita
January 26 - celebrating the survival of the First Australians
As dance groups from the four corners of NSW welcomed us through corrroboree to Victoria Park yesterday, I stood alongside the Minister for Local Government, Aboriginal Affairs and Mental Health Paul Lynch and I smiled. The sun was streaming down upon us as the sounds of the didgeridoo and clapsticks echoed across the park. I even felt momentarily maternal as I watched a young Koori boy of no more than five years of age dancing for the crowds. He was so cute. And he was the future of our people in front of us. We had survived the past 220 years since the point of first contact, and we would survive another.
The crowd had gathered at the annual Yabun Festival hosted by Gadigal Information Service, the home of Koori Radio 93.7FM. They came along in droves to help us celebrate not only the survival of Aboriginal peoples and cultures in the city of Sydney, but also across the state of NSW and around the country.
Collectively our non-Indigenous friends, international visitors and officials such as the Lord Mayor Clover Moore, Councillor Marcelle Hoff, the Governor of NSW Her Excellency Marie Bashir and local MP Tanya Plibersek, validated for us what we already knew; that January 26 marks a significant moment for Aboriginal peoples in recognising the consequences of invasion and colonisation, and how they continue to impact upon us as Australian citizens.
Indeed, January 26, 2008 marked the 70th anniversary of the 1938-Day of Mourning Protest and Conference in Sydney, and the beginning of the civil rights movement in Australia. So it was important that while celebrating we also took the opportunity to acknowledge those warriors who have fought for human rights for our people until now, but also to discuss the current state of affairs for our people including the NT legislation, the issue of an apology, the road to reconciliation and so on.
12,000-plus festival goers made it clear that we weren’t on this journey alone, and as I strolled the park in my capacity as Chair of Gadigal I knew that the tide had turned, that 2008 was going to be a positive year on many fronts for Aboriginal Australia. I knew this because I’d just heard award-winning authors Tara June Winch and Romaine Moreton talking about the books, and I saw Kutcha Edwards, Shelley Morris and Whitehouse among other top quality musicians on stage. I knew we were going to thrive because I watched people in the AIATSIS tent talking about their family histories, and I saw a visual dsipaly of photographer Mervyn Bishop documenting the history of Yabun Festival’s to date.
I joked with the Minister in the funny hat, and offered to pay the $2 so he could have his face painted. He declined. I shared stories with the Governor about the Black Armband’s performance at the Sydney Opera House earlier in the week. I don’t know one person - accept perhaps an ignorant reviewer - who wasn’t in awe of their show. For what it’s worth, I believe it was the best musical performance of any kind that I had ever seen, and I had never seen the Concert Hall so rocking.
Back to Yabun (sorry this is my first blog post and I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to do!), and I sat under a tree with Wiradjuri author, poet and photographer Kerry Reed-Gilbert, who was there to launch her sister Minmia’s book Under the Quandong Tree. We just caught up as people do when they go to Yabun.
I yahooed (because I can’t whistle) as I watched young kids on the dance stage learning to breakdance. I had a helmet, tracksuit pants and a piece of cardboard myself ready to go, but didn’t think the 39 year old Chair should embarrass herself.
I spent most of the day with a dreadful headache because I didn’t drink enough water (to be honest I hate porta-loos so was lessening the need to go!). But I was filled with the spirit of unity that marks every Yabun Festival, and I felt so much alive.
The sense of unity that most Kooris feel at Yabun comes from not only all the blackfellas that travel across country to be part of the day, but because of all our supporters there as well. What I saw was a diverse crowd that spoke volumes about the way in which Australians think about and choose to celebrate January 26 in Australia today.
Gone are the days when Aboriginal festivals such as Yabun are considered fringe activities. We have asserted our rightful place in the calendar of events that make up what some term Australia Day.
We are a vibrant, talented and passionate people with much to offer when we are given the opportunity to be heard. Please come join us on January 26 2009, because the party will be even bigger.
Yours in peace and unity,
Dr Anita Heiss
Wiradjuri Nation
(www.anitaheiss.com)
This is my first blog. It's the one I wrote for ANTAR on 26 January, known in Australia as Survival Day.
I intend to post here regularly now.
Happy reading!
Anita
January 26 - celebrating the survival of the First Australians
As dance groups from the four corners of NSW welcomed us through corrroboree to Victoria Park yesterday, I stood alongside the Minister for Local Government, Aboriginal Affairs and Mental Health Paul Lynch and I smiled. The sun was streaming down upon us as the sounds of the didgeridoo and clapsticks echoed across the park. I even felt momentarily maternal as I watched a young Koori boy of no more than five years of age dancing for the crowds. He was so cute. And he was the future of our people in front of us. We had survived the past 220 years since the point of first contact, and we would survive another.
The crowd had gathered at the annual Yabun Festival hosted by Gadigal Information Service, the home of Koori Radio 93.7FM. They came along in droves to help us celebrate not only the survival of Aboriginal peoples and cultures in the city of Sydney, but also across the state of NSW and around the country.
Collectively our non-Indigenous friends, international visitors and officials such as the Lord Mayor Clover Moore, Councillor Marcelle Hoff, the Governor of NSW Her Excellency Marie Bashir and local MP Tanya Plibersek, validated for us what we already knew; that January 26 marks a significant moment for Aboriginal peoples in recognising the consequences of invasion and colonisation, and how they continue to impact upon us as Australian citizens.
Indeed, January 26, 2008 marked the 70th anniversary of the 1938-Day of Mourning Protest and Conference in Sydney, and the beginning of the civil rights movement in Australia. So it was important that while celebrating we also took the opportunity to acknowledge those warriors who have fought for human rights for our people until now, but also to discuss the current state of affairs for our people including the NT legislation, the issue of an apology, the road to reconciliation and so on.
12,000-plus festival goers made it clear that we weren’t on this journey alone, and as I strolled the park in my capacity as Chair of Gadigal I knew that the tide had turned, that 2008 was going to be a positive year on many fronts for Aboriginal Australia. I knew this because I’d just heard award-winning authors Tara June Winch and Romaine Moreton talking about the books, and I saw Kutcha Edwards, Shelley Morris and Whitehouse among other top quality musicians on stage. I knew we were going to thrive because I watched people in the AIATSIS tent talking about their family histories, and I saw a visual dsipaly of photographer Mervyn Bishop documenting the history of Yabun Festival’s to date.
I joked with the Minister in the funny hat, and offered to pay the $2 so he could have his face painted. He declined. I shared stories with the Governor about the Black Armband’s performance at the Sydney Opera House earlier in the week. I don’t know one person - accept perhaps an ignorant reviewer - who wasn’t in awe of their show. For what it’s worth, I believe it was the best musical performance of any kind that I had ever seen, and I had never seen the Concert Hall so rocking.
Back to Yabun (sorry this is my first blog post and I’m not really sure what I’m supposed to do!), and I sat under a tree with Wiradjuri author, poet and photographer Kerry Reed-Gilbert, who was there to launch her sister Minmia’s book Under the Quandong Tree. We just caught up as people do when they go to Yabun.
I yahooed (because I can’t whistle) as I watched young kids on the dance stage learning to breakdance. I had a helmet, tracksuit pants and a piece of cardboard myself ready to go, but didn’t think the 39 year old Chair should embarrass herself.
I spent most of the day with a dreadful headache because I didn’t drink enough water (to be honest I hate porta-loos so was lessening the need to go!). But I was filled with the spirit of unity that marks every Yabun Festival, and I felt so much alive.
The sense of unity that most Kooris feel at Yabun comes from not only all the blackfellas that travel across country to be part of the day, but because of all our supporters there as well. What I saw was a diverse crowd that spoke volumes about the way in which Australians think about and choose to celebrate January 26 in Australia today.
Gone are the days when Aboriginal festivals such as Yabun are considered fringe activities. We have asserted our rightful place in the calendar of events that make up what some term Australia Day.
We are a vibrant, talented and passionate people with much to offer when we are given the opportunity to be heard. Please come join us on January 26 2009, because the party will be even bigger.
Yours in peace and unity,
Dr Anita Heiss
Wiradjuri Nation
(www.anitaheiss.com)
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