Cultural Worlds » Indigenous rights

An Indigenous voice on current Government policy

Tim Trudgen — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:20:29 +0000

This is the second of a series of videos produced by a knowledgeable Aboriginal Lady from North East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory. What she says should be obvious, but I think it helps to realise that for many Yolngu (the people from this region) what services the Government might provide is not as important as the way they provide them. The new interventionist approach to remote Indigenous communities ultimately disempowers the people, regardless of what wonderful services they bring, because they do not acknowledge the people’s Law, knowledge, or potential. This is why Banumbil in this video demands acknowledgement through government entering into face to face dialogue as the most important issue, so that Yolngu might be given some control over decisions made on their behalf. I post this here so people can see that Indigenous people from the remote areas really are angry about disempowering approaches. I hope you will believe me that she is not the exception in this regard.

This video was produced independent of Why Warriors Pty Ltd, and are the views of the speaker, further information may be found where this video was originally posted on YouTube. I’m sure those who created this video would appreciate if it was passed on to others especially to those in Government positions, as that is who this message was written for.

Loss of Indigenous Languages – symptom or underlying cause?

Tim Trudgen — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:03:46 +0000

Some groups are now starting to recognise that struggling Indigenous groups need to be given greater levels of control and autonomy over their own lives, and a lack of mastery over ones own life is at the root of the problems in Aboriginal communities. However, when it comes to the importance of using local languages there is sometimes some confusion about the relevance of language related issues to Indigenous rights and self-determination. Language barriers, or the lack of utilisation of local languages is not just one of the problems in these communities. Utilising local languages is a major part of the solution to all the other problems. It is not that it would just be nice if Indigenous people could be taught in and participate in the global community using their own language. It must be understood that an Indigenous community cannot be given any kind of real control over their lives, where the dominant culture refuses to work through peoples’ own local languages. And it does not matter if that language is an ancient language, a kriol or ‘Aboriginal english’, what matters is that it is the langauge that people grow up with. People can not have equal rights while they have to negotiate the legal, health and educational aspect of their lives in someone else’s language. While treaties and legislative changes that legally give Aboriginal people greater degrees of autonomy and rights are important, they will be ineffective and almost useless while the white man can continue to have the upper hand simply by being a native speaker of English. Language is mastery, who ever controls language controls information and those who lack information are marginalised. When we talk of equal rights for Indigenous peoples, the right to hear and be heard using their native languages should be at the top of the list, because it gives people mastery over their own lives and the life of their community.

Closing the Gap Part 2 – A Yolŋu petition and an Ivory tower.

Tim Trudgen — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 23:56:58 +0000

Prime Minister Rudd and cabinet opposite Yolŋu leaders, before the presentation of the Petition for rights

I was in Yirrkala on the 23rd July 2008 when the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his cabinet visited the community. Yirrkala is an Aboriginal Community near Nhulunbuy, a mining town in north east Arnhem Land, Northern Territory, Australia. It is populated by 13 or so different Yolŋu clans from the surrounding region as well as Balanda personnel. On this day about a dozen key Yolŋu Indigenous leaders presented to the Prime Minister a petition mounted on wood and surrounded by paintings and feathers. The petition requested that the Federal Government begin the process of negotiation with Aboriginal people in order to recognise and protect Aboriginal rights in the constitution. The petition specified these rights as:

Their right to maintain the diversity of their ’systems of life’ (eg. linguistic, cultural and legal practices – my interpretation),
Their property rights to land and seas,
Their right to use all the resources on their land for their economic development
Their right to have control over their own lives.

Although there is much that could be discussed about what these rights might be and the legitimacy of such claims, I would like to consider the Prime Ministers response to this petition. Prime Minister Rudd recognised the importance of moving toward a process to recognise Indigenous rights, but identified this process as secondary to the process that the Government has defined as ‘closing the Gap’. The Prime Minister stated that their first priorty right now was to close the gap in education and health between wider Australia and Indigneous people. Does the Prime Minister really know better than the Yolŋu leaders what is best for their people? This demonstrates the arrogance and distance of Government from the Indigenous peoples real experience. The Yolŋu leaders did not ask for housing, or even better education. Their primary concern was their peoples rights. Yet it seems that the Government believes it has the clear view on the matter, perhaps they have an Ivory tower, while the local leaders can only see what is happening on the ground?

From this gentle act of protest we all should ask the question. Is ‘closing the gap’ a process that can occur seperate to the real recognition and protection of Indigenous legal and human rights? The real recognition of such rights must be part of this process, as dis-empowerment, the devaluing of cultural knowledge and language, and lack of control over their social space, their economy and their land is part of the real reasons that the ‘Gap’ still exists.

I will look at this question of the role of rights in effecting underlying cause another time.