Storylines

This 26 January 2022 will be the 50th anniversary of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, Ngambri-Ngunnawal Country. This is an iconic moment in the history of the struggle for justice for Aboriginal people in the country because the Aboriginal Tent Embassy remains as relevant and necessary as ever.

In a recent conversation, with a dear friend, Gumilaroi educator Professor Bob Morgan, my spirit was lifted when he told me that after 50+ years of struggling for justice and equity for First Nations’ people in Australia and overseas that he remains ‘a prisoner of hope’ despite the glacial speed of progress and change.

The world needs gentle men. A gentle man is someone who puts more into the world than he takes out. For me this is an adequate description of First Nations men.

Motivated by the Eddie Mabo case for land rights and the fact that important sites for Aboriginal people were being eaten up by rapacious land development supported by local government, Bandjalang Elder Lawrence Wilson became the prime mover for the original Native Title claims at Evans Head.

Hope is a fragile thing in 2021. With the current pandemic and the uncertainty in so many aspects of life, our hope is being shadowed by fear. It is profoundly affecting our humanity.

As NAIDOC week arrives and we spend another year celebrating from home, it gives us a chance to sit and reflect upon the theme of this year’s celebrations.

Aboriginal knowledge, is tied up in stories, dance and art. I share my verbal knowledge with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. It is about connecting people to our history of country and heritage and also helps them understand their connection to our environment.

♦ Budgeram means story in Bundjalung language. Access to a good quality education can ensure that an individual will be successful in life. Unfortunately for Indigenous Australians,...

Byron Shire has been experiencing increasing rents for over a decade. It has become a very expensive place to live.

The 'Uluru Statement from the Heart' seeks constitutional reform to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to have a say and be involved over matters that impact their lives.

January 26. A conflicting date for many Australians. For some, this date reflects over 200 years of destruction and denigration of our traditional customs, values, languages, and cultural landscapes.

There was a time when humans were content with living in harmony with nature, our struggles were elemental and intricately connected to our survival.

Australia, as a nation, is at a crossroads.

It’s fast approaching that time of year when Black Lives do Matter – National Aborigine and Islanders Day Observance Committtee (NAIDOC) Week.

Imagine if we passed laws that were about caring for the land and the people, returning the old ways, bringing back the lores from the first cultures of ‘Australia’.

What is the fear that immerses us to such a degree that we become immobilised? I felt that fear in the initial days of the COVID-19 pandemic. All of the news actually started to make me feel ill, so I turned off the news and tuned in to my life.

Doing the right thing. Staying home. Saving lives. But what if you’re not home. What if you are living off country as it’s too expensive to go home, or there is no work at home. What if you have no home?

The toilet paper, and a measure of our societal maturity, were the first Australian casualties in today’s COVID-19 pandemic. The madness in the shopping centres were an early indicator that the leaders of the nation would need to step up. But as with the bushfire crisis, they did not.

At this particular point in time, I am troubled – troubled by this country, Australia, that is destroying our lifeline, an essential component of all of our existences – Mother Earth. Is it possible for all of us to rise and meet the challenges that are now being presented to us all?

Echonetdaily is proud to launch Storylines – a series of monthly articles by Indigenous writers.