Tag Archive for 'Aborigines'

Painting the Canning Stock Route

Published on August 1, 2010 in Western Australia. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Here is a route that is on my list of 4 wheel drive adventures I want to complete before I die:

AUSTRALIA’S ICONIC CANNING STOCK Route, created in 1906, runs for 1800 km through WA from the Kimberley to Wiluna in the state’s mid-west. The history of this famous cattle track has typically been told from a colonial perspective, but a new exhibition at the National Museum of Australia seeks to retell the story through Aboriginal eyes and voices.

“The Canning Stock Route (CSR) is a place where Indigenous and non-Indigenous histories intersect. This exhibition tells the story of the recovery of the Indigenous histories,” says Michael Pickering, head of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Program at the museum. “For many years the story of the stock route was represented as a white man’s story. This exhibition, and the collection that forms its heart, allows us to recognise that its history goes back much further and is held in the hearts and minds of the Aboriginal people of the region.”

Alongside stories and objects, the exhibition – called Yiwarra Kuju: The Canning Stock Route – features paintings by traditional owners of the land which combine both traditional and contemporary styles of art. These paintings reflect the stories that Aboriginal elders have passed on of their experiences as stockmen and other interactions with ‘white fellas’ during the early days of the stock route, while others are interpretations by younger artists.

LAUNCH A GALLERY OF THE ARTWORK

World’s longest stock route

Surveyor Alfred Canning led an expedition which created the route in 1906, with the ultimate goal of driving cattle from Halls Creek, in the Kimberley, to market in the Kalgoorlie goldfields. It is the longest stock route in the world and runs though the Little Sandy, Gibson, Great Sandy and Tanami deserts, passing 52 wells bored by Canning’s team. (See a map of the CSR)

Earlier expeditions to survey the CSR had failed, but Canning set off with a team of seven men, 23 camels, two ponies, 2.5 tonnes of provisions and 1440 litres of water. All up, they trekked 4000 kilometres over 14 months. Stock routes were created as defined paths along which cattle were driven from pastoral land to markets. They allowed access to waters and grasslands to keep the animals fed.

“There is history – an indigenous history – and it needs to be told in an Indigenous way so that the wider audience can feel both worlds,” says 33-year old co-curator of the exhibition Murungkurr Terry Murray. Terry says that some local Aboriginal people volunteered their assistance to Canning’s team to help them locate waterholes and were later employed as stockmen. Others were captured and put in neck chains and force-fed salt beef or saltwater until they became so thirsty that they had no choice but to lead the team to water.

Some of the elders remember the first European contact they had as children in the desert. Terry tells how people couldn’t believe their eyes and they ran to hide when they first saw white people, thinking they had seen a ghost.  [Australian Geographic]

You can read the rest at the link.

Russian Figure Skaters Criticized By Aborigines for Olympic Routine

Published on February 23, 2010 in Aboriginal Issues. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Having lived in Australia I can definitely attest to the fact about how important traditional Aboriginal dance is to them and I am not surprised they are upset with these Russian figure skaters:

This year, the theme for the ice dancing original dance was folk dancing. The dance was supposed to represent the “flavor” of one country or another.

Some skating pairs, like Israelis Roman and Alexandra Zaretsky and Georgians Allison Reed and Otar Japaridze, chose folk dances that represented their own country. Others chose to honor other cultures. Canadians Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir did a flamenco, Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White did an Indian dance, and Russians Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin did an Australian Aboriginal dance.

When the Russian pair did the Aboriginal dance at the European Championships in January, they drew criticism from Aboriginal leaders who found the dance and costumes offensive. Domnina and Shabalin toned down their costumes and removed their face paint, but made no changes to their Aboriginal dance.

The dance they did was more likely their interpretation of Aboriginal dance, though they claimed to have done research. Watching the dance Sunday night, one can understand why Aboriginal leaders were offended.

At times, Shabalin led Domnina around by her ponytail. They mugged, stuck out their tongues and mimicked the hand over mouth gesture that was once associated with American Indians. (See it here and judge for yourself.) After the dance ended, the crowd gave the Russians what could generously be called a lukewarm reception.  [Yahoo Sports]

I watched the video of their routine and I have to say that they just looked ridiculous, but watch the video and draw your own conclusions.

Picture of the Day: The Hottest Aboriginal Women I Have Ever Seen

Published on December 14, 2009 in Aboriginal Issues. 0 Comments Tags: , , .
RAW 2008 Reflects the beauty and Diversity of Australias Aboriginal People. This calendar is not like any that have been produced in the past as its not a girls in bikinis focused calendar, its about the rich culture we have in Australia, and apart of our vision to show case Aboriginal Australia to the world RAW will also feature Aboriginal creations from jewellery to fashion design including styles ranging from traditional to modern to swimwear.

"RAW 2008 Reflects the beauty and Diversity of Australia's Aboriginal People. This calendar is not like any that have been produced in the past as it's not a girls in bikinis focused calendar, its about the rich culture we have in Australia, and apart of our vision to show case Aboriginal Australia to the world RAW will also feature Aboriginal creations from jewellery to fashion design including styles ranging from traditional to modern to swimwear".

Via Birra News

Picture of the Day: Aboriginal Shopping

Published on May 20, 2009 in New South Wales. 0 Comments Tags: .

Via National Geographic.

Racism Activist Banned Aboriginals from His Home

Published on May 18, 2009 in Australia in the News. 0 Comments Tags: .

I don’t see any hypocrisy in this guy campaigning for Aboriginal rights, but at the same time preventing possible sex offenders from staying in his home:

A LONG-TIME campaigner against racism says he
banned his Aboriginal relatives and friends from staying in his home
for fear of his two children being sexually assaulted.

Stephen Hagan told The Australian
his decision a decade ago initially caused resentment, but he felt it
necessary to ensure the safety of his children, Stephen Jr, now 16, and
daughter Jayde, 13.

“I chose not to have people, in particular
men in town on business, sleeping under the same roof as my young
children,” the University of Southern Queensland academic said.

“I took that decision principally because I was not fully cognisant of their past inclinations around children.”

The former Aborigine of the Year – who fought a successful decade-long campaign to rename the ES “Nigger” Brown Pavilion at the Toowoomba Sports Ground – also refused to lend money.  [The Australian]

Picture of the Day: Kimberly Rock Art

Published on April 15, 2009 in Western Australia. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

Via Australian Geographic

More Aborigines Enter Mixed Race Marriages Than Ever Before

Published on April 7, 2009 in Aboriginal Issues. 0 Comments Tags: .

Depending on how you look at this, I guess you could say that Aborigines are integrating more into Australian society:

MOST Aborigines are partnering with non-Aboriginal people for the first time in history, research has revealed.

Greater opportunity for interaction is believed to be the main cause of the trend, which raises concerns about Aboriginal culture being lost in future generations.

In 2006, 52 per cent of partnered indigenous men and 55 per cent of partnered indigenous women were married to or living with non-indigenous partners, Monash University’s People and Place journal said.

Those living in cities with university degrees and higher income earners were most likely to “marry out”.

Although Aborigines are still subjected to deep prejudice, new research shows that a majority of Aboriginal men and women nationwide are now married to non-indigenous partners and eight in ten Aboriginal people living in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane are married “outside the mob”.

The report said this could be seen as a good thing because it shows cultures mixing and contributes to a diverse and tolerant society.

But it could also be considered negative because it signals the dissolution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander bloodlines and culture.

Report co-author Bob Birrell said there was still very little outmarriage in remote indigenous communities.

 ”It indicates that unlike the United States, where almost 90 per cent of blacks marry blacks, the social divide that was there 20 or 30 years ago has almost disappeared in Australia,” he said.  [The Daily Telegraph]

I think a key fact that should be highlighted is how the Aboriginals moving into the cities are receiving better education and more chance to interact with mainstream Australian society.  Over the long run I think this is better for the Aborigines instead of encouraging a welfare system that keeps them isolated in remote Aboriginal communities with little chance to interact with greater Australian society. 

Aboriginal Group Protests Mt. Niggerhead Name Change

Published on November 17, 2008 in Aboriginal Issues and Victoria. 2 Comments Tags: , , .

Well at least they are renaming this Victorian mountain which when I first saw it on a map I couldn’t believe it was named that:

AN Aboriginal group plans to sue the Victorian Government for ignoring its heritage in the renaming of Mount Niggerhead, a mountain in the Alpine National Park.

For decades, the 1846m Mt Niggerhead in the state’s northeast has been at the centre of a heated debate about its name.

State Environment Minister Gavin Jennings pledged last week to rename the rocky outcrop Jaithmathangs, after one of the traditional languages of the Bogong High Plains.

But another Aboriginal nation, the Dhudhuroas, says the peak is part of their country and the proposed new name is just as offensive to them as Mt Niggerhead.

“It’s a bit like renaming Australia as England,” Gary Murray, co-chair of the Dhudhuroa Native Title Group, said.

“Jennings might as well have taken any old name from Arnhem Land – it’s bulls**t.

“This is offensive to our people. The Jaithmathangs are from the other side of Omeo, which is miles away. The name is linguistically and culturally inappropriate.” [AAP]

Mt. Niggerhead is actually very close to the Mt. Hotham ski resort and easily visible from the Great Alpine Road. In the above picture you can see Mt. Niggerhead in the background from when I hiked one of Australia’s best trails The Razorback.

Captain Cook’s Boomerang to Be Sold at London Auction

Published on September 22, 2008 in Facts About Australia. 0 Comments Tags: , , .

A piece of Australian history is about to auctioned off in London:

A boomerang collected by Captain James Cook when he was in Australia should be put on permanent display at Botany Bay after it is auctioned next month, a federal MP says.

The hand-carved boomerang is being put up for sale in London along with two wooden clubs, also believed to have belonged to Aborigines Cook met when he landed on Australia’s east coast in 1770.

Scott Morrison, federal MP for Cook, a seat that takes in Kurnell on the southern side of Botany Bay where Captain Cook landed, wants the government to press Britain to buy and return the boomerang.  [Brisbane Times - via Adrift]

It is expected that this boomerang will be sold for up to £60,000 or $128,000.  When Captain Cook received the strange, crooked stick in 1770 while surveying Australia, but he had no idea what it was for, or even what it was called. He thought that it was a wooden sword; his botanist, Sir Joseph Banks, believed it to be a short scimitar.

Captain James Cook returned to England with the boomerang in 1771, and was still ignorant of its secrets when he was killed eight years later. He left it, and two wooden Aboriginal clubs also collected on the expedition, to his wife, Elizabeth, who in turn bequeathed them to her friend Joan Leach Bennett, in whose family they have remained.

Well now decendants of the Bennett family are selling the boomerang which has politicians in both the United Kingdom and Australia debating whether the purchase the artifact and have it returned to Australia:

Officials from the National Museum and others are investigating the heritage of a boomerang believed to have once belonged to Captain James Cook.

The boomerang will be auctioned by Christie’s auction house on September 25.

The Liberal MP for the Sydney seat of Cook, Scott Morrison, wants the British government to buy the boomerang and donate it to Australia as an act of reconciliation.

“If it is indeed Cook’s boomerang then it should come back to Australia and I don’t think Australian taxpayers, in the first instance, should have to put out for it,” Mr Morrison told reporters on Tuesday.  [Sydney Morning Herald]

This week on September 25th the boomerang will go on sale and we will all get a chance to see whether this piece of Australian history will return to Australia or not.

Shocking Statistics Show Plight of Australia’s Aborigines

Published on February 1, 2008 in Facts About Australia. 0 Comments Tags: , .

The Age this week had a really good article that really puts into perspective the problems surrounding Australia’s aboriginal population:

From infancy to adulthood, indigenous Australians die at twice the rate of other Australians. As children, they are seven times more likely to be under protective orders, and three or four times more likely to be failing to make the grade at school.

And as adults, they are 17.5 times more likely to be in jail than other Australians. In Western Australia alone, Aborigines make up 2.7% of the adult population, but almost half the state’s prisoners.

The figures, compiled in more detail than ever before, illustrate the breakdown of Aboriginal communities in remote areas, particularly in the Northern Territory, which prompted the Howard government’s controversial intervention.

While the data show improvements in some areas — declining rates of infant mortality and rising rates of school retention — the gaps in health and education levels between blacks and whites remain massive, and in some areas they are worsening.

On most indicators, those most outside the mainstream are Aborigines in the Northern Territory. Most of them fail all but one of the school benchmark tests conducted in years 3, 5 and 7 to test reading, writing and numeracy.

In year 5, for example, only 4.6% of Victorian students failed the numeracy test, including just 10.5% of the state’s indigenous students. In the NT, by contrast, 65% of Aboriginal students failed the numeracy test, 64% failed the writing test and 59% failed in reading. Those who leave school without basic skills, white or black, are more likely to end up in jail. The report found that at any time, more than one in 50 indigenous adults are in jail, rising to more than one in 30 in WA. The vast majority are male. [The Age]

Often Australians have asked me if the United States has similar problems with the Native American population as they have with their aboriginal population.  I’m not going to pretend to be an expert on Australia’s aboriginal issues, but I can tell you what I have seen first hand.  Judging by my first hand experience the quality of life for the Native American population in the US is far superior to the Aborigines.  Most Native American tribes do very well for themselves including some that are down right wealthy from their casinos.  There are definitely some extremely poor Native American tribes as well that I have seen for example in eastern Montana, but the poorest Native Americans I have it much better than what I have seen of Australia’s aboriginal population.

If you go to the Northern Territory you cannot help, but notice how the Aborigines have not integrated into Australian society.  Often you can see Aborigines sitting around everywhere doing nothing.  While driving back from Ayers Rock my wife and I saw a body lying along the side of the road just outside of Alice Springs.  We stopped and found it was just a aborigine woman sleeping along the side of the road.  If you go to the river bed of the Todd River in Alice Springs you can see the Aborigines sitting around drinking beer and getting drunk.

Also I’m not saying this to be mean, but it is true, many of the Aborigines stink and I mean stink bad.  In Darwin there is a beautiful park along the water front that my wife and I had to leave because the smell from the Aborigines there was so bad.  Katherine was probably the worst place we saw.  About half the town’s population is aboriginal and while walking through town my wife and I saw two fights break out between aborigines to include one where an aboriginal male was slapping around his wife.

I’m not saying all aborigines are like this because there were some extremely exceptional aboriginals we met who worked at Ayers Rock and Kakadu National Park.  They were excellent guides and were extremely fascinating to listen to and a tribute to their culture, however I think it would be a mistake to say there aren’t some significant issues within the aboriginal population which the statistics support.

I don’t know what the answer to the problem is, but a solution I often hear from Australians is that the welfare payments to the aboriginals need to end so they would all have to get jobs and earn a living instead of drinking grog all day.  To me that seems like a good idea if these people are trained to work a job and there a jobs available for them to work.  One thing is clear that no solution to this problem will be easy and the longer it takes to find one the further behind the aboriginal population will fall.