According to the study, “The apparent absence of pottery in Australia, as noted by early and more recent European observers… both reflected and was used to support, racist social evolutionary hierarchies characterizing Aboriginal societies as lacking cultural complexity.”
In an area just 90 x 90 cm, archaeologists found 82 pottery shards that are 2,950 to 1,815 years old.
Another day, another unflattering portrait of a public figure, and this time, the Streisand effect is in play too. TIME magazine reports on Australia's wealthiest person, Gina Rinehart, and her attempts to get a painting of her removed from the National Gallery of Australia. The portrait by Vincent Namatjira, an Aboriginal Australian artist, is part of a series in which he uses humor and exaggerated features to portray the rich. “People don’t have to like my paintings, but I hope they take the time to look and think, ‘why has this Aboriginal bloke painted these powerful people? What is he trying to say?’” he said in a statement shared with TIME. The gallery, to which Rinehart is a donor, is not backing down, saying it “welcomes the public having a dialogue on our collection and displays.”
I love this time of year. My neighbours start using their fireplace, and the smell reminds me of visiting my Nanny and Poppy's farm when I was a kid. It was pmuch the only time I felt safe growing up.
Colonialism has mastered the crime of stealing our children for generations and then punishing and criticizing our parents and grandparents for how they originally raised children.
Then, they went ahead and stole, renamed & rebranded our sacred original parenting instructions as “attachment” parenting, “conscious” parenting, “gentle” parenting, “positive” parenting, and “child led” parenting.
It has been used as a tool of profit.
It has been used as a means of stealing babies from families, then forcing the mothers and fathers of those babies to take colonial based parenting courses in order to get their babies back. And those colonial based parenting courses are heavily twisted and skewed versions of our parenting instructions - but twisted and skewed so severely, so deeply, that they only accommodate and feed colonial agendas and systems.
It is a matter of indigenous parents today abiding to colonially twisted, and colonially backwards parenting “styles” in order to fit the criteria of being a “good parent.”
Here’s the thing though.
Residential schools, the 60’s scoop, the child welfare system, and every other colonial policy embedded in the colonial fabric of society was created to do just this.
Keep the children out of our families to continue the ongoing attempts of assimilation and genocide against our peoples.
Even today.
So rather than pushing for “attachment” parenting, “conscious” parenting, “gentle” parenting, “positive” parenting, and “child led” parenting let us open into, revitalize, maintain and relearn the original instructions of raising and nurturing children.
Let us heal and dissolve what generations of colonialism has embedded into our parenting styles.
May we do our best to continue that.
So we can continue to raise children in the ways that we were originally meant to….
For generations to come.
Because this is the least we can do for the children in our lives today.
The #Trudeau government has been working for almost a decade to address #SystemicRacism and #discrimination within the justice system and the numbers remain alarming.
Every single week for the last 21 weeks upon #Gadigal land, there have been thousands upon thousands (sometimes easily tens of thousands) of people gathering in support of a #ceasefire in #Gaza and calling upon the Australian #Albanese government to stop supporting #Israel in its #genocide.
Every Sunday in Hyde Park at 1.30pm,* we've listened to #Aboriginal speakers, #Palestinian speakers, #Jewish speakers, politicians of various stripes (though neither of the major parties, of course, as they both remain complicit in support of the government responsible for most of the slaughter), elders who lived through the #Naqba, teenagers organising #StudentStrike4Palestine, community leaders, poets, faith leaders and more, with perhaps 75% of the speakers being women, and almost all being people of colour (most of the exceptions being MPs).
*Except when #NSWpolice has dictated otherwise, giving priority to (much smaller and only) occasional pro-Israel rallies and forcing a shift to Saturday a couple of times, under threat of #PoliceViolence.
Then we've marched (or rolled) with flags, banners, signs, drums and (loud!) voices: Arab, Aboriginal, African, Anglo, Asian and more; from those too old to walk (in wheelchairs) to those too young to walk (in strollers).
Opinion: Why the birthplace of the Western #Apache religion shouldn’t be destroyed by a #CopperMine
by Luke Goodrich
February 6, 2024·
"A federal court is poised to decide whether a #NativeAmerican#sacred site will be destroyed by a massive #copper#mine. Mining proponents claim that destroying the #SacredSite is necessary for the development of #GreenEnergy. That claim is both factually wrong and morally repugnant. And recent polling shows that the vast majority of Americans agree with what the constitution requires: #Native sacred sites deserve the same protection as all other houses of worship.
"Since before European contact, #WesternApache and other Native tribes have lived and honored their #Creator at #OakFlat, or 'Chi’chil Bildagoteel.' The site is the birthplace of Western Apache religion and the site of ancient religious ceremonies that cannot take place anywhere else. Because of its religious and cultural significance, Oak Flat is on the National Register of Historic Places and has been protected from mining and other destructive practices for decades.
"That changed in 2014, when several members of Congress, supported by #corporate#mining#lobbyists, slipped an amendment into a must-pass defense bill authorizing the transfer of Oak Flat to a foreign-owned mining giant. That company, #ResolutionCopper, announced plans to obliterate the sacred ground by swallowing it in a mining crater nearly two miles wide and 1,100-feet deep, ending Apache religious practices forever. That was no surprise given the company’s sordid history dealing with #IndigenousPeoples. The majority owner of Resolution Copper is #RioTinto (the world’s second largest mining company), which sparked international outrage in 2020 when it destroyed a 46,000-year-old rock shelter with some of the most significant #Aboriginal artifacts in all of #Australia.
"The Apache and their allies, represented by my firm, the #BecketFundForReligiousLiberty, have been fighting in court to ensure that such an atrocity won’t repeat itself at Oak Flat. After initial court rulings against the Apache, a full panel of 11 judges at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reheard their appeal last spring. A decision on whether the government can execute the land transfer is expected any day.
"Resolution Copper and its backers want the public to believe that building the mine is essential for developing #renewable energy. Extracting the copper beneath Oak Flat, they say, will help to build batteries necessary for powering #ElectricVehicles and thus fight #ClimateChange. In other words, we have to destroy Oak Flat in order to save the planet.
"These claims, however, are false — and they are specifically designed to obscure the physical and cultural destruction the project would wreak on the land.
"The mine will destroy the #environment, not save it. It is undisputed that the mine will swallow the ecologically diverse landscape of Oak Flat in a massive crater, decimating the local #ecosystem. It will also leave behind approximately 1.37 billion tons of '#tailings,' or #MiningWaste, which, according to the government’s own environmental assessment, will pollute the #groundwater and scar the landscape permanently. And the mine will consume vast quantities of water at the time it is most needed by drought-stricken towns and #farmers.
"Supporters of the mine are also at odds with the majority of Americans. According to this year’s Religious Freedom Index, an annual survey conducted by Becket, 74% of Americans believe that Native sacred sites on federal land should be protected from mining projects, even when the projects are purportedly pro-jobs and pro-environment.
"That conclusion is both sensible and humane. America can transition to renewable energy without blasting the cradle of Western Apache religion into oblivion. And it should. For too long, our nation has made excuses for taking advantage of #IndigenousPeople and their land. Indeed, our nation drove the Western Apache off Oak Flat and surrounding lands in the 1800s precisely to make way for #MiningInterests. It shouldn’t repeat that #injustice again.
"It is past time to protect Indigenous sacred sites from further destruction. Basic fairness and our constitutional commitment to religious freedom require no less. And, happily, most Americans agree."
Here's everything you need to know about the WA government's backdown on its #Aboriginal Cultural Heritage laws
By Jake Sturmer
Posted Tue 8 Aug 2023
"The WA government's 2021 changes were supposed to prevent what it described as a 'global embarrassment' from ever happening again.
"Instead, the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act has left many farmers confused and traditional owners frustrated.
"After just five weeks in operation, the government has backflipped — trying to stem the political bleeding that is tainting WA's new premier and now muddying the waters of the Voice referendum debate.
So what's changing?
"It's important to remember that any activities that could damage Aboriginal cultural heritage still need approval.
"The old-but-soon-to-be-new 1972 act meant the minister had to tick off on every action no matter how minor — known as a Section 18 approval.
WA premier announces repeal of Aboriginal Cultural Heritage laws
"Just five weeks after being legislated, Roger Cook announces the WA government will be scrapping its #AboriginalCulturalHeritageLaws.
"The 2021 act created a system of tiers and approvals.
"Want to build a fence with no clearing? No approval required.
"New #mine site with deep excavation? You'll need a management plan that has to be ticked off by a local Aboriginal organisation at your expense.
"But the government acknowledged these tiers have caused massive confusion and will therefore be scrapped.
"There were reports the rules would have prevented everything from gardening to installing a swimming pool, building a garage or burying a pet in the backyard.
"In fact, such activities were exempt, as were all properties smaller than 1,100 square metres.
"So it's no surprise the biggest outcry came from farmers.
How will another Juukan Gorge be prevented?
"When landowners requested to damage or destroy heritage sites, they needed one of those #Section18 approvals from the minister.
"If the minister rejected that, developers had a right to appeal but traditional owners did not.
"As part of the government's backflip, it will amend the laws to give a right of appeal to the native title party whose cultural heritage is impacted.
"Developers will also have to bring any new heritage information to the government's attention."
"The most important thing to do for #Australians generally is to accept that #Aboriginal people have rights and to appreciate that we have a living culture and one that they can be part of." ~ #LowitjaODonoghue RIP 🖤💛❤️
“ This workshop is an introduction to and exploration of decolonising your magical practice. Respecting the spirit of this ancient land; acknowledging the Traditional Owners and their kinship to the land, honouring Ancestors and Spirits of Place. Deep listening, respectfully connecting to country and being in active solidarity with First Nations communities and causes. […] Raphael Lavallee is a Ngarigo-Buhlung from the Ngarigo and Yuin nations. Ngarigo is their Grandmothers country, and Yuin is their Grandfathers country. They are a Reclaiming Witch a WildWood Witch, a Priestess, artist, ritualist, a ceremony and law/lore keeper, meditation teacher, expressive and cultural arts therapist, experienced workshop facilitator and fat activist.”
It is widely understood that Christian proselytism is one of the most damaging aspects of the colonisation of so-called Australia. However, many aren’t aware that even less mainstream spiritualities inherit similar attitudes which invalidate or exploit First Nation peoples and cultures. This workshop is an excellent way of showing solidarity to Indigenous grief surrounding the events of 26th January, 1788 (Invasion Day or so-called “Australia Day”). :firstnations:
I have personally attended this workshop, and found it extremely insightful. Raph helped answer questions I had on how to ethically connect with nature on a spiritual level as a non-Indigenous inhabitant of so-called Australia, and enhanced my understanding of Indigenous wisdom, culture and truth-telling. It is my strong belief that we should support local/indie initiatives, especially those owned/run by Indigenous people. 💚
"I was given some advice before making it into Parliament - to not take anything personally or it'll eat you up."
"In only a couple of weeks, in only 14 days, this Government has attacked my whole world from every corner."
"Health, taiao (environment), wai (water), whenua (land), natural resources, Māori wards, reo, tamariki. How can I not take anything personally when it feels like these policies were made about me?"
"I am not fearful of this place, or this debating chamber."
"I was perfectly fine growing my kūmara and learning maramataka (Māori lunar calendar), but this House kept tampering with things they shouldn't be touching, and that's why I left the māra (garden) to come here."
-- Hana-Rawhiti Kareariki Maipi-Clarke (NZ MP for Hauraki-Waikato, and three youngest NZ
Deadly Science is an awesome #charity aiming to get science education #STEM resources into the most remote #Aboriginal communities in Australia to inspire indigenous kids to become scientists.
There are resources online to run activities to support their current 'Kits-mas' fundraising to get microscopes, micropscope slides and teachers guides into classrooms.