Dear Custard,

Would you like sugar with your tea Sir?

I think you could use it!

Dear Alex,

I've come across and another website
that may also be helpful:

http://www.creativespirits.info/resources/books/index.html

It's worth a look.

Its a list of the latest book releases
by Aboriginal Australian authors. Book
Reviews and Antologies.

Quite interesting and on the topics you are
interested in.

Westralia, first I am not an American, but German, second your post is a bit off topic and highly offensive. Why such a hatepost on one single question involving the christian faith?
Yes, I object to the kind of acting of some American evangelicals, too. But generally speaking, it is a human right to tell others about your faith of which you are highly convinced.

I am honestly interested in getting information from citizens living in Australia.

It is clear that indigenous people ought to decide themselves about the actions in order to save their languages and traditions. But it is also clear that some citizens will be interested in the culture of the indigenous inhabitants of their residential region.. This must never mean curious watching like watching animals in the zoo. It is more use taking actively part as a local resident. I am generally against both extremes where more than one people are living in one single area::Strict segregation as well as complete integration. The last will probably menace the distinct identity of the smaller groups.

Indeed, Indonesian or Mandarin are without doubt of great use for Australian. On the other hand I object to neoliberal thinking in terms of pure professional benefits. Neoliberalism, (real),imperialism and last but not least TV are the main threat towards cultural diversity.

Alex

Thank you for all contributing posts.

To Custard:
Have I understood it right that the touristic industry is busy to use Aboriginal artwork in order to seperate tourists of their money?
Why do Aboriginal people remain in those communities instead of moving back to cities if the living conditions are that bad?
I do not think that teaching indigenous languages to locall pupils is pointless if they will get opportunities to practice their new skills. The decisions to do efforts to keep their languages alive as well as other decisions concerning their fate Has to come from the Aboriginal people themselves. But why not supporting their languages by teaching them to all local pupils if the tribes give their OK?
In the past they have already predicted the dying out of the Aboriginal tribes as weill as they predicted the disappearance of native Americans 100 years ago.. But it has not become true! Wjy should it be likely to happen in the future?

Alex

The aboriginal people stay in the communities (a) because they have no skills (no way to learn them); (b) are poorly educated; and (c) have no prospect of making any headway on the open job market as a consequence.

Many also stay due to the fact that their family is from there, that they feel safe only when in that community (inter-clan rivalries and feuds are serious stuff).

As to the rip-off mill that is Alice Springs, most of the "Aboriginal Culture" that tourists can experience there (at no small price either), is provided by groups fully owned & operated by white corporations, staffed by Aboriginal performers from NE Qld (the local blackfellas aren't going to risk being 'sung'/'speared' - a woman gave a journalist details of secret business and the person who stabbed her was acquitted on the grounds that it was tribal lore).

With the paintings, the majority of paintings in Centralia get bought for between $10-20/ea and are then onsold for many times that.

Mate, with the Centralian communities and the endemic petrol sniffing, the chances of genocide not occurring (and how will we look then, having seen it and not acted?) are nil. The proportion of seriously brain-damaged/dead youths are starting to stack up and as they are the next generation, how do you propose to "restock" the area?

Thus my indifference to languages, there are far more important priorities NOW, that need funding, carping on about languages merely allows those with skeletons to hide to conveniently change the subject.

Aboriginal languages are not even spoken much by their own youth ,little interest is shown until later in life.
What value can you from another country put on it?
Would it be better if they lived ten more years.
Lived away from shanty towns and grog?
Sent Children to school.
Not one person alive today saw the so called invasion.
None of us saw those alleged murders of white settlers or the mass murders of Aboriginals.
Yes some saw and suffered in the stolen generation, whites too, for little reason felt the pain of being removed by welfare from family's.
It was wrong, so very many things in history haunt us, your country's ww11 actions for just a start.
Every Pacific Island was invaded.
Is it worth while to wallow in the wrongs of yesterday?
Is that the reason for todays child sexual molestation,drunkenness, can we say shanty towns even new houses turned in to one, are yesterdays problem?
In truth, with every inch of my person I think such thoughts are part of the problem.
I battle for a mans job, his future his life, he has lost 183 days work, never rang never told anyone.
I must table information he was raped by an uncle at age 5, saw his mate stabbed to death at 16 then another at 23.
Blame History if you must, blame whites if you must.
But if you care put and end to this not unusual life story put in every effort to fix it but never forget yesterdays are if you look bad for every one.

Dear Custard
at the risk of incurring critical comment from you :)... your comment 'often at the hands of missionaries' was really a bit over the top.

The primary 'predators' on ATSI people are 'white' man rather than one small segement of them.

You say "often" cruelly treated... but do you have statistics which are not produced by other 'white' men who really want to discredit Missions because the missions stand in the way of those other 'white' men making a truckload of money by selling sly grog and other materials which are unhelpful to the communities ?

Have you seen any of the various doco's on NITV where Aboriginals cannot speak highly enough of the work of missionaries and of those brave souls who stood up FOR the Aboriginals in the face of less ethnically minded whites who wanted for one reason or another to keep them 'dumb, ignorant and drunk'.

It seems some of you folks have not known the inside story very much.
Nothing is monolithic of course and we cannot say "all" missions or missionaries were mr/ms Clean in regard to some paternalistic practices. They were a product of their time.. and they included both good and not so good.. or wise and unwise.

The founder of the mission I served with was an example of the wise.
Dr James Hudson Taylor, dressed like a Chinese.. spoke like a Chinese..even grew a pigtail to identify.. you can meet chinese Christians the world over now who fondly recall his work, (1800s) and the work of those who served selflessly with the China Inland Mission.
http://www.omf.org/omf/us/resources__1/videos_online/140_years_of_cim_omf

Have a look at the dress.. the images.. in that vid.
Hudson Taylor used to keep only the bare essentials from his meagre allowance in UK prior to shipping out..and the remainder he used to support the poor and impoverished in britains slums.

You can do a lot of damage by a simple phrase "Often by Missionaries"