On the other hand - to get back to topic - why not go the whole hog of symbolic fripperies ?

Unless all Australians want to be accused of racism, they should all agree to include in the Constitution:

* explicit recognition of Aboriginal prior land ownership, including all waterways and seas,

* the right to a council of elders, which can reach over the shoulders of all governments in Australia,

* separate representation in parliaments around the country - both houses,

* a Treaty (with each clan across Australia),

* the recognition that Aboriginal culture is the oldest, most unchanging and stagnant culture (i.e. cultures) in the world,

* a guarantee that Australia will have an Aboriginal prime minister, preferably a woman, preferably left-handed, within, say, twenty years,

* a recognition of ultimate Aboriginal sovereignty over all of Australia; and

* a recognition that all Australians should learn at least one Aboriginal language.

That's a start :)

Joe
www.firstsources.info

Joe I spent a lot of time in Melanesian & Polynesian communities, on both atolls, & larger islands. The public areas between houses were corralled or graveled, they were swept daily, & you would never find a bit of rubbish anywhere.

Those were communities. There was no funding. To get a school teacher, first they had to build a school, & suitable housing for the teacher & family.

The rubbish dumps I have found every aboriginal settlement to be, could never be called communities in any real sense. To be a community someone has to take charge, & turn that rubbish dump into a village, & then engender some pride.

The only way to help aboriginals in my opinion is to expunge the word from the language, & treat every citizen in exactly the same way. It will only be when they have no excuse to be bums that they will stop being bums. Handouts are always destructive to the receiver.

As for recognition, for what? The mere fact they were here before others is just an accident of geography. And lets not kid ourselves that the later arrivals did not shove the earlier arrivals out of the best territory, a practice we merely copied. They were lucky, & they had the chance to make something of themselves & the country. They didn't.

They are lucky we came along to give them a better & healthier life. That they don't take full advantage of this is no ones fault but their own.

Recognition, for what? I'm afraid I am not prepared to consider wandering around naked, throwing sticks at things, hoping to catch something to eat, is worth recognizing. To consider it a culture is taking a very long bow to the language.

Hi Hasbeen,

When I was typing up all of the Protector's letters, at least those from 1840 to 1913, it struck me that the meeting of a hunter-gatherer society and a modern society had some unexpected consequences: one arose out of the fact that, in hunter-gatherer economies, when there is no food, you starve and put up with it; while when there is plenty, you gorge. I guess we all did that, and for tens of thousands of years until the agricultural revolution ten thousand years ago.

So when suddenly these weird white people came over the horizon, with all their strange new things - and then offered ready-made flour, all you had to do was mix it with water and you got damper - people were instantly attracted to come in and see what was offering. Suddenly ready-made food, clothes, tobacco, quick ways of making fire, a host of novelties were available, and all they had to do was a bit of work for some farmer. Or, if they were a bit disinclined, sit and wait for rations every day. Beeeeauty !

One can see from the record that, right from the beginning, some availed themselves of all this new fishing gear, guns for hunting duck etc., and opportunities to get money for things like boots and hats and trousers; while others took what was offered and did less than ever for themselves. And decade after decade, one can see examples of one or the other approach.

As a friend has pointed out, in remote 'communities;, people say that all this packaging that stuff comes in is white fellas' stuff. So, if they make it, they should come and clean it up. Collecting rubbish wasn't something people ever had to do in traditional times, so why now ?

Fascinating logic. Drink Coke by the carton and if you get diabetes, a white fella's disease, it's up to them to come and fix you up.

Joe

Hey! C'mon fellas, enough of the logic, anyone would think that the 1967
Referendum to count the Aboriginals in with the rest of us should have signaled a new way of doing things and that the handout mentality would, after 57 years, be a thing of the past.

Hi Is Mise,

47. Don't you hate that ?

That was partly my point:

* that for many people, new circumstances throw up opportunities which may involve change and effort but are worth having a go at;


* while for some other people, new circumstances simply offer new bags of goodies, more handouts, preferably a lot more of the same stuff, and more reason to do less.

In relation to learning, I think Piaget called the first approach 'accommodation', and the second, ironically, 'assimilation'.

Joe

Yes Joe, I can see their problem.

They mostly never had cleaned up in their lives before white man, they had moved on following the game before they needed to in most situations.

I'm not sure that was the case with all coastal tribes, the huge shell middens perhaps indicate permanent settlement, although they may have been seasonal also.

It is a great pity that the fool Whitlam destroyed the relationships that had grown between some tribes & some pastoralists, with mutual advantage, allowing a steady development, where the aboriginals were highly regarded & valued.