Hi Foxy,

I'm not one to say awards are necessarily meaningless, but when I see them awarded as favour then they are meaningless. We tend to restrict awards to the high profile, and forget the rest. There also seems to be a pecking order with these awards, as there was in the days of British honours. I can't be opposed to awards, it is my melancholy duty on the Forum to give out the PORKY AWARDS, be it only to Issy, but alas someone has to do the dirty jobs!

I'm told that one of Marcia Langton's greatest contributions to Aboriginal advancement was her brilliant paper against Male Genital Mutilation among Indigenous people and that it is closely followed by her writing [and advocacy] against the promising of girl children in marriage and underage consummation.

She is also a staunch advocate of Aboriginal people being given protection under Australian Law and freed from any Traditional Law, particularly in extra-judicial punishments and in the matters raised in her papers above.

Is Mise,
Isn't that totally against the culture that the Invaders destroyed ? Was Langton working for the invaders instead for her people ?

Is Mise,

On those grounds, I would support Marcia 100 %. I hope she persists in promoting those values and Indigenous women's rights.

Joe

Individual,

Your statement about Prof. Langton that:

"Only ignorant non-indigenous academic types take her
seriously," is wrong.

You obviously don't know much about academics.

An academic is a person who holds an advanced degree
such as a PhD and usually works as a lecturer, researcher,
at a university or scholarly institution of higher learning.

They can't be described as being ignorant, except by
ignorant people. And Prof. Langton holds the Foundation Chair
in Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of
Melbourne. In 2016 she became Distinguished Professor
and in 2017 Associate Provost. She is taken very seriously
not only by her colleagues but also by her students.

She's also taken seriously by her own people, and by
others she comes in contact with such as -
judges, lawyers, and others
within the judicial system. Including the media, political
commentators, journalists, and authors.

She fights for her people's rights and justice. She conducts
anthropological work to support land claims and helps
them in their negotiations with mining companies and the
states. She fights for women's rights. And the list goes on.

She has produced a large body of knowledge in the areas
of political and legal anthropology, Indigenous agreements
and engagements with the minerals industry, as well as
Indigenous culture and art.

Perhaps before posting it would be wiser for you to find
something out about the person you choose to try to demean.
Otherwise you'll end up looking ignorant yourself
and thinking people won't take you seriously.

I've been trying to find some reference to what I posted above about Marcia Langton but to no avail.

Could I have been led astray?