Sorry - the beginning of wheat-green hope

There we were in Federation Square, Melbourne...
an estimated 8000 of us...
under the flags unfurled of the indigenous nations
of Australia.
We were there to hear our government say sorry.
Andrew Jackomos of the Yorta Yorta initiated proceedings.
An old friend of Miss Eagles, Rob Hulls - Acting Premier of Victoria - spoke formally.
The crowd was attentive.
There were the activists calling for compensation.
There were high school students...
in uniform...
taking time out.
There were the kids...
...and the buttons...
...and the t-shirts
...speaking what was in our hearts.
There were tears and cheers...
laughter and applause.
Then the disbelief, the pain of the Leader of the Opposition's speech.
They turned their backs in anger, disgust, and sorrow.
Miss Eagle stood beneath the loudspeakers at the back.
A well-dressed good looking twenty-something man spoke to her.
"Do you mind if I unplug the speakers?" he said politely.
"Feel free." Miss Eagle said cheerily.

She had turned her back on Howard -
at the Opera House, Corroboree 2000,
all those years ago.
Turned her back against his lies,
his hate, his meanness.
Brendan Nelson didn't seem worth the effort.
He has no power against the vision birthed yesterday.
His looking-backwards words
told us nothing, took us nowhere
except into the pain and sadness
of a certain sort of whitefella.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


And then back to Upper Gully.
Quiet, whitefella country.
The blackfellas left long ago -
one way or another.
But here a simple beginning was made.
A simple prayer service
at St Thom's.
And for whom did we pray?
In the spirit of wheat-green hope,
I think it was for us.

Aboriginal peoples and issues - an abstraction for most Australians.

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

The words of Martin Luther King quoted by

Bev Manton, Chairperson, NSW Aboriginal Lands Council,

9 July 2007

In all the trials besetting Aboriginal Australians, Miss Eagle believes that the majority of Australians are of good will and want wrongs to be rectified and great strides to be made in bringing Aboriginal people into the same situation of the majority of mainstream Australians.

Miss Eagle also believes that most Australians are ignorant of how and where Aboriginal people live. They are not attuned to what Aboriginal people themselves are saying, what has been done, what has not been done. In short, Miss Eagle has come to the firm conclusion that, for most Australians, Aboriginal people are an abstract issue. Issues affecting them are somewhere out there in the ether. There is little recognition in reality that Aboriginal people are PLU - People Like Us; that we should obey the Christian commandment and love them in the same way that we love ourselves.

Here is a report on one Australian, the distinguished Fiona Stanley, who clearly finds the plight of Aboriginal people to be real - no abstract, not somewhere out in the ether.

Oh, that more could feel this way: that more Australians could be better informed and more active in listening to and working with Aboriginal people to demand greater accountability by governments and bureaucrats in spending our taxpayer dollars to provide citzens' entitlements to ALL citizens.

Sense of Story

Hazel Mackinnon, Bob Randall's wife, is an artist and a listener. She says

Listening to people's stories, people who are relatives of Bob Randall and live in the desert region, I created the exhibition of Sculptures and Silk, The Stories of the Stolen Generation. There are a few people who can talk but most are deeply traumatised and affected by their treatment now and in the past. Our aim is to give these people a voice, for when they are heard, the healing can begin.

WAITING MOTHERS.

We cannot imagine the living hell that mothers go through waiting for their children to come back. Some mothers in their grief stricken minds visualise their child coming back as they were taken as a baby. Many, many mothers are still waiting for their stolen children.

Records of institutions are sometimes destroyed so names and histories are lost making it impossible for people to find their way home.

This is Miss Eagle's favourite piece. So poignant!

STOLEN

Bob Randall was taken away from Angus Downs station in 1939 by Constable Bill Mckinnon. He was put on a camel, taken to the Bungalow in Alice Springs and to Croker Islander on the Top End. He found his way back after forty years, but his mother had died. He now lives in his rightful land as a traditional owner of Uluru.

Miss Eagle commends Spiritual Songlines.

If you do nothing else towards Reconciliation between Settlers and the First Nations, visit this exhibition. Talk with Bob and Hazel. Glimpse the heartfelt feelings for the land and the wounds of its people. Learn how this country can transform and heal all of us if we just slow down, stop, and allow ourselves to listen and experience what has been provided for us.

Sense of Identity

Further to the previous post, Sense of Place , special guests at Kinross House - Uniting Arts Toorak are Bob Randall and his wife, artist Hazel Mackinnon. Hazel and her work will be the subject of a separate post. Bob is probably best known for his song Brown Skinned Baby which came into being out of the pain of the Stolen Generation. As the Rev. Anneke Oppewal of the Toorak Uniting Church explains in her background to the exhibition in the catalogue,

Bob Randall's life has been a journey seeking to reconcile aboriginal roots and new Australian culture. Passionate about his people, he has supported the weakest and most vulnerable in his community by organising practical aid and by working tirelessly for greater understanding of aboriginal issues. He has opened up discussion and provided information, through his music, the writing of a book, a children's book, an ABC televised documentary and now the production of a movie. Himself one of the 'stolen generation' children, he grew through hardship and difficulty into a man who is able to see both sides of Australian culture. He combines a deep sense of aboriginal spirituality and connectedness to the land with relatedness to Christian vlaues of love, justice and reconciliation.

Bob and Hazel were en route to the Sydney Film Festival where the film of Bob's story, Kanyini, will be shown.

The film will be previewed on Monday at the Toorak Uniting Church on Monday 19 June at 7.45pm. The Gallery at Kinross House will be open that night from 6.30pm. Prices are $10 and $5 concession. This gives admission to the both the film and the Gallery. There will be an opportunity to talk with Bob afterwards.

There will be two other opportunities to meet Bob this week. On Friday 16 June from 7.30pm to 9.00pm, Bob will be conducting a workshop on understanding Aboriginal culture. This will take place at Kinross House and admission will be $10. On Sunday 18 June at 9.00am everyone is welcome to a Family Service at Toorak Uniting Church where Bob will tell his story and perform his music.

Sense of Place

Barry Jones AO standing in front of Malcolm Jagamarra's Inapaku 2004 prior to opening the exhibition.

Friday night saw Miss Eagle at Kinross House for the Uniting Arts Toorak launch of Spiritual Songlines. Spiritual Songlines is a magnificent exhibition of Aboriginal art which runs until Sunday 18 June. The exhibition has been auspiced by the collector David Carazza who collects works from the Central and Western Deserts.

This year, Kinross House - a magnificent Victorian mansion - has focussed on the theme "a sense of place" based on Sally Morgan's book My Place. Spiritual Songlines extends the theme into a national context with a sense of place, land and identity.

The goal, as outlined in the catalogue of the exhibition, is to:

• promote indigenous art in all its depth and colour through the paintings David Corazza has so generously made available;
• provide an opportunity for learning about aboriginal culture and spirituality through workshops, art and the movie Bob Randall brings from Central Australia;
• support Bob's efforts to support his community with actual, practical help;
• deepen our understanding of the issues that need to be addressed if first and new Australian cultures are to be reconciled and made whole. According to Bob such reconciliation can only come about through the love and understanding that grows when stories are told and the experiences are shared.

Miss Eagle must advise, dear Reader, that the exhibition is rather stunning - and Miss Eagle has seen quite a diversity of Aboriginal art. Artists whose work is represented at the exhibition are Josie Petrick Kemmarre and Minnie Pwerle from Utopia; Shirley Purdie and Madigan Thomas of Warmun (Turkey Creek); Jack Britten of Worranginy; Malcolm Jagamarra of Alice Springs; and Makinti Napanangka of Papunya. (Footnote: Miss Eagle carries the Warlpiri skin name, Napanangka)

The exhibition was officially opened by Hon Dr. Barry Jones, AO.