On Facebook there was an interesting picture of a man holding a placard. It read: "I wish the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs was Aboriginal!!!!" The subsequent stream of conversation was interesting at best, but for me a white man boldly spoke his feelings in an obviously Aboriginal and Native network. I admire him for it, but did not bare his complaint. well. His name is Andrew Snowden. I didn't ask permission to use his words, but it was in a public forum...
His words were thus:
"The minister for Aboriginal Affairs has always been elected by the Native people till the last one a few years ago that, for 10 years, did nothing but spend money on himself and his own people to the loss of the rest of the Aboriginal people. That is why it is not an Aboriginal. You need to know they are far from the first people of this land and they did the same as the English did to them to the people that were here before they came. This is the true history. There were pygmy race of peoples here and the Tasmanian Aboriginals. The Tasmanian Aboriginals inhabited the whole east coast of Australia till the main land Aboriginals turned up with their burning style of hunting. This style of hunting did three things. 1 destroy the rainforest that was continuous from the tip to the bottom. 2 Killed the last of the mega fauna. 3 Displaced the Tasmanian Aboriginals to the most southern point of Australia. It became Tasmania shortly after this with the end of the ice age.
1 problem with this Native thing. Am i native to a country? Just because i am white are you telling me i have no claim to the ground i was born to??? How rude. I did not steel this land and for you to expect me to give it back would put me, for no reason, in the same position you are in. No, it would be worse, because i would have NO country to call my own. This is not right! I am white. I did not kill or move anyone off their land. I am NATIVE to Australia! I stand up for your equality, but you want more!!! Giving Aboriginals money and houses and every other thing they want has not worked for the last 30 years. It will not fix the problems. Taking land from someone is never right. If a farmer and his family has worked a field for 150years, he did not steal it. In law a son is NOT liable for his fathers sins! I am starting to feel my bleeding heart for the Native peoples of Australia has just created a bigger problem.
Ron Clarke was the last minister for Aboriginal Affairs that was Aboriginal. He was 1/16th and nominated by the Aboriginal counsel! He was white with red hair!
... Marbo was an old man when he started his fight for the first land rights claim in Australia. Soon after he started, his tribe disowned him and he moved to a nearby island. His wife left him soon after this. He won the battle with the help of white man only!!! When the court voted in favour of Marbo, They all suddenly were his best friends again. I feel so sorry for Marbo."
People avoided his comments until I put forth a challenge to address his concerns. People responded to him throughout the day. I thought a lot about his words and the feeling behind them, and after a few hours returned to the site: Aboriginal and Tribal Nation News, and said these words:
"Andrew Snowden, we cannot be selective about our legacies. It is an unreal insistence to adopt the whole of the European concepts about time, consequences, etc without paying tribute or homage to our own legacies. I am African and Native American. I live in the US, and there are millions of whites spouting the same sentiments. I understand the angst, but in all fairness the whites cannot be the only ones dreaming of not paying for their legacies. The African cries in pain as the legacies of the French, the Americans, the Dutch, the English and the Portuguese reap and steal using contracts and machines. The stories are world wide. What you and the rest of us are really asking for is relief, and reconciliation. Where do you stand with that one, Andrew? You want to be a brother? Who doesn't crave relationship? But it is work and honesty and clarity before we can call each other brother and sister in the deepest sense of the word." - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories [7/13/12]
His words were thus:
"The minister for Aboriginal Affairs has always been elected by the Native people till the last one a few years ago that, for 10 years, did nothing but spend money on himself and his own people to the loss of the rest of the Aboriginal people. That is why it is not an Aboriginal. You need to know they are far from the first people of this land and they did the same as the English did to them to the people that were here before they came. This is the true history. There were pygmy race of peoples here and the Tasmanian Aboriginals. The Tasmanian Aboriginals inhabited the whole east coast of Australia till the main land Aboriginals turned up with their burning style of hunting. This style of hunting did three things. 1 destroy the rainforest that was continuous from the tip to the bottom. 2 Killed the last of the mega fauna. 3 Displaced the Tasmanian Aboriginals to the most southern point of Australia. It became Tasmania shortly after this with the end of the ice age.
1 problem with this Native thing. Am i native to a country? Just because i am white are you telling me i have no claim to the ground i was born to??? How rude. I did not steel this land and for you to expect me to give it back would put me, for no reason, in the same position you are in. No, it would be worse, because i would have NO country to call my own. This is not right! I am white. I did not kill or move anyone off their land. I am NATIVE to Australia! I stand up for your equality, but you want more!!! Giving Aboriginals money and houses and every other thing they want has not worked for the last 30 years. It will not fix the problems. Taking land from someone is never right. If a farmer and his family has worked a field for 150years, he did not steal it. In law a son is NOT liable for his fathers sins! I am starting to feel my bleeding heart for the Native peoples of Australia has just created a bigger problem.
Ron Clarke was the last minister for Aboriginal Affairs that was Aboriginal. He was 1/16th and nominated by the Aboriginal counsel! He was white with red hair!
... Marbo was an old man when he started his fight for the first land rights claim in Australia. Soon after he started, his tribe disowned him and he moved to a nearby island. His wife left him soon after this. He won the battle with the help of white man only!!! When the court voted in favour of Marbo, They all suddenly were his best friends again. I feel so sorry for Marbo."
People avoided his comments until I put forth a challenge to address his concerns. People responded to him throughout the day. I thought a lot about his words and the feeling behind them, and after a few hours returned to the site: Aboriginal and Tribal Nation News, and said these words:
"Andrew Snowden, we cannot be selective about our legacies. It is an unreal insistence to adopt the whole of the European concepts about time, consequences, etc without paying tribute or homage to our own legacies. I am African and Native American. I live in the US, and there are millions of whites spouting the same sentiments. I understand the angst, but in all fairness the whites cannot be the only ones dreaming of not paying for their legacies. The African cries in pain as the legacies of the French, the Americans, the Dutch, the English and the Portuguese reap and steal using contracts and machines. The stories are world wide. What you and the rest of us are really asking for is relief, and reconciliation. Where do you stand with that one, Andrew? You want to be a brother? Who doesn't crave relationship? But it is work and honesty and clarity before we can call each other brother and sister in the deepest sense of the word." - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories [7/13/12]
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