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Issue Details: First known date: 2018... 2018 Ancestors' Words : The Power of Nyungar Letter Writing
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'No one was  surprised when, in 1977, the Western Australian Government put a blanket ban on its recently decommissioned Aboriginal archive and even threatened legal action against researchers. The archive was a ticking time bomb: the dutifully documented words in its files exposed for the first time the extent of despotic powers wielded by state governments over Aboriginal people during the twentieth century. Read in the present context they show how racism, denial of rights, segregation, incarceration and breaking up of families structured and institutionalised the Aboriginal problems of today. These words from the past speak directly to the Uluru Statement: they ‘tell plainly the structural nature of our problem…the torment of our powerlessness.' (Introduction)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Griffith Review First Things First no. 60 2018 12265671 2018 periodical issue

    'INSPIRED by the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and featuring outstanding Indigenous writers, Renewed Promise is an urgent, nuanced and robust call to listen, hear and respond to questions of constitutional recognition.

    'More than two centuries after European settlers arrived, the need to find an honourable way to recognise and celebrate the unique history of this country as home to the oldest living civilisation is long overdue. A Makaratta Commission is the preferred way to do this, to make agreements and enable truth-telling about our history.

    'Are we ready to make peace and devise firmer ground for laws, policies and outcomes that improve Indigenous and non-Indigenous life in Australia? With this special edition, Griffith Review excavates history and re-imagines the future, while not forgetting the urgencies of the present.

    'Published with the support of QUT' (Publicaton summary)

    2018
    pg. 146-156
Last amended 3 Dec 2018 11:45:13
146-156 Ancestors' Words : The Power of Nyungar Letter Writingsmall AustLit logo Griffith Review
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