AustLit

'The 1992 Mabo decision recognised Native Title on the Murray Islands in the Torres Strait. This decision led to the Native Title Act (1993) and subsequently had a direct impact on the identity of First Australians. There was greater acceptance among First Peoples to publicly define our identity according to our pre-colonial status. We define ourselves by clan or nation, rather than the generic colonial term ‘Aboriginal’ or geographic terms such as Koori.' (Introduction)

'In 2012 Adani walked into Bundaberg with all the Wangan and Jagalingou people, and he said: we wanna give you this, we wanna give you that. Blah blah blah. Nobody wants to listen to that, so we kicked him out of the room, and said no. That was to the mining lease. Every single blackfella in the room said: get out. Sent ‘em packing; all the lawyers: get out now. That was 2012. Then 2014: no we don’t want you here, get out. Adani went behind the back of all the other applicants, singled out a few people and told them, if you don’t sign, you know what’s gonna happen? You’re gonna lose all your Native Title.' (Introduction)

'I am not Australia’s imagined Aboriginal, nor its Indigenous. I do not identify as an Australian citizen: I am a sovereign Plangermairreenner from Meenamatta Country in north-east Tasmania. My people are Pakana and Palawa. I was born on Flinders Island in 1942, and my parents were both from Cape Barren Island where many of our families survived the impacts of colonisation and dominance. This was an Aboriginal mission under the Cape Barren Island Reserve Act (1912), designed to control all aspects of our families’ lives.' (Introduction)

'There’s a saying. If you can live in this country. Don’t forget about the emu. We teach it to soar. Would you like to come hunting with me? I’m only saying this because if you want to achieve something, you go hunting. Does that mean you can go hunting today? Are you going hunting? I can see that you’re sitting down and not hunting. Do you agree with me that you’re not hunting? But to me, it’s hunting time.' (Introduction)

'An important value across the Indigenous world including in Aboriginal philosophy is: Knowing that which has come before helps to understand ways forward. In Ghanaian tradition this value is represented as Sankofa, a bird with its feet facing forward, its head turned back and a gold egg in its mouth. The Twi language word translates to “go back and get it” and the associated proverb is “it is not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten”. There are many ways for me, an Aboriginal person, to go back – reading the life and works of Oodgeroo (1920 – 1993) of the tribe Noonuccal is rewarding.' (Introduction)

'One of the old ladies in Mareeba used to buy my schoolbooks. She sponsored my schooling for me. She said, boy, when you go to school, I want you to learn and learn good, and what you learn you bring it back to your people. Going through high school, examinations. I’ve always kept that in mind. Of all things I got the highest marks in English in the whole school, and nearly up there with Mathematics as well.' (Introduction)

'Protest songs have long been used across the globe and through the generations as a way for artists to share their politics. In Aboriginal hip-hop, protest lyrics express collective and individual will and indignation, a resistance to historical erasure. Bek Poetik’s music connects the personal to a shared history of oppression: At school I read books on Indigenous history / In my own time, my culture wasn’t a mystery.' (Introduction)