by
Maddison, Sarah, author.
Call Number
305.89915 MAD
Publication Date
2019
Summary
Australia is wreaking devastation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The evidence is incontrovertible. Whatever the policy from protection to assimilation, self-determination to intervention, reconciliation to recognition government policies and programs have made little positive difference to the quality of life of the majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In far too many instances, interaction with governments has only made Indigenous lives worse. The successes of a burgeoning Indigenous middle class cannot obscure this fact. Despite this, many activists, and analysts Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike still believe that working with the state is the only viable political option. This belief has produced a situation of constant churn and reinvention in Indigenous affairs, as governments of all persuasions battle over the 'right' approach to solving Indigenous 'problems', secure in their belief that new or better policy is the answer. The Colonial Fantasy considers why Australia persists in the face of such obvious failure. It argues that white Australia can't solve black problems because white Australia is the problem. Indigenous policy in Australia has resisted the one thing that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people want, and the one thing that has made a difference elsewhere: the ability to control and manage their own lives. This book argues for a radical restructuring of the relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and governments, seeing the resurgence of Indigenous nationhood as the only way forward.
Format:
Regular print
Relevance:
4.1218
by
Dank, Debra, author.
Call Number
305.89915 DAN
Publication Date
2022
Summary
"We Come with This Place is a remarkable book, as rich, varied and surprising as the vast landscape in which it is set. Debra Dank has created an extraordinary mosaic of vivid episodes that move about in time and place to tell an unforgettable story of country and people. There is great pain in these pages, and anger at injustice, but also great love, in marriage and in family, and for the land. Dank faces head on the ingrained racism, born of brutal practice and harsh legislation, that lies always under the skin of Australia, the racism that calls a little Aboriginal girl names and beats and rapes and disenfranchises the generations before hers. She describes sudden terrible violence, between races and sometimes at home. But overwhelmingly this is a book about strong, beloved parents and grandparents, guiding and teaching their children and grandchildren what country means, about joyful gatherings and the pleasures of eating food provided by the place that nourishes them, both spiritually and physically. Dank calibrates human emotions with honesty and insight, and there is plenty of dry, down-to-earth humour. You can feel and smell and see the puffs of dust under moving feet, the ever-present burning heat, the bright exuberance of a night-time campfire, the emerald flash of a flock of budgerigars, the journeying wind, the harshness of a station shanty, the welcome scent of fresh water. We Come with This Place is deeply personal, a profound tribute to family and the Gudanji Country to which Debra Dank belongs, but it is much more than that. Here is Australia as it has been for countless generations, land and people in effortless balance, and Australia as it became, but also Australia as it could and should be." -- Back cover.
Format:
Books
Relevance:
3.8393
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by
Heiss, Anita, 1968-, editor.
Call Number
305.89915 GRO
Publication Date
2018
Summary
What is it like to grow up Aboriginal in Australia? This anthology, compiled by award-winning author Anita Heiss, attempts to showcase as many diverse voices, experiences and stories as possible in order to answer that question. Each account reveals, to some degree, the impacts of invasion and colonisation ? on language, on country, on ways of life, and on how people are treated daily in the community, the education system, the workplace and friendship groups.Accounts from well-known authors and high-profile identities sit alongside newly discovered voices of all ages, with experiences spanning coastal and desert regions, cities and remote communities. All of them speak to the heart ? sometimes calling for empathy, oftentimes challenging stereotypes, always demanding respect.This groundbreaking anthology aims to enlighten, inspire and educate about the lives of Aboriginal people in Australia today.Contributors include: Tony Birch, Deborah Cheetham, Adam Goodes, Terri Janke, Patrick Johnson, Ambelin Kwaymullina, Jack Latimore, Celeste Liddle, Amy McQuire, Kerry Reed-Gilbert, Miranda Tapsell, Jared Thomas, Aileen Walsh, Alexis West, Tara June Winch, and many, many more.
Format:
Books
Relevance:
3.6578
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