All hail the United Ngunnawal Elders Council

Do they really charge for the welcome to country stuff at the start of any conference etc. And if it is capped at $300, up to what amount did they used to charge?

Notice how, whenever you dispute any of the stuff in the above, you are automatically a racist?

I attended a government-funded “culture workshop” at a festival last year, where the Indigenous man who ran the workshop described white Australians – in all seriousness – as “weeds”. He took a bush tucker tour, but didn’t know the Indigenous terms for ANY of the flora. It was very sad – but I didn’t think that excused the “weed” reference. It did occur to me that if he was prepared to espouse such views AT this government-funded workshop, he could be potentially rather nasty in other fora, not just about whites but about rival “language groups”, tribes or whoever.

mossrocket said :

From the Ngambri Website: http://www.ngambri.org/statement.php

(I am not Ngambri, nor of aboriginal descent, but I feel this clan has been given the short end of the stick – the ACT gov hasn’t shown why they have picked the side they have – I wonder if it is because of the hassle they would face in changing all the freakin signs they’ve put up everywhere….)

____________________________________________

We, the younger generation of Ngambri leaders, on behalf of our Ngambri ancestors, elders and descendants, assert the authenticity of our unique Ngambri identity.
The capital city of Australia, Canberra, is derived from the name of our country, Ngambri, and our People: the Ngambri.

While it is true that most Ngambri families have Ngunnawal as well as other ancestry, this does not mean that all those identifying as ‘Ngunnawal’ have rights to Ngambri country or to claim a Ngambri identity.

The term ‘Ngunnawal’ refers to a language that is no longer spoken fluently by any descendants identifying as such and is therefore a superfluous group descriptor.

Ngunnawal was a language once spoken by the neighbouring Wallabalooa (Yass) and Burrooa (Boorowa) peoples. It was not a language spoken by the Ngambri.

Many people claiming to be ‘Ngunnawal’ in modern times have identified with Wiradjuri and other language groups for generations. This is a problem for the Wallabalooa and Burrooa elders to resolve; these people have no connection to the Ngambri.

We humbly request that all references to the ‘Ngunnawal’ are expunged from ACT Government documents, that all ‘Welcome to Ngunnawal Country’ signs are removed, and that the ACT Government’s “United Ngunnawal Elders‘ Council” be disbanded.

We also humbly request that the ACT Government ends the practice of paying non-Ngambri usurpers to conduct ‘Welcome to Country’ addresses.

We, the Ngambri People, will provide the ACT Government with solid evidence of our claims to country, our individual identities, our numbers and other relevant information. We intend to compile a list of traceable descendants of known Ngambri ancestors who lived in the 19th century.

We will then gather together bona fide 21st century descendants and, following a series of internal workshops on revised lore and custom for modern times, we will also advise on the agreements over who can and cannot claim rights to country in the Canberra region.

We ask only for the respect and acknowledgement due to us as bona fide Ngambri descendants and that non-Ngambri Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples now living in Ngambri country respect our protocols just as we respect yours when we visit or reside in your ancestral countries.

We intend to make peace in particular with the bona fide elders of the Wallabalooa, Burrooa and Pajong groups surrounding Ngambri country as well as with Canberrans of all other ancestries.

We support the ACT Chief Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Group as this group represents and discusses issues affecting all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples now living in the ACT.

Like all Canberrans, we wish to make the world a better place for our children and to ensure we maintain our ancestral identity for the sake of future generations.

We believe this is important for all Canberrans because, without the Ngambri, the capital city would truly have no soul.

Thank you.

thankyou ssssssoooo much for the propaganda

mossrocket said :

here tis: http://the-riotact.com/?p=8448

No, that’s not it. Try here, post #15.

54-11 said :

Pelican, neither of them can prove anything. Let them sort it out between them and stop causing all this aggravation.

Of course everyone wants to do the right thing by the original occupiers, but if they keep sqabbling like a pack of yobbos, why should we get caught up in it.

Both sides are milking some pretty spurious claims for all they are worth because there’s money in it for them.

No need for personal abuse – shows the moral and factual bankruptcy of your argument.

Numbers man,
I totally disagree with you.
I think what’s at issue goes far beyond money, and even if it isn’t, are you saying only blackfellas have financial and property disputes?
Or maybe you think it’s something they’re not entitled to do.
Where’s your evidence of “spurious claims” and that the two groups are “sqabbling (sic) like a pack of yobbos”?
When people disparage entire groups of people as “useless blow ins” they deserve a (verbal) slap, in my opinion.
The smugness and totally unwarranted feelings of superiority by the likes of you, combined with constant disparaging comments about Aboriginal people is a very unedifying spectacle, and one which casts an ugly stain on what generally is a great nation.
There is no substantive argument to support beliefs we are somehow better than Aboriginal people, we’re exactly the same.
As for the alleged “moral and factual” bankruptcy of my argument — get your hand off it.

circle….
circus?

and the cirle is complete

here tis: http://the-riotact.com/?p=8448

thanks for that Woody – will do!

mossrocket – go read my post in the last Ngunawal vs Ngambri thread for a quick overview of why the Ngambri stuff seems to be little more than revisionist posturing by people who were emphatically Nugunawal themselves up until very recently. I’d link, but I’m very, very lazy.

From the Ngambri Website: http://www.ngambri.org/statement.php

(I am not Ngambri, nor of aboriginal descent, but I feel this clan has been given the short end of the stick – the ACT gov hasn’t shown why they have picked the side they have – I wonder if it is because of the hassle they would face in changing all the freakin signs they’ve put up everywhere….)

____________________________________________

We, the younger generation of Ngambri leaders, on behalf of our Ngambri ancestors, elders and descendants, assert the authenticity of our unique Ngambri identity.
The capital city of Australia, Canberra, is derived from the name of our country, Ngambri, and our People: the Ngambri.

While it is true that most Ngambri families have Ngunnawal as well as other ancestry, this does not mean that all those identifying as ‘Ngunnawal’ have rights to Ngambri country or to claim a Ngambri identity.

The term ‘Ngunnawal’ refers to a language that is no longer spoken fluently by any descendants identifying as such and is therefore a superfluous group descriptor.

Ngunnawal was a language once spoken by the neighbouring Wallabalooa (Yass) and Burrooa (Boorowa) peoples. It was not a language spoken by the Ngambri.

Many people claiming to be ‘Ngunnawal’ in modern times have identified with Wiradjuri and other language groups for generations. This is a problem for the Wallabalooa and Burrooa elders to resolve; these people have no connection to the Ngambri.

We humbly request that all references to the ‘Ngunnawal’ are expunged from ACT Government documents, that all ‘Welcome to Ngunnawal Country’ signs are removed, and that the ACT Government’s “United Ngunnawal Elders‘ Council” be disbanded.

We also humbly request that the ACT Government ends the practice of paying non-Ngambri usurpers to conduct ‘Welcome to Country’ addresses.

We, the Ngambri People, will provide the ACT Government with solid evidence of our claims to country, our individual identities, our numbers and other relevant information. We intend to compile a list of traceable descendants of known Ngambri ancestors who lived in the 19th century.

We will then gather together bona fide 21st century descendants and, following a series of internal workshops on revised lore and custom for modern times, we will also advise on the agreements over who can and cannot claim rights to country in the Canberra region.

We ask only for the respect and acknowledgement due to us as bona fide Ngambri descendants and that non-Ngambri Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples now living in Ngambri country respect our protocols just as we respect yours when we visit or reside in your ancestral countries.

We intend to make peace in particular with the bona fide elders of the Wallabalooa, Burrooa and Pajong groups surrounding Ngambri country as well as with Canberrans of all other ancestries.

We support the ACT Chief Minister’s Indigenous Advisory Group as this group represents and discusses issues affecting all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples now living in the ACT.

Like all Canberrans, we wish to make the world a better place for our children and to ensure we maintain our ancestral identity for the sake of future generations.

We believe this is important for all Canberrans because, without the Ngambri, the capital city would truly have no soul.

Thank you.

Woody Mann-Caruso said :

And they have lightsabers now.

the force is strong with this one

And they have lightsabers now.

54-11 said :

Pelican, neither of them can prove anything. Let them sort it out between them and stop causing all this aggravation.

Of course everyone wants to do the right thing by the original occupiers, but if they keep sqabbling like a pack of yobbos, why should we get caught up in it.

Both sides are milking some pretty spurious claims for all they are worth because there’s money in it for them.

No need for personal abuse – shows the moral and factual bankruptcy of your argument.

ha ha ha ha you make me luagh, if you are all knowing on the subject to publicly state that they can’t prove anything then provide the facts that you do know that they can’t or shut the hell up.

I will be more then happy to provide you the proof of the Ngunnawal people’s history and connection to this land.

they are NOT in it for the money, it’s for the reconigition, nothing more, and considering the majority of posts you put up is about real estate then I know where YOU are coming from, sleep tight pettle as your house or land will NOT be taken away from you, you real estate value will increase into a nice portfillio so that you can retire to QLD with VG and listern to talk back radio!!!!

They have and will always be here.

Pelican, neither of them can prove anything. Let them sort it out between them and stop causing all this aggravation.

Of course everyone wants to do the right thing by the original occupiers, but if they keep sqabbling like a pack of yobbos, why should we get caught up in it.

Both sides are milking some pretty spurious claims for all they are worth because there’s money in it for them.

No need for personal abuse – shows the moral and factual bankruptcy of your argument.

You say Ngunnawal, I say Ngambri

Let’s call the whole thing off

vg said :

Pelican Lini said :

54-11 said :

Stupid squabbling between two useless groups of blow-ins.

So what do you call the people who came in after the “blow ins” knucklehead?

People who have an actual connection to the land they bought, rather than those who pretend their distant ancestors ‘lived here’.

Pauline would love your work. And spare us the “I worked hard for what I got……”

54-11 said :

Stupid squabbling between two useless groups of blow-ins.

That’d be us wouldn’t it

Ah VG,
A subscriber to the white blindfold view of history then?
Money doesn’t talk, it swears..

Pelican Lini said :

54-11 said :

Stupid squabbling between two useless groups of blow-ins.

So what do you call the people who came in after the “blow ins” knucklehead?

People who have an actual connection to the land they bought, rather than those who pretend their distant ancestors ‘lived here’.

The Australian Government ?

54-11 said :

Stupid squabbling between two useless groups of blow-ins.

So what do you call the people who came in after the “blow ins” knucklehead?

Stupid squabbling between two useless groups of blow-ins.

I thought there were no fulltime permanent indigenous inhabitants, and several tribes converged on Canberra from time to time? I’m with Matilda (even though she’s sometimes a dill and a bore when she does her welcome to countries). And what happened to the Ngunawal, the ones without the second n, that used to feature on the “Ngun(n)awal) signposting?

Is Matilda even a local?
A Camberra taxi driver assured me once that he knew her and the family well and they grew up someplace in NSW where he was also living.
Wished I could remember which part of NSW he identified.
I reckon I would have learned a lot of useful information from taxi drivers over the years if I’d ever been sober enough to take it in.

Does anyone know if it was just Matilda that was debating it or if there were others from the Ngambri that also made the claim?

So that’s how this stoush played out. It’s been going for a while.