Comrade Stanhope has announced protocols on who gets to be a traditional owner of the ACT or not.
It’s bad news for the rogue Ngambri with all the spoils going to the “United Ngunnawal Elders Council” (UNEC).
Apparently the protocols also cap the fee for a “Welcome to Country” at $300 as well.
I always thought the Ngambri/Ngunnawal were just a sub group of the Ngarigo. I think if there was a genealogical/historical study of the ACT region it may clearly identify this.The two groups may be fighting for recognition over something that belongs to another group (the Ngarigo). And I believe Stanhope knows this, thats why he is reluctant about supporting the research.He knows it will become even more complicated.
Special G said :
And I agree but it is not about that, it’s about historical recognition. It’s a shame that it had to come to the ACT government to publicly state this but it had too and really has nothing to do with anyone else apart from the parties involved.
And if someone hired an idiot to do their cultural awareness program then that’s the fault of the department you were working for, not the idiot in question or the idiots who question every god dam thing.
By the way I love how you make the bracket speak, lotta respect mate!!
My mum was born here and I have lived here pretty much my whole life. That gives me just as much right to the Canberra land as any other bugger.
The Government departments can save money by just acknowledging and thanking who ever. No need to roll out another elder. Or maybe there is a rule that says they must?
What I find particularly odd about the “welcome to country” is that it appears to be selective and for show (or $) only. When I attended “cultural awareness training” with a large federal dept a few years ago, there were reps from the Awakal, Bundjalung and a Top End group whose name I don’t recall – but there were no “we’re on Ngunnawal country” formalities or acknowledgements whatsoever. It’s all a nonsense.
I doubt that the $300 payment is seriously at the core of the issue. Members of all of these groups are making good money through a range of other sources that relate to their cultural associations with the ACT region.
I think it really is about formal recognition of who has the right to speak for country. The tensions between these guys goes back to the 1880s – and I doubt that this is going to be resolved any time soon.
I-filed said :
The tragedy is, hardly anyone pays any attention to it anyway. Or those that do only do so because they are so totally in empathy of the plight of Indigenous Australians (but growing up in Eastern Sydney, they never actually met any).
$300 bucks for three minutes work …
Is it a sliding scale from cowboy hat/flanny through to full body paint and didgeroo?
Seriously though, it is a tragedy how much effort is spent arguing with each other when there are some major issues that need resolving. And yes, I am extremely ignorant in the cultural differences.
Anna Key said :
Well it depended on how good they were at it and to what extent they looked the part.
The money involved is, many suspect, the root cause of the recent dispute.
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 :
thankyou ssssssoooo much for the propaganda
mossrocket said :
No, that’s not it. Try here, post #15.
54-11 said :
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!