'ABORIGINAL' TOPIC

 cf also THINK, Work, Response,  Aboriginals 2  Jesus 

Our experience

• As white Australians living in the city we have had minimal contact with Aboriginal Australians. (One of our members recalls 'trespassing' on an area at the St. Kilda Esplanade and having a bottle thrown at him for doing so).
• Our main exposure to Aboriginal issues has been through art (positive), music (positive), sport, football especially (positive) and conflict and controversy(negative). Examples of the last-mentioned are: excessive alcohol use, the sorts of attitudes one associates with Pauline Hanson, the matter of the 'stolen' generation of aborigianl children, clashes between Mining companies and Aboriginal peoples.  The media presentation of matters aboriginal is our strongest influence, whether for good or for bad.
• What we understand of the Aboriginal association with the land is an essential oneness with the land.  Ayer's Rock has been re-named Uluru.
• Two major legal decisions within recent years have been MABO and WIK.  While we do not understand the intricacies of these decisions, we believe MABO recognized unbroken association with the land for a group, therefore doing away with the concept of 'terra nullius' and recognizing prior rights of these people.  WIK, we believe, sees that land can be occupied by both European and Aboriginal peoples jointly.
• Does the New Zealand experience teach us something (Treaty of Waitangi)?  Does the North American - US or Canada experience teach us something?
• Is the future a stark choice between assimilation/blending or remain separate and develop separately?
• 'Reconciliation' is a word frequently used in Government policy in reference to future relationships between white and black Australia (Reconciliation Convention held Melbourne 26-28th May).

The Tradition

•  " For us, you and the values you represent are precious.  We deeply respect your dignity and reiterate our deep affection for you". (Pope John Paul II in Alic Springs on occasion of his visit).
• 'The preservation and protection of historical, cultural and sacred sites. should be a basic principle in the determination of Aboriginals' right to land' (Pastoral Letter of Australian Bishops August 1980).
• 'To preach the Gospel while ignoring the problems concerning justice, liberation, development and peace in the world would be to forget the lesson which conmes to us from the Gospel concerning love of our neighbour, who is suffering and in need' (Evangelii Nuntiandi, Pope Paul VI).
• 'We condemn all racist attitudes.  We reject those forms of discrimination which hinder Aborigines from attaining their proper development and the fulfilment of their just aspirations.' (Pastoral Letter quoted above).
• 'There is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female: for [we] are all one in Christ Jesus' (Gal 3:28)
• Vatican II (Lumen Gentiuma nd Gaudium et Spes) alert us to the revelatory presence of God in the historical circumstances of communities where the Gospel has not yet reached.  The aboriginal experience of the land is a place of revelation for the rest of us.

Inspiration

...Give the deal you still deny us
Give goodwill not bigot bias;
Give ambition, not prevention,
Confidence not condescension;
Give incentive, not restriction,
Give us Christ not crucifixion.
Though baptised and blessed and Bibled
We are still tabooed and libelled....
(Oodgeroo Noonuccal)

Interpretation
 

• We pursue knowledge for intelligence; the aboriginal people pursue it for wisdom, by which we mean that intelligence is something objective, detached; wisdom is something subjective and interpersonal.  Does this say something, then, about what we might learn from them?  It may also say something about how we provide for their education - clearly classrooms lacking space, desks in rows, and so forth, would inhibit a pursuit of knowledge appropriate to them.