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Hey it& #39;s reconciliation week in Australia!
I& #39;m not indigenous, but I feel like letting it slip by unacknowledged or with just a retweet or three would be misrepresenting how I feel about it so let& #39;s maybe chat from a place of my experiences with this topic.
I& #39;m not indigenous, but I feel like letting it slip by unacknowledged or with just a retweet or three would be misrepresenting how I feel about it so let& #39;s maybe chat from a place of my experiences with this topic.
I grew up in Tasmania. I don& #39;t know how much you& #39;ve read about Tasmanian indigenous groups but they got a mention in H.G. Wells War of the Worlds. It& #39;s not a great mention, but it was honestly probably my first real introduction to the topic as a teenager.
"The Tasmanians, in spite of their human likeness, were entirely swept out of existence in a war of extermination waged by European immigrants, in the space of fifty years."
And that& #39;s about accurate.
And that& #39;s about accurate.
At school we learned how "awesome" captain cook was, tragedies around first people on the mainland- but besides a light dusting of the name Truganini- we learned nothing about Tasmanians. We spent more time talking Tasmanian Tigers than the Black Line. https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/the-black-line">https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-...
I was too young to really have a good handle on what was going on through the years of reconciliation rallies leading up to Kevin Rudd saying Sorry. I went and walked at the ones my mum went to.
It seemed a bit silly and weird once I had some context for the atrocities.
It seemed a bit silly and weird once I had some context for the atrocities.
Like, what does it mean when there are no people left to apologise to? On the mainland it makes sense- there are people living and suffering today- from old and new atrocities and injustices. but what does reconciliation mean, what is & #39;sorry& #39; worth, when *everyone* was killed?
We had a prime minister called John Howard who took a really common whitey stance that he had not personally assaulted anyone, and therefore couldn& #39;t reasonably be expected to apologise for a crime he did not commit. And I guess there& #39;s a kind of gutless self-serving logic there.
But what we& #39;re talking about is one culture *obliterating* another because they were inconvenient.
We probably just stopped short of eating them or turning them into cattle feed. It& #39;s horrible, unquestionably criminal and it splashes blood on the inheritors of the spoils forever.
We probably just stopped short of eating them or turning them into cattle feed. It& #39;s horrible, unquestionably criminal and it splashes blood on the inheritors of the spoils forever.
What do you do with that understanding?
Dunno. I haven& #39;t figured it out.
Money is tight, guilt is useless.
This sort of white boy invader-ancestor experience of reconciliation tweet-wall is only useful in the context of spreading the story.
Dunno. I haven& #39;t figured it out.
Money is tight, guilt is useless.
This sort of white boy invader-ancestor experience of reconciliation tweet-wall is only useful in the context of spreading the story.
I guess ideally I& #39;d want taxes directed aggressively to support land and resources for displaced and debilitated indigenous groups. Indigenous health issues/life expectancy is horrible and I can& #39;t really parse the articles on crime vs police racism. There& #39;s work there for sure.
I think it& #39;s probably right that the inheritors of stolen land feel weird and twisted. I think even the & #39;I didn& #39;t do anything& #39; & #39;not-sorry& #39; people are feeling a bit funny about it- it& #39;s a denial response.
It& #39;s probably good to wade into that gross feeling and sit in it for a bit.
It& #39;s probably good to wade into that gross feeling and sit in it for a bit.
