Centre For 21st Century Humanities

Pulya-ranyi: Winds of Change Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms: a) Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed undera Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share and adapt the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. b) Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.

Ngurra Kurlu (the home within) – Kurdiji 1.0 “I want to tell you about Yama. This is the Warlpiri word for a shadow, or reflection. It’s also a word that we use to describe a meeting or a meeting-place; we gather under a tree that casts a shadow (a reflection of its shape) onto the ground, and we talk in a group – both men and women together, equally – to make decisions and to reflect on ourselves and our lives. But it’s deeper, too. Aboriginal astronomy the star of Dreamtime stories Updated 5 Apr 2017, 1:32amWed 5 Apr 2017, 1:32am For the next couple of months, get away from the city lights, look up to the stars, and you might just be able to spot an emu in the sky. According to Aboriginal legend, emus were creator spirits that used to fly and look over the land. To spot the emu, look south to the Southern Cross; the dark cloud between the stars is the head, while the neck, body and legs are formed from dust lanes stretching across the Milky Way. Physics student and Sydney Observatory guide Kirsten Banks said most Aboriginal tribes told the story of the emu in the sky.

Deep listening (dadirri) Deep listening explained Aboriginal people passed on stories orally as they knew no writing. Listening to the story teller was vital to reproduce the story accurately to the next generation of story-tellers. Deep listening describes the processes of deep and respectful listening to build community—a way of encouraging people to explore and learn from the ancient heritage of Aboriginal culture, knowledge and understanding . 'Australia's slave trade': The growing drive to uncover secret history of Australian South Sea Islanders Updated 22 Dec 2017, 1:53amFri 22 Dec 2017, 1:53am Calls are growing for better recognition of Australian South Sea Islanders, many of whose ancestors were forcibly removed from their Pacific Island homes in a practice known as "blackbirding" to work in appalling conditions on cane fields and cotton farms. They cleared the land with their hands and machetes, cut cane, and were paid a pittance for their labour. Now their descendants want to shine a spotlight on the shameful practices that some have dubbed "Australia's slave trade". Emelda Davis' grandfather Moses Topay Enares was 12 when he was taken from a beach on Tanna Island, and brought to Australia by ship to work on the cane fields.

Australia has a history of Aboriginal slavery Was there ever Aboriginal slavery in Australia? Slavery is never a convenient topic. We easily associate countries like Africa and America with slavery, but Australia? What is slavery? If you read it up in the dictionaries, slavery is “the condition in which one person is owned as property by another” and the owner has "absolute power” over their "life, liberty, and fortune”. Such people are usually forced into work "in harsh conditions for low pay”. Blackbirds: Australia’s hidden slave trade history: The racism that brought Australian South Sea Islanders here, and the racism that tried to send them back “We had a slave trade.” Emelda Davis speaks these words quietly, as if in deference to their gravity. She has come to the crux of an argument she has laid out hundreds of times before to politicians, journalists and executives. Though she is repeating herself, in the way of professional advocates who spend their lives drawing attention to a cause, Davis will never speak of hers as a matter of rote. She can’t. Davis is an Australian South Sea Islander – one of the descendants of between 55,000 and 62,500 Pacific Islanders transported to Australia in the 19th century to work the cane fields of Queensland and northern New South Wales.

Blackbirding: Australia's slave trade? - Australian National Maritime Museum In 1847 Benjamin Boyd, an early colonial businessman better known for his whaling ventures, shipped 65 men from New Caledonia and Vanuatu to Eden on the south coast of New South Wales. Boyd’s experiment in finding cheap indentured labour among the Pacific Islands was a failure, but he had foreshadowed a labour practice that was in many instances to hold all the hallmarks of slavery. In the 1860s, the demand for labor in Queensland, particularly in the burgeoning sugar cane industry, saw trading ships turn into labour ‘recruitment’ vessels across the Pacific. While some workers were indentured, brought to work in Queensland and returned to their homelands, many were not. Unscrupulous traders resorted to kidnapping and all sorts of tricks to entice people on board their vessels. Once on board, many had no idea of where they were headed and many died en route.

Paul Keating's Redfern speech The Redfern Speech—A moment in history Few of those who were present were aware that they were witnessing history: A politician admitting that "we committed the murders", "we took the lands", "we brought the diseases" and "we took the children". Prime Minister Paul Keating delivered the speech in Redfern Park on 10 December 1992, launching Australia's program for the International Year of the World's Indigenous People. The National Archives of Australia record the title of this speech as Opportunity and care, dignity and hope, 1993.