#Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

[indizombie]

When you're only 3% of the population, you rely on the other 97% to do the right thing," she says. It comes down to human compassion [but] there's still a blame the victim mentality - as though what happens to us is what we deserve. Maybe future generations will change that narrative.

Raylene Nixon, mother of Steven Nixon-McKellar

[micewithknives]

Skipping ALL things in my queue, and all the asks in my ask box, to tell y'all about THIS that came out a few hours ago. I cannot express how excited I am about this information finally being published.

Its not the first evidence of pottery technologies found in Australia, but the artefacts that have been found at the Lizard Island group in the past havent necessarily been datable. Evidence of pottery in the Torres Strait was also found in the early 2000s, and its been analysed to be evidence of trade with Papua New Guinea (who have an AMAZING history of pottery technology).

To our amazement, around 40cm below the surface we began to find pieces of pottery among the shells in the excavation. We knew this was a big deal. We carefully bagged each piece of pottery and mapped where each sherd came from, and kept digging.

But as of now, there's officially dated evidence for locally made pottery in Australia, of at least 1800 years. Not only outside the Torres Straight, but 300km south. Not only 1800+ years old, but also pre-dating the original known dates for Torres Straight Islands pottery, suggesting the possibility of even earlier pottery technology trade with PNG. AND ITS DECORATED.

Radiocarbon dating of charcoal and shells found close to the pottery shows that it is between 2,950 and 1,815 years old, making it the earliest securely dated pottery ever found in Australia. Analysis of the clays and tempers shows that all of the pottery was likely made on Jiigurru.

The pottery stopped at about 80cm depth, with 82 pieces of pottery in total. Most are very small, with an average length of just 18 millimetres. The pottery assemblage includes rim and neck pieces and some of the pottery is decorated with pigment and incised lines.

[official-boobies-posts]

always was, always will be aboriginal land ❤️💛🖤

[cartoonybus]

pnf revival hope: no more of this shit

[arthistoryanimalia]

For #BatAppreciationWeek:

Artist: Billy Missi (1970-2012) Sapur Au Kubi (Dark Flock of Bats), 2006 linocut print 12/90 69x100cm Cairns Art Gallery

Artist info:

Place of Birth Mabuiag (Jervis Island), Torres Strait, Queensland, Australia Language Group Kala Lagaw Ya. Totem: Koedal, Kaigas, Dhangal Clan Group Wagedagam, Gumu, Pania

Artist notes:

"During mango, almond and cashew nut season a lot of Sapur (Flying Foxes) come to our village and gardens.

When the sun begins to set in the western sky, the Sapur usually come in flocks from the thick mangroves that fringe the coastline.

The Sapur only come out at dusk to raid the fruit trees so that people cannot see them. Otherwise they would be targeted by hunters and chased away. Despite this they do make a lot of noise as they feed.

The Sapur suck the juice out of the fruit and dispose of the rest making a lot of mess under the trees. They do this all night until morning breaks when they take flight back to their isolated, thick scrubs and mangroves.

Growing up in the islands in the 1970's, these sightings were common during fruit season.

It is our uncles who tell us that whenever flocks of sapur approach the gardens, the fruit is ripe.

This image shows a large number of Sapur flying to the village to feed on the fruit trees. They circle above the trees to choose where they will feed for the evening." - Billy Missi

[totallyseiso]

Got a booklet in the mail that's all about the upcoming referendum, and one of the points for voting no is that voting yes could lead to a "dysfunctional government"

Bitch, this is Australia. We don't even have a functional government to begin with. The batshit-auspoll blog pretty much proves that

[laurin4475]

Was going to reblog without commentary but actually-

The thing is that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have thrived in so called “Australia” for millenia- the largest estimates I’ve seen are for more than 100,000 years. They are, I believe, the oldest living culture in the world, with oral histories that stretch back to well before any of Europe’s “ancient” history.

And First Nations people were able to do so because they had profound respect for the country they belonged to. (And “country” here refers to the land they belong to, not a nation state).

Colonisers came to so called Australia and tried to treat it like their own, and then blamed the land and the peoples for being “uncivilised” and “dangerous” because it was different. And their lack of respect for this land meant they died sometimes because they didn’t listen to the peoples who had lived here for millennia.

Instead, they brutally subjugated the land and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and have never stopped. And the land and her peoples continue to suffer from the lack of respect and the expectation that the land should be like that in Western Europe.

okay I’ll say it nicer:

australia was colonised according to the myth of terra nullius (or empty land). ever since the very early days of colonialism, the land has been framed as something untameable and unliveable. this has justified acts of violence against the first peoples here, in that they are seen as non-people. it has justified the destruction of sacred land in the goal of making australia look more european. (an example: our capital city contains a man-made lake that is now nothing better than a fetid carp pond. it’s disgusting and unnatural). basically, the idea of “taming australia’ has justified endless harm

“everything in australia is weird and dangerous” is not just some silly meme phrase, it is something that arcs back to the very beginning of white settlers laying claim to ‘australia’. and personally I am very sick of seeing it thrown around like it means nothing

[introverting-rn]

i feel like every country has That Holiday That Can’t Be Referred To because there are such widespread, polarised views on its significant and history that using any name for it will cause you to spontaneously combust.

Australia’s is [~̴͍̙͈͈͕̝̜̹̓͛ͅ|̸̢̥͎̜͔̞̘̩̙̲̞̜̤̦̗͓̬͔̻̗̤̰͘^̷͖́͋̈́̌̈́̉͐̽̀̉̓͌̓̎̂̔̂͋̈̂͘͘̚͘͘͝€̵̛̫̭̂͗̀̆͐̋̽̃̽̓͂̊͆̒̀̈́̅͑͆̚̚̚͘͝͝ͅ~̶͎̤͈̦̬̩̦͍̯̤̬̳̙͔̺͖̜̗̫̮̲̯̠̝̗͉̄̂̓̈̌͐͐̚͜ͅ_̵̨̩̻͓̼̰̑͋͋̑͛̀̀͛͆̅̈̇́̚ͅ•̸̧̨̢̪̮̖͙̮̲̬̟͕̖̗̻̯͙̖̞̮͍̳̣̠̬̽̾͝͝ͅ’̶̢̨̢̳̼͕̞͖̪̥͔̱̩̤̱̣̤̘̠͎̳̻̰͉̪̎͗̀̂͑̒̇͒̃̀̇̎͌̀̕͜͜ͅi̴̝̰͖̞̘̟̊͆͗͋̾̾̓̉̍̌̈́̔̈́͑̽͗̽̾̈́͘͜͝ ̶̢̛̛̻̫͈̩̳̟̝̬̰̮̝̖̩͓̜̼͇̗̿̄͂́̊̽̃̀̄̓̅̆̀̈́̐͆́̾̓̀̊͐́̚ ̷̡̢̹͇̘̣̺͕̦͔̱̰̂̑̉͐̑͒͂̃͗͐̆̌͆͒͋̚͝͝ͅͅ-̸̛̛́͌̕��̢̰̥̭͔̭̬̤͌͑͐ͅ;̴̨̡̪̙͎̞̻̩̝̝̬͎̣̮̠͆͒̈̾̓̑̅͆͂ͅ’̴͓̞̪̯͚͔̠̞̳̬̱̜͔̩̄̔́̔̐̌̋̃̌̎͘͘͝] on jan 26th what’s yours

[t-jfh]

For some in Indigenous Australia, reconciliation can never be revived.

(ABC News: Emma Machan)

Is reconciliation really dead after the Voice to Parliament was voted down?

By Indigenous Affairs Editor, Bridget Brennan

ABC News Australia - 22 October 2023

•

•

Indigenous leaders who campaigned for Yes have released a statement pledging to fight for justice.

(Supplied)

‘Shameful victory’: Indigenous leaders’ bitter lesson from Voice campaign.

By Mike Foley

The Age - October 22, 2023

•

•

Indigenous leaders have written an open letter to Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after the Voice referendum was defeated.

(ABC News: Michael Franchi)

Indigenous leaders break their silence, call referendum defeat 'appalling and mean-spirited'.

By Indigenous Affairs Editor, Bridget Brennan

ABC News Australia - 22 October 2023

•

[indizombie]

The over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia's criminal justice system is a key driver of Indigenous deaths in custody. That was one of the central findings of the 1991 inquiry - and it has worsened with time. Today Indigenous people comprise 33% of Australia's prisoners, though they are just 3.8% of the national population. Socio-economic disadvantage and "over-policing" are central to the disparity, numerous investigations have heard. "There's a legacy of colonisation in Australia where First Nations people have always been disproportionately segregated and controlled," says Thalia Anthony, a law professor at the University of Technology Sydney. She and others argue this has injected racist stereotypes into policing, leading to Indigenous Australians being treated as "deviant, drug addicted, or alcoholics" and paid undue attention.

Hannah Ritchie, ‘Indigenous deaths in custody haunt Australia’, BBC

[luthienebonyx]

Australians please vote YES.

HOWEVER, the original post is WRONG about what the referendum is about.

It does not mean that Indigenous people will get a guaranteed spot in parliament. It's not about that. The referendum question is:

A Proposed Law: to alter the Constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?

The new chapter and section to be added to the constitution are:

Chapter IX Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples

S 129 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice

In recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Peoples of Australia:

There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice;

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to the Parliament and the Executive Government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;

The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures.

Source and more info

For all my fellow Aussies remember, voting yes in the referendum quite literally means that Indigenous Australians will get a proper spot in parliament. If someone tells you to vote no they are racist, there is no reason why Indigenous Australians shouldn’t be allowed in parliament.

Vote Yes!

[micewithknives]

Top 5 archaeological sites in Australia that you feel people should know more about? Or top 5 Australian artefacts?

I feel like I’ve talked a bit about artefacts in a few recent asks, and also I feel like a lot of Australian archaeology (and as such, sites) are very underrated, particularly on a global scale. Its often acknowledged in Australian archaeology that getting international academia to recognise the importance of our country’s archaeology is very very difficult.

While there’s a million and one sites I’d love to talk about, I’m going to TRY and give sites that relate to different aspects and locations

This is probably going to be long, so...

1. Nauwalabila, Madjedbebe (Malakunanja II), and the Deaf Adder Gorge region, Northern Territory (Aboriginal)

Rock shelters in this region, and specifically Madjedbebe, are currently the oldest location of human habitation in Australia. Dating evidence from 2017 excavations provided an estimate of earliest occupation of 50 000 years at certainty, possibly extending back as early as 65 000 (+/-6000). It also has provided a lot of evidence for research into the extensive grind stone technologies of the Pleistocene.

2. Cloggs Cave and the Buchan region of the Victorian Gippsland (Aboriginal)

So much research has been done into this region in various ways. Josephine Flood focused her research on Bogong Moth usage (and festivals) within this region, providing some of the earliest accepted academic research in support of Aboriginal peoples’ claims of large scale Bogong Moth Festivals in Australia’s highlands (although the fac that no one really believed communities until then…………..). In 2021 grind analysis found Bogong Moth residue, making this the earliest stone artefact with evidence of insect food remains. And in addition to that recent 2017 research in the area investigated Holocene occupation with Aboriginal community members, with a focus on understanding the interaction of spirituality with the resources found in the caves.

3. Mabuyag Island, Torres Strait Islands, Queensland (Torres Strait Islander)

Mabuyag Island (alternatively known as Mabuiag or Mabuyaagi) has archaeological evidence of human occupation since 7300 years ago. The island is both associated with recent religious practices associated with he heavy processing of dugong remains, and totemic associations with these, which played a role in early 2000s into community lead and directed archaeological research into ritual and religious traditions and practices. In addition to this, Mabuyag is the location of the first archaeological excavations in Australia to find pre-colonial pottery fragments. The fragments at the two sites on the island were associated with Melanesian and Papua New Guinean pottery trade. The excavations relating to pottery on the island played an important role in our understanding of domestic and international trade in pre-colonial Australia, and also formed an influence for the recent excavations at Lizard Island, 300km south, which identified the first datable domestically made pottery technology found in Australia.

4. Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney, NSW

Hyde Park Barracks is part of a collection of colonial heritage structures in Australia, relating to Australia’s time as a penal settlement. Hyde Park Barracks in particular were the location of the housing of convict men from 1819 to 1830, with the 1830s to 1840s also involving the site being a location of additional convict punishment, and the base for the Board of Assignment of Servants. Following on from a reduction of convicts to NSW in the 1840s, the Barracks became the Female Immigration Depot, and the Orphan Institution, later becoming the Asylum for Infirm and Destitute Women.

This time period of women’s occupation provides some of the most interesting archaeological remains, as redevelopment and management of the site has found high rates of preservation within walls, and in areas below floorboards. This includes textiles and fabrics, papers, and other non-organic materials such as pipes (with their tobacco intact) stashed in what was once floor, wall, and ceiling cavities. Archaeological investigations in the area form one of the most detailed assemblages of artefacts relating to instituted women in the British Empire during the 19th century.

5. Notch Point, Western Australia (Multicultural heritage)

Notch Point is a site of varied and mixed archaeology, ranging from pre- and post- colonial period Aboriginal heritage, to diverse 19th century occupation of the region by Chinese, European, Malay, and Aboriginal peoples in association with pearling industries off the coast. In addition to this, the point is located on Dirk Hartog Island (otherwise known as Wirruwana), the site of the earliest European arrival in Western Australia in 1616, and contains archaeological evidence of both various early Dutch interactions with the island in 1616 and 1697, as well as French arrival in 1772, 1801, and 1818. Notch Point in particular also contains evidence of conflict between the predominantly Chinese population of the pearling industry, with white-Australian and European pearling masters, and pastoral agents. Its not a site that is widely discussed, but provides a fascinating overlay of the amount of varied cultural groups that can be present within Australia’s archaeological sites.

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Honourable mentions to:

Lake Mungo and the Willandra Lakes which should 100% be on this list, but also I feel like I talk about it ALL the time and I wanted to mention sites that I actually don’t see discussed a lot. Theyre super important for cultural reasons, for archaeological reasons, and also for their role the development of archaeology, Aboriginal community consultation, and the role its played in developing repatriation practices in modern Australia. I have multiple posts about them HERE

Budj Bin Eel Traps in Victoria (same reasons, I’ve definitely talked about them before).

Juukan Gorge (and its destruction, im still horrified)

Harrietville Chinese Mining Village

Strangway Strings and The Peake Afghan Cameleer sites

Recherche Bay in Tasmania, and its 1792 French settlement sites

Homebush Mill & Mission Hall in QLD and Beowa National Park sites containing South Sea Islander heritage

[auressea]

cohttps://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/14/australia-voice-parliament-indigenous-referendum/?wpisrc=nl_most

[industrybuzz]

The Voice, The Vote

The Voice Referendum in Australia will come to a vote on October, creating an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Approximately 3.8% of Australians today are indigenous, a group which lumps together both the native Aboriginal people of the mainland, and the Torres Strait Islanders, who come from islands off the northeast coast. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, their numbers are…

[micewithknives]

I'm literally SO excited about this class, I had so much fun helping discuss potential class topics to include!! Reid's honestly done such a good job with the class content so far!

I'm procrastinating actual life tasks, so I will ABSOLUTELY take an excuse to talk.

Lemme get distracted with Australian archaeology for a bit and give you 3 things about Australian archaeology I very excitedly discussed with Reid over the course of class prep (I wont subject you to more than that)

Not archaeology, but Indigenous context and diversity

One of my all-time over-talked topics (not that its ever going to stop me) is the importance of recognising the diversity of Indigenous peoples in Australia, both in terms of the vast array of different Aboriginal nations that exist and their diversity of culture, as well as the inclusion of Torres Strait Islander people, who i feel like always seem to get overlooked on an international scale. (I grew up in the state that the Torres Strait is in as a child, and so went to a school with a number of students from there, and remember being delighted to be taught children's songs when very small). Their all too common lack of recognition when it comes to Australia's Indigenous people devastates me who grew up in a context with both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in equal amounts. Both from the standpoint of being peoples and cultures worthy of respect and recognition, and also for the super important role that the Torres Strait Islands played in Australia's Indigenous land rights legal cases.

2. Tasmanian Aboriginal peoples and archaeology

On with the topic of re-correcting misconceptions, the importance of the recognition of Tasmania's long and enduring Indigenous peoples. Tasmania has a very dark and genocidal colonial history, from which came the rather horrifying claim that Tasmania's Aboriginal peoples had been "made extinct" alongside other native animals. This is an all too common myth, which thus removes a lot of the agency of Aboriginal communities in Tasmania. This statement lumping attempted genocide along with animal extinction is horrifying enough.

But to make matters worse this so called "fact" has continued in public conception of Tasmania and it's Aboriginal peoples for the past 200 years, and is only recently being "corrected" from both public conception, as well as actual legal documents. Reid's included a good public-facing article about the recent removal of this statement from within world heritage list documentation. I highly encourage anyone to go have a look into Tasmania's current Aboriginal culture and past history. It is a place of both amazing culture, diversity and examples of human environmental mitigation, as well as the attempted genocide of (in addition to further very very dark actions) against Aboriginal peoples. I'm super encouraging of everyone getting a better understanding of peoples and histories that have been commonly disinformation-alised.

3. Oral histories in Australia

I will literally never not be excited about oral histories and Songlines in Australia. I 100% recommend people looking into this topic, as well as anthropology research into the history of Songlines (particularly the large ones like the Seven Sisters Songline). I think it does a lot to show the depth of environmental understanding that Aboriginal people had, which is missed a lot in archaeological discussions. While its incredibly infuriating that it is a perspective that needs to be countered, i think the complexity and accurate passing down of oral histories and songlines does a lot to counter the perceptions of Australia’s Indigenous peoples as “primitive”. The further research that has recently gone into various oral histories relating to geographic events such as these does an amazing job at corroborating the thousands of years of Indigenous voices, who are finally being believed and recognised by modern scientific research (x) (x) (x) (x).

Also the necessary inclusion of one of my favourite TED talks relating to the topic

The end. Thats all. I dont want to make people read the pages and pages of discussion topics that i foisted upon Reid so I'll leave it at these! But everyone is always free to ask me about all sorts of archaeology and Australian archaeology (Indigenous or otherwise).

~ Mice

Is there an archaeology thing you wish someone would ask you about because you wanna talk about it and if so would you be willing to talk about it? Here is a picture of my cat in trade but you can look at the picture even if you don’t talk about something

You know what, there IS, and it's all courtesy of @micewithknives!

I'm in charge of teaching my very own class this semester, which means I have full control over the course and I can do pretty much whatever I want. I was given a hand-me-down syllabus and overall I'm not changing much because this is my first time doing something like this and I don't want to get too into the weeds.

But the course is Ancient Civilizations, and we're getting at AUSTRALIA WEEK, babeyyy!!!

I've taken a version of this class and seen examples for a couple more, and I don't think I've ever encountered Australia in a context like this. Ancient Civ classes tend to focus on urban centers and monumental architecture, which is (partially) the result of Western bias for what counts as a "civilization" and means that a lot of cultures get left out.

With Mice's help, I've been learning about early Australian archaeology, and there is SO MUCH TO LEARN! Way too much to fit into a single week, but classes like this are really only capable of giving a very general overview. Anyway, here are some of the readings I'm having my students do:

Mice, I'll turn the stage over to you if you have anything you want to add.

-Reid

[ed-recoverry]

Shoutout to all Oceanic LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Austronesian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Polynesian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Micronesian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Melanesian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Kwaio LGBTQ+ people.

Shoutout to all Papuan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Australian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Kanak LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Norfolk Islander LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Māori LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all New Zealander LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Aboriginal Australian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Caledonian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Pitcairn Islander LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all South Sea Islander LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Rapa Nui LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Nauruan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all New Caledonian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Native Hawaiian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Chuukese LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Solomon Islander LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all West Papuan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Fijian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Tahitian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Samoans LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Guamanian LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Chamorro LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Torres Strait Islander LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Ambonese LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Tongan LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Marquesas Islander LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Yapese LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Kiribati LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Niuean LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Northern Mariana Islander LGBTQ+ folks.

Shoutout to all Mashellese LGBTQ+ folks.

Take pride in it all. Your culture, your identity, it’s all so beautiful. Celebrate where you are from and who you are. It makes you you, and that is something to be proud of.

post for Middle Easterners, post for Asians, post for Pacific Islanders , post for Hispanics, post for Africans , post for Native Americans, post for Caribbeans