#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

[elinekeit-artstuff]

Here are some resources for the 26th of January. In such difficult times, solidarity is more important than ever. Take care of yourself and take care of each other.

Support services for those in Australia:

Lifeline 13 11 14

Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800

QLife 1800 184 527 (for Queer Australians)

Support services specific for First Nations people:

13YARN 13 92 76

Yarning Safe ’N’ Strong 1800 959 563

Brother to Brother 1800 435 799 (for Indigenous men)

[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

[birdiebats]

If you are pro-Palestine and yet somehow still calling Invasion day “Australia Day”, then you aren’t actually pro-Palestine

Being against settler-colonialism and genocide isn’t ’pick-and-choose’

As OP says, no one is free until everyone is free and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to be marginalised and impacted by colonisation

Fuck ‘Australia Day’.

[ID: A digital painting in pastel colors showing a colorful crowd of different animals holding a Palestinian and Indiginous Australian flags, with text above them that reads, "From the river to the Sea, always was, always will be", with white doves flying next to the flags. A small artist's signature at the bottom reads, "jesterpunk". End ID.]

🕊️ every year in my lifetime, I've seen an ugly blue british flag printed on single use cups and ugly tshirts on January 26th, celebrating stolen land, stolen language and stolen children. this year in particular, I feel the need to make my politics clear through art, as the horrors of colonialism and genocide are mirrored internationally in Palestine. I want to be clear, you do not get to enjoy my art without knowing clearly what my politics are, and you do not get to ignore my politics as an inherent part of my art. no one is free until everyone is free 🖤💛❤️🇵🇸

[Emoji description: A white dove with a green sprig. A black heart, a yellow heart, a red heart, and the Palestinian flag. End emoji description.]

[microwaveango]

day's nearly over i just wanted to say fuck january 26th. change the date. always was, always will be Aboriginal land.

[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

[akajustmerry]

A reminder to anyone reading this that so-called Australia is stolen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lands, that we never ceded sovereignty to our colonizers. So called Australia is the only "Commonwealth" country that has never had a treaty with First Nations peoples. Only two years ago the government held a referendum to determine whether we, the sovereign peoples of this land, should have an advisory body in government and the nation voted no. So called Australia is the only nation that celebrates on January 26, the anniversary of the beginning of the attempted colonisation and genocide of its First Nations peoples. If you are not Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and you're living in so called Australia, you benefit directly from our colonisation and it's your duty to stand with us. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the most incarcerated people by percentage on Earth. We are also the oldest living, continuous culture known to humankind. For 100s of 1000s of years our Mob stood beautiful, Blak and deadly and we will continue to do so because this always was and always will be our lands. We are still here.

[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

[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

[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

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•

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

•

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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

•

[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!