Bi-lingual education as litmus test for Indigenous rightsThe 16 June 1976 Soweto Student Uprising and subsequent police massacre of hundreds of children could be regarded as the day apartheid was defeated in South Africa. Images of dead children committed South Africans to again die for equality, and woke the world from its willful ignorance.
In July 2008, at Yirrkala in the Northern Territory, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his entourage were camped under a marquee on a section of the town park. In the same park were tribal political leaders from across East Arnhem Land, the home of the Yolngu people. Everyone had hoped for sunshine but it was drizzling with rain. At a certain point the tribal leaders walked the distance between the two groups and handed the…
On 19 December 2015, the article 'Ochre to Acrylic: Galarrwuy's Legacy Lives On', by Amos Aikman, appeared on the front page of The Weekend Australian. The article outlined news that a 'Ngarra ceremony' had been held at the town of Gunyangara in the Northern Territory in honour of Galarrwuy Yunupingu. The piece informed readers that Galarrwuy is the leader of the Gumatj b purru - or what I term 'tribe' - and directed them to…
