Discovery can be a sudden or unexpected experience, that is faced with a positive or negative attitude and often involves an outcome that is either physical, emotional or both. Individuals can deliberately transform themselves as they may have been exposed to an impactful discovery. The poetry studied, written by Australian poet, Robert Gray, explores a concept of discovery through the character’s individual selves among the worlds in which they are surrounded by. The anthology of the poems, Journey the North Coast, The Meatworks and North Coast Town all provoke an idea of discovery through a form of transformation of a persona. Journey the North Coast illustrates the journey of a man who sets on-board a train along NSW’s North Coast to relive…
It was inevitable that the sound of laughter from children his own age, the buoyant jokes they 'd utter and the encouraging words they’d say to one another would cause numerous questions to run through his mind, "How does it feel to be like them? To not be ashamed of who they are and where they’d come from? " It’d leave him wondering how it would feel to be accepted. It’s tough to imagine children experiencing something as horrid as discrimination, it’s even harder to believe they’re also the ones causing it. How they see the universe and everybody in it is influenced by those around them.…
Australian born poets Komninos Zervos and Luka Lesson are no strangers to being…
‘ The poet takes attention the 1967 referendum. This referendum is a kind of revolution for Aboriginals. The poem emphasizes this importance as life liberty for Aboriginals with’My longevity was guaranteed ,and referendum gives ‘the freedom to practice the voodoo of semantics. ‘ The poet represents multiculturalism as an airline.…
The exclusion of Indigenous people from the nations constitution took place in the early nineteenth century. Henry Parkes the premier of the colony of New South Wales called for all six Australian colonies to unite and create a great national government for ALL of Australia. Parkes initiated a constitution based on common racial and British custom on which this nation was supposedly founded. Throughout her speech “Indigenous Exceptionalism and the Constitutional ‘Race Power’ Marcia Langton argues that any idea of race and the ability of the parliament to use race in law making should be removed from the Australian constitution. The detailed history of legislation applied to Indigenous peoples demonstrates this is many ways; Indigenous people…
From the onset of the invasion of Australia in 1788, supported by the claim that Australia was uninhabited land, ‘Terra Nullius’, a ripple effect of disadvantage began which resulted in intergenerational discrepancies in the educational outcomes of Indigenous Australians. However, the unequal outcomes of Indigenous Australians were, and often still are, attributed to the belief of Indigenous Australians’ inherent inequality to Whites. This is despite the fact that the systems established in post-invasion Australia perpetuated this very inequality through structural and institutionalised racism. The views of race and racial hierarchy which sanctioned these systems continue to linger on and pervade areas of society today, albeit often in a more…
Simpson personifies the canoes in her poem in order to elevate it and bring a deeper, metaphorical meaning to her commentary on repatriation. The canoe in “how to steal a canoe” is a symbol of Indigenous identity which allows Simpson to explore the ideas of regeneration and reestablishment. As the tone of the poem shifts from one of mourning and sadness, to one of joy and life Simpson stresses the importance of activism as a way to free Indigenous identity from the jails of colonialism, and the repatriation of a canoe becomes a sort of a guide for doing…
“Nona and me” (2014), a debut young adult novel by Clair Atkins, purposefully depicts a coming of age story of a fifteen-year-old narrator named Rosie and her inner conflicts in regards to where her loyalties stand. The prime script of this novel centres around the once inseparable friendship that existed between Rosie a non-Indigenous teenager and her childhood friendship with an Aboriginal girl named Nona, which becomes strained due to the political and cultural issues within this Northern Territory community. This novel is a powerful exploration of the dilemmas faced by adolescence in their inner desires to belong, epitomised by Rosie’s battle whether she will lean towards her childhood best friend and figurative sister, or abandoning her…
Words such as “long” and “why” are repeated to emphasize the land’s questions at the treatment of her children, and also enables the reader to also question the prejudicial treatment of The Australian Indigenous People. As the poem is free verse, it allows the reader to dig deeper into the meaning behind the structure of the poem, because it raises the issue about the harsh treatment and the loss of Australia’s Indigenous ethnicity. It seems even though it was written in 1970, it still occurs today, as some people today judge others and place stereotypes on them because of their ethnicity. Metonymy is used in the poem to associate the word, “Firstborn” with Aboriginals, as they were the first settlers in Australia. The poem begins with a question, “Where are my firstborn?”…
I respectfully acknowledge the Elders and custodians of the Yuin nation, past and present, their descendants and kin of the land where I am living, studying and working. This is a warning that this journal may contain images, voices and names of deceased Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Island people. Whilst attending school with two Aboriginal students in my class, I was never exposed to people stereotyping Aboriginal people.…
It is definitely important to remember Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ histories because it helps us understand the hardships they faced as a culture and it can further help us recognise how we can close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people share four main world views; culture, land, place and country and relationships. The world view, relationships, is conveyed many times in each of the literary texts by relating back to certain events that Aboriginal elders faced. Three texts that clearly represent the world view relationships are,; Change the Game, by the Colli Crew; Treaty, by Yothu Yindi and Took the Children Away, by Archie Roach. The Colli Crew’s song, Change the Game, is about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people- mostly describing the people of the past; in the text, it states that they are singing from north Queensland near the border.…
The article centres around Stan Grant’s debate during the IQ2 debate series held by the Ethics Centre in Sydney. The Indigenous journalist delivered an impactful and bold viral speech about the topic, "Racism is destroying the Australian Dream” sending ripples across the globe. One of the main points highlighted in the article is that the widespread racism in Australia is shattering the Australian dream. This is supported by the incident in which Adam Goodes, a prominent Indigenous Australian rules footballer was booed on the pitch and told that “he wasn’t Australian”. At that moment, Stan Grant claims to have heard the howl of the Australian Dream, telling the Indigenous people that they were not welcome in Australia, a land they called home.…
The poem I have chosen today to recite is call 'No More Boomerang' by Oodgeroo Noonuccal, better known as deceased aboriginal activist, Kath Walker. Oodgeroo Noonuccal wasn't just an activist she was also an artist, educator and a campaigner for Aboriginal rights. The poem “No More Boomerang” describes the lifestyle changes that the aboriginal people experienced during the settlement of Australia. The poem is about the fact the indigenous people have had to change their lifestyle because of white man arriving in Australia.…
The Stolen Generation Elouise Campbell 8C The poem, The Stolen Generation, is a message about the loss of Aboriginal culture and the transformation into ‘white society’. The poet, David Keig, conveys the message that people get taken from their parents as merely babies, growing up in church schools, and turning those kids into ‘civilised’ people. The structure of this poem is a short lined, 8 verse poem developing the ideas of changing culture and religion. By using shorter lines, and stronger words, the poet has put emphasis on the harsh emotional disturbance those children and adults had to endure.…
Imagine there was an invasion today. The people bring diseases and unknown creatures and foods. They discard your beliefs, belongings and way of life. They take you away to be brought up like them and treat you unfairly, or even worse getting murdered. Imagine this happening to you, all because of the colour of your skin.…