Kath Walker's Aboriginal Character of Rights The manner in which Walkerexpresses her views in the poem is reflective of her background, experience and knowledge. Given that Walk was removed from her family at a young age and made to assimilate with white society, she is able to present an unbiased view of the issue at hand, that is, the needs of the "native old Australians" to no longer be "rank(ed) as aliens" in what was once their own land. Walkermakes a social commentary that dwells upon various social issues concerning specifically the rights and needs of the Aboriginal community. She voices a general concern regarding equality on behalf of her people. Emerging from the principle theme of equality are the basic and life-altering needs that the Aborigines call for. The most basic needs are also courteous deeds. Aborigines are longing for "help" in times of assistance, to be "welcome(d)" and to have a "choice" in life. A need for an end to stereotyping and racial prejudice is expressed in the use of wording chosen by Walker. She articulates her anger towards defamation directed at the Aboriginal community. Walker feels the strong need for white society to stop "libelling" and defaming Aborigines as "fringe-dweller" that reside within "missions" "Aboriginal Character of Rights" encompasses Walkers innermost hopes, thoughts and emotions - all of which reflect upon the unjustly treatment of the Indigenous people throughout history. Walker presents a social commentary through poetry that comprehensively reviews the common rights of all Aboriginal people. She openly comments on her people's status within society and relentles... ... middle of paper ... ...t the audience may interpret the issues at hand without any limitations. This similar sense of desperate longing for more is also evident in line 24 "Give us choice, not coercion" To give is to provide, as provide is to give. In directing the appeal towards the reader, it is assumed that the whites have the ability to 'give' the Aboriginals a realism of freedom. To liberate their oppressed race by freeing them from the restrictions they feel within their lives. They have the desire to be more and in order to be ambitious and live more; they need to have their burden lifted. In closing, Walkeris successful in conveying her message of hope for equality. In using various written language devices, Walkeris able to effectively make a social commentary on the rights of Aboriginals through the literary form of poetry.
Good morning Mrs Dover and 8D. I have chosen to analyse the film clip “black fella, white fella” by the Warumpi band, and have determined that the song and associated images is partially successful in communicating aboriginal values, such as culture, land and family. The lyrics include the language features repetition, alliteration and rhetorical questions to deliver a message of reconciliation and equality. These features are also supported by visual imagery that is intended to support the ideas within the song.
In the poem “The White Judges” by Marilyn Dumont, the speaker is aware of how her and her Indigenous family are constantly being judged by white society. The poem juxtaposes the family with the encircling colonialists who wait to demean and assimilate the group. The family internalizes a sense of shame and guilt while being surrounded by the primarily white population. Consequently, the family faces the pressures of being judged for their cultural practices. Dumont’s use of prose and lyrical voice distinctly highlights the theme of being judged by white society. Her integration of figurative language enhances the Indigenous tradition and cultural practices throughout the poem. As well as her use of anaphora and musicality which amplifies the
The 1961 US Freedom Rides were an immense driving force within the African American community seeing as the participants— mere students who were part of an activist group called the Congress of Racial Equality (CoRE)— refused to give up on protesting for what they believed in even when being violently attacked by those who strongly opposed them. It is obvious that their perspiration and determination to achieve their goals would inspire many and, due to the ever increasing inequality and dehumanising behaviours directed towards Australian Aborigines during the same time period, inspiration was exactly what was needed to begin protests and activisms much like those conducted within America. Throughout the time period that followed the US Freedom rides, Australian Aborigines partook in their own activisms which included a Freedom ride that is believed to have been inspired by those that took place within America.
The poem “We’re not trucking around” by Samuel Wagan Watson presents an Aboriginal perspective on Australian National identity, showing the audience that Australians still mistreat Indigenous people, expressing his perspective through the ideas that white men still mistreat Aboriginals and the marginalization of Aboriginal culture. Watson reinforces his idea through poetic and language
Throughout the unit of reading to write, as a class we have studied multiple quality texts. These ranging from essays like George Orwell's and short stories like ‘There will come soft rains’. One text I have chosen to deepen my knowledge in is Stan Grant’s speech about the ‘Australian Dream’. I feel it is a well written and spoken speech with a deep and powerful meaning behind. Throughout the speech he uses various language techniques like rhetorical questions and repetition to convey his ideas about the ‘Australian Dream’. Stan Grant sets a serious tone to get across his particular issue about actions towards Indigenous Australians from everyday Australians.
The lines, “As I said, it might help if we … we can imagine it’s opposite” use perspective to put the non-indigenous Australians into the shoes of indigenous Australians, to help them explore and understand the possibilities of not belonging.
Although the author’s words are simple, they create a mood into the illustrations that truly emphasise the emotion of the indigenous point of view. Viewers can than feel more of what they can see, an example of this is when the authors used different sized text in “stole our children.” This text with the illustration can truly create an effect on the way it is read and viewed by, making viewers feel empathy as the size of each words shrinks defining the children’s positon as they get further away from their parent. This attains the Europeans guilt on the choices they had made as the story is seen in the indigenous point of view on how they suffered due to the past horrendous choices made by the Europeans at that
The idea that indigenous Australian communities are underprivileged and do not receive the same justice that the white community accrues is represented through Jay Swan and his interactions with the corrupt white police officers and the indigenous locals of the town. My empathetic response to the text as a whole was influenced directly by way the text constructs these ideas as well as my knowledge of the way indigenous Australians are represented in the mainstream media and the behaviour of the police force as an institution. These contextual factors and the way Sen has constructed ideas influenced me to empathise with the indigenous
In this poem, there is a young woman and her loving mother discussing their heritage through their matrilineal side. The poem itself begins with what she will inherit from each family member starting with her mother. After discussing what she will inherit from each of her family members, the final lines of the poem reflect back to her mother in which she gave her advice on constantly moving and never having a home to call hers. For example, the woman describes how her father will give her “his brown eyes” (Line 7) and how her mother advised her to eat raw deer (Line 40). Perhaps the reader is suggesting that she is the only survivor of a tragedy and it is her heritage that keeps her going to keep safe. In the first two lines of the poem, she explains how the young woman will be taking the lines of her mother’s (Lines 1-2). This demonstrates further that she is physically worried about her features and emotionally worried about taking on the lineage of her heritage. Later, she remembered the years of when her mother baked the most wonderful food and did not want to forget the “smell of baking bread [that warmed] fined hairs in my nostrils” (Lines 3-4). Perhaps the young woman implies that she is restrained through her heritage to effectively move forward and become who she would like to be. When reading this poem, Native American heritage is an apparent theme through the lifestyle examples, the fact lineage is passed through woman, and problems Native Americans had faced while trying to be conquested by Americans. Overall, this poem portrays a confined, young woman trying to overcome her current obstacles in life by accepting her heritage and pursuing through her
Though the stereotyping and alienation is strong in Dougy and Gracey’s community they manage to break away from it. The whites feel that the Aborigines get everything free from the government and never do any work of their own, and according to the book, most of them do just this.
The struggles that many face while experiencing poverty are not like any other. When a person is experiencing poverty, they deal with unbearable hardships as well as numerous tragic events. Diane Gilliam Fisher’s collection of poems teaches readers about labor battles within West Virginian territories, at the beginning of the twentieth century. Some of these battles include the Battle of Matewan and Battle of Blair Mountain. The collection of poems is presented in many different manners, ranging from diary entries to letters to journal entries. These various structures of writing introduce the reader to contrasting images and concepts in an artistic fashion. The reader is able to witness firsthand the hardships and the light and dark times of impoverished people’s lives. He or she also learns about the effects of birth and death on poverty stricken communities. In the collection of poems in Kettle Bottom, Fisher uses imagery and concepts to convey contrast between the positive and negative aspects of the lives of people living in poverty.
Systems: The canadian Future in light of the American Past.” Ontario native Council on Justice. Toronto, Ontario.
Despite the decreasing inequalities between men and women in both private and public spheres, aboriginal women continue to be oppressed and discriminated against in both. Aboriginal people in Canada are the indigenous group of people that were residing in Canada prior to the European colonization. The term First Nations, Indian and indigenous are used interchangeably when referring to aboriginal people. Prior to the colonization, aboriginal communities used to be matrilineal and the power between men and women were equally balanced. When the European came in contact with the aboriginal, there came a shift in gender role and power control leading towards discrimination against the women. As a consequence of the colonization, the aboriginal women are a dominant group that are constantly subordinated and ignored by the government system of Canada. Thus today, aboriginal women experiences double jeopardy as they belong to more than one disadvantaged group i.e. being women and belonging to aboriginal group. In contemporary world, there are not much of a difference between Aboriginal people and the other minority groups as they face the similar challenges such as gender discrimination, victimization, and experiences injustice towards them. Although aboriginal people are not considered as visible minorities, this population continues to struggle for their existence like any other visible minorities group. Although both aboriginal men and women are being discriminated in our society, the women tends to experience more discrimination in public and private sphere and are constantly the targeted for violence, abuse and are victimized. In addition, many of the problems and violence faced by aborigin...
Eddie Mabo was an Aboriginal rights activist who fought for rights of indigenous peoples to land (Land Rights) and for the government to recognise Aboriginals spiritual ties to pieces of land (Native title) . for aboriginal people throughout the 1980’s and early 1990’s. He campaigned for the right for aboriginal groups to own certain pieces of land of water due to the spiritual connection they have to that land or water. Mabo was born and lived on the Murray Island and wanted for his Native title and Land Rights to be recognised by the government. Mabo fought against High Court of Australia in 1988. However he did not see the outcome of the case, due to his death in 1992 by cancer.
Unlike the earlier era, in which they had received freedom but it was so new to them, and they truly didn’t understand what it meant to be a free group, they began to move into a time period where they were finding their voice, and “finding their freedom”. Instead of writing about becoming free, and wanting freedom, they begin to act free. They begin to prove they were free by giving off confident in their culture and in their work. In her writing she has many different subsections where she rebuttals the ideas pushed onto the African American race. She proves the stereotypes wrong using the truth. The first example is, under the section titled “originality” she wrote, “it has been said so often that the negro is lacking in originality that has almost become a gospel. Outward signs seem to bear this out. But if one looks closely its falsity is immediately evident.” and , “So if we look at it squarely, the Negro is a very original being. While he lives and moves in the midst of a white civilian, everything that he touches is re-interpreted for his own use. He has modified the language, mode of food preparation, practice of medicine, and most certainly the religion of his new country, just as he adapted to suit himself the sheik haircut made famous by Rudolph Valentino.” this passage shows how much she believes in her race. She isn’t asking for anything from anyone. She doesn’t beg for respect, acceptance, or freedom, she is telling them to treat them like they are free. This passage really exemplifies the theme of accepting themselves and their culture during this time period. The African Americans were able to begin to stand up for themselves and up against the falsely acclaimed stereotypes that have been made against them. During this time period they were recreating the culture that had been taken away from them. They were finding their voice through