No More Boomerang Poem Analysis

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How the indigenous experience has been affected by white Australia

Indigenous Australian poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal was a well respected author whom reflected the experience of the Indigenous Australian community through her work as a poet, activist and politician. Noonuccal’s use of many literary devices allows her to effectively judge the affects white Australia's cultural change has had on the wellbeing of Indigenous australians.

Through the poem ‘No More Boomerang’, Noonuccal reflects the capitalist lifestyle of modern Australia and it’s obvious conflicting interests with Indigenous Australians. Alliteration is used to provide emphasis towards the vast differences between Indigenous and non-Indigenous culture and how cultural destruction caused by forced capitalistic lifestyle changes of the Indigenous Australians has affected their wellbeing.

“No more sharing/ What the hunter brings/ Now we work for money/ Then pay it back for things” is a quote from the third stanza which incorporates both cultural loss and modern Australia's capitalistic money hungry ideals. The phrase “we work” from the above quote shows a true sense of westernisation that along with it’s profound capitalistic ideals has affected the wellbeing and happiness of all Indigenous Australians. The forcefulness of this phrase is used to convey a sense

“The factory belches smoke” personifies the factory as a polluting machine of white corporate “social organisation” which with its capitalistic ideals has differing views to those of indigenous australians. This further links idea of native land title through her reflective statements “No more woomera, no more boomerang/ No more playabout, no more the old ways”. These display the sadness seen at both the loss of land and of