Newsletter date: 8 July 2013
Contents:
* 'concerned Australians': NAIDOC Week: Still Supporting Yolngu in Their Fight for Rights
* ABC Darwin Video: The seed for land rights: Yirrkala Bark Petitions [Featuring Wali Wunungmurra, a signatory of the petitions]
* SBS Radionews Audio: Celebrating 50 years since the Yirrkala Bark Petitions [Featuring NAIDOC Committee chairperson Anne Martin]
* Bob Gosford, Crikey: The Yirrkala Bark Petitions. How an old typewriter helped change the course of Australian history
* National NAIDOC Week 2013 theme: We value the vision: Yirrkala Bark Petitions 1963
* NIRS: NAIDOC honours Yirrkala Bark Petitions
* SeniorAu: NAIDOC - Honouring Yirrkala Aboriginal rights pioneers
* Greens welcome NAIDOC Week celebrations
* Yirrkala bark petitions 1963
* ABC News: Major parties cool on 'locking in' land rights
* Background to support for the Yolngu statement and opposition to the 'Stronger Futures' laws
* 'CONCERNED AUSTRALIANS': NAIDOC WEEK: STILL SUPPORTING YOLNGU IN THEIR FIGHT FOR RIGHTS
- Media Release
'concerned Australians': NAIDOC Week: Still Supporting Yolngu in Their Fight for Rights
Resect and Listen: http://www.respectandlisten.org/uploads/downloads/ca/cA-NAIDOC-MR-7-7-13...
Indymedia: http://indymedia.org.au/2013/07/07/still-supporting-yolngu-in-their-figh...
7 Jul 13: "‘concerned Australians’ welcomes NAIDOC Week and the celebration of the history, culture and achievements of the Aboriginal and Torres Island communities.
The theme this year focuses on the 50th anniversary of the presentation of the Yirrkala Bark Petition to the Federal Parliament by the Yolngu people of North Eastern Arnhem Land and signed by thirteen clan leaders in 1963.
This traditional petition was a catalyst to legislative and constitutional reform that led to the granting of important rights to Aboriginal Peoples of Australia. Sadly much work is still waiting to be done. The unfortunate introduction of the Intervention into the Northern Territory in 2007 has cruelly interrupted the difficult progress towards self-determination, a right of all Aboriginal peoples. It has had the result of disempowering communities, undermining their rights and has caused great harm."
In April last year there were calls from numerous organisations from across the country in support of a statement from Yolngu Nations which amongst other things, called on
" both the Australian Federal Government and the Northern Territory Government to end their interventionist policies and agendas, and return to a mindset of partnership based on the principles of Self-Determination."... "
* ABC DARWIN VIDEO: THE SEED FOR LAND RIGHTS: YIRRKALA BARK PETITIONS [FEATURING WALI WUNUNGMURRA, A SIGNATORY OF THE PETITIONS]
- Video
ABC Darwin: The seed for land rights: Yirrkala Bark Petitions
By Clare Rawlinson, Jim Trail
http://www.abc.net.au/local/videos/2013/07/05/3797036.htm?site=darwin
8 Jul 13: "When Aboriginal artists and elders in a small Arnhem Land community put paint to bark 50 years ago in a petition for their rights, a major movement was sparked. The Yirrkala Bark Petitions marked the first formal petition from Aboriginal people to be received by Parliament. But unlike most formal parliamentary petitions, this one saw the merging of an ancient culture with the western world. One of the few signatories of the petitions still alive today, Wali Wunungmurra, remembers the tension between Yolngu people and the Balanda (white people) in the early 1960s, when bauxite exploration began on their land. ... "
* SBS RADIONEWS AUDIO: CELEBRATING 50 YEARS SINCE THE YIRRKALA BARK PETITIONS [FEATURING NAIDOC COMMITTEE CHAIRPERSON ANNE MARTIN]
- Audio
SBS Radionews: Celebrating 50 years since the Yirrkala Bark Petitions
By Thea Cowie
http://www.sbs.com.au/podcasts/Podcasts/radionews/episode/275570/Celebra...
4 Jul 13: " NAIDOC week this year will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Yirrkala Bark Petitions being presented to the federal parliament in Canberra. The first traditional documents to be recognised by federal government came from Arnhem Land in the Northern territory and were signed by over a dozen clan leaders of the Yolngu region. Thea Cowie spoke to National NAIDOC Committee chairperson Anne Martin about the purpose and significance of the 1963 petitions."
* BOB GOSFORD, CRIKEY: THE YIRRKALA BARK PETITIONS. HOW AN OLD TYPEWRITER HELPED CHANGE THE COURSE OF AUSTRALIAN HISTORY
- Analysis / Opinion
The Northern Myth: Bob Gosford in the NT, Crikey: The Yirrkala Bark Petitions. How an old typewriter helped change the course of Australian history
http://blogs.crikey.com.au/northern/2013/07/07/the-yirrkala-bark-petitio...
7 Jul 13: "In this NAIDOC Week when the focus is on the impact of the 1963 Yirrkala Bark Petitions to the Australian Parliament, it is timely to reflect how an old typewriter helped change the course of Australian history. The Yolngu Matha text of the 1963 Yirrkala bark petitions - the 50th anniversary of which will be the focus of the 2013 NAIDOC week, reads: ... In a small display case in a dimly lit room in Australia's Parliament House in Canberra - cheek by jowl with a facsimile of the Magna Carta and Australia’s Constitution - sit three panels of richly painted stringy-bark." By Bob Gosford
* NATIONAL NAIDOC WEEK 2013 THEME: WE VALUE THE VISION: YIRRKALA BARK PETITIONS 1963
- Background
NAIDOC: 2013 National NAIDOC Week Theme
http://www.naidoc.org.au/celebrating-naidoc-week/2013-national-naidoc-we...
"The theme for NAIDOC Week 2013 is We value the vision: Yirrkala Bark Petitions 1963. This year’s theme proudly celebrates the 50th anniversary of the presentation of the Yirrkala Bark Petitions to the Federal Parliament. In August 1963, the Yolngu people of Yirrkala in northeast Arnhem Land sent two bark petitions – framed by traditional ochre paintings of clan designs – to the Australian House of Representatives. ... Asserting title to Yolngu country under Yolngu law, the petitions were the first traditional documents recognised by the Commonwealth Parliament and helped to shape the nation’s acknowledgment of Aboriginal people and their land rights."
- Current Event
Event: 7 to 14 July 2013: various locations in Australia
2013 National NAIDOC Week
The theme for NAIDOC Week 2013 is:
We value the vision: Yirrkala Bark Petitions 1963
"We value the foresight, strength and determination of the
Yolngu people whose Bark Petitions set into motion a
long process of legislative and constitutional reforms
for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people."
The focus city for National NAIDOC celebrations is Perth
Event details: http://www.naidoc.org.au/
Event details: http://www.naidoc.org.au/celebrating-naidoc-week/2013-national-naidoc-we...
Event details: Local NAIDOC Events Calendar: http://www.naidoc.org.au/naidoc-events/calendar/
'concerned Australians' NAIDOC Week Media Release: http://www.respectandlisten.org/uploads/downloads/ca/cA-NAIDOC-MR-7-7-13...
- Upcoming Event
Event: 14 August 2013:
Yolngu Bark Petition 50th Anniversary
Event details: http://foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-104.html
- NAIDOC Events
WGAR events postings for each State and Territory:
http://indymedia.org.au/2013/01/03/about-wgar-news-wgar-events-postings
* NIRS: NAIDOC HONOURS YIRRKALA BARK PETITIONS
- Audio
National Indigenous Radio Service: NAIDOC honours Yirrkala Bark Petitions
http://www.nirs.org.au/blog/NEWS/article/29503/NAIDOC-honours-Yirrkala-B...
5 Jul 13: "This year, the theme will honour the vision of the 1963 Yirrkala Bark Petitions, which are still kept in Canberra’s Parliament House. Anne Martin, Co-Chair of the National NAIDOC Committee, discusses the choosing this year’s theme."
National Indigenous Radio Service: National NAIDOC Awards
http://www.nirs.org.au/blog/NEWS/article/29477/National-NAIDOC-Awards.html
4 Jul 13: "Anne Martin is the Co-Chair of the national NAIDOC committee. She talks here about the selection process for the popular awards."
* SENIOR AU: NAIDOC - HONOURING YIRRKALA ABORIGINAL RIGHTS PIONEERS
- Analysis / Opinion
SeniorAu: NAIDOC - Honouring Yirrkala Aboriginal rights pioneers
http://www.seniorau.com.au/index.php/more-seniorau-news/3916-naidoc-hono...
7 Jul 13: "On the start of NAIDOC Week 2013 Reconciliation Australia today paid respect to the creators of the Yirrkala bark petition as pioneers in the struggle to have Aboriginal rights recognised by the Australian Parliament and broader community. Co-Chair Dr Tom Calma AO said that fifty years ago the Yolngu Elders of North Eastern Arnhem Land created their famous bark petition and set in train the long process of social, legal and legislative change towards recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights which continues today."
* GREENS WELCOME NAIDOC WEEK CELEBRATIONS
- Media Release
Wide Bay Greens: Greens welcome NAIDOC Week celebrations
http://widebaygreens.org/2013/07/greens-welcome-naidoc-week-celebrations/
7 Jul 13: "The Australian Greens affirm that this year’s NAIDOC Week theme, 'We value the vision: Yirrkala Bark Petitions 1963', emphasises the importance of the ongoing campaign to build support for Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. "NAIDOC Week is a time to celebrate and recognise the culture, history and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples," Senator Rachel Siewert, Australian Greens spokesperson on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues said today. ... "
* YIRRKALA BARK PETITIONS 1963
Yirrkala bark petitions 1963 (Cth)
http://foundingdocs.gov.au/item-did-104.html
"Significance: ... The petitioners unsuccessfully sought the Commonwealth Parliament's recognition of rights to their traditional lands on the Gove Peninsula in Arnhem Land through this instrument proclaiming those rights in traditional form. Though these documents did not achieve the constitutional change sought, they were effective in making a way for the eventual recognition of Indigenous rights in Commonwealth law."
* ABC NEWS: MAJOR PARTIES COOL ON 'LOCKING IN' LAND RIGHTS
- News
ABC News: Major parties cool on 'locking in' land rights
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-08/cool-reaction-to-calls-for-land-ri...
8 Jul 13: "The Federal Government and Opposition have both reacted coolly to a call from the Northern Land Council to have the Aboriginal Land Rights Act enshrined in the Australian constitution. Land council chairman Wali Wunungmurra, speaking ahead of NAIDOC week's celebrations of the Yirrkala bark petitions, said last week he wanted the act included in the constitution. "(To) protect it from people watering it down, tearing it apart," Mr Wunungmurra said."
* BACKGROUND TO SUPPORT FOR THE YOLNGU STATEMENT AND OPPOSITION TO THE 'STRONGER FUTURES' LAWS:
Last updated: 13 January 2013
http://indymedia.org.au/2012/06/10/background-to-support-for-the-yolngu-...
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