WGAR News: The Contrarian: Truth is the casualty of History Wars: Gary Foley, Tracker

Newsletter date: 20 March 2014

Contents:

* Aboriginal Peak Organisations NT (APO NT): Aboriginal Governance and Management Program

* Colin Penter, The Stringer: Jeff McMullen: Neoliberalism, market fundamentalism and the colonization of Aboriginal policy

* Gary Foley, Tracker: The Contrarian: Truth is the casualty of History Wars
* Michael Westaway, The Conversation: Why our kids should learn Aboriginal history
* Paul Daley, The Guardian: Historian shines a light on the dark heart of Australia's nationhood

* Michael Westaway, The Conversation: Working with Elders and return of First Australians' remains
* Hilary Smale & Vanessa Mills, ABC Melbourne: Dark Emu argues against 'Hunter Gatherer' history of Indigenous Australians

* PS News Online: First roll call of nation's Indigenous service

* Background to the Aboriginal sovereignty movement

* ABORIGINAL PEAK ORGANISATIONS NT (APO NT): ABORIGINAL GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

- Analysis / Opinion

Aboriginal Peak Organisations NT (APO NT): Aboriginal Governance and Management Program
http://apont.org.au/index.php/about-governance-program.html
"Strong and effective Aboriginal organisations are essential to reduce Aboriginal disadvantage.
* They are vital to deliver accessible, responsive services in Aboriginal communities, particularly remote communities.
* They are an important source of employment and training for Aboriginal people.
* They promote community leadership and provide positive role models.
* They bind the social fabric of remote Aboriginal communities, both through the practical contribution they make in providing services and symbolically through the pride they instil. ... "

Welcome to APO NT
http://apont.org.au/
"Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory - APO NT - is an alliance comprising the
Central Land Council (CLC),
Northern Land Council (NLC),
North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA),
Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Aid Service (CAALAS) and the
Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance of the NT (AMSANT).
The alliance was created to provide a more effective response to key issues of joint interest and concern affecting Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory, including through advocating practical policy solutions to government. APO NT is committed to increasing Aboriginal involvement in policy development and implementation, and to expanding opportunities for Aboriginal community control."

* COLIN PENTER, THE STRINGER: JEFF MCMULLEN: NEOLIBERALISM, MARKET FUNDAMENTALISM AND THE COLONIZATION OF ABORIGINAL POLICY

- Analysis / Opinion

The Stringer: Jeff McMullen: Neoliberalism, market fundamentalism and the colonization of Aboriginal policy
http://thestringer.com.au/jeff-mcmullen-neoliberalism-market-fundamental...
14 Mar 14: "The Australian journalist, writer and social justice campaigner Jeff McMullen has written two cogent and articulate critiques of the colonization of Aboriginal policy making in this country by the cancer of neo-liberalism (or what others call market fundamentalism). One of Jeff McMullen’s articles The New Land Grab is available on line here (in The New Internationalist blog). The second piece is a book chapter titled Dispossession- Neoliberalism and the Struggle for Aboriginal Land and Rights in the 21st Century which appears in a new book In Black and White: Australians at the Cross Roads (edited by Rhonda Craven, Anthony Dillon & Nigel Parbury). ... " By Colin Penter

* GARY FOLEY, TRACKER: THE CONTRARIAN: TRUTH IS THE CASUALTY OF HISTORY WARS

- Analysis / Opinion

agendaTracker: The Contrarian: Truth is the casualty of History Wars
http://tracker.org.au/2014/03/the-contrarian-truth-is-the-casualty-of-hi...
6 Mar 14: "NATIONAL: Aboriginal people and the truth will most likely be the losers in the new incarnation of the History Wars, writes DR GARY FOLEY*. Federal education minister Christopher Pyne is a man of contradictions. On one hand he has sought to portray himself as a staunch supporter of Aboriginal people in their quest to have the head of Aboriginal warrior Pemulwuy repatriated to Australia from the United Kingdom. ... During the early days of the Abbott administration Mr Pyne, as Minister for Education, has shown himself to be one of the more accident-prone and controversial ministers in the new government." By Gary Foley

agendaTracker: Stories by Gary Foley
http://tracker.org.au/author/gary/
"Gary Foley has over the past 40 years been an activist, actor, academic, arts bureaucrat, museum curator and writer, and today describes himself as an ‘elderly anarchist agitator’, as well as being a historian and lecturer at Victoria University."

* MICHAEL WESTAWAY, THE CONVERSATION: WHY OUR KIDS SHOULD LEARN ABORIGINAL HISTORY

- Analysis / Opinion

The Conversation: Why our kids should learn Aboriginal history
http://theconversation.com/why-our-kids-should-learn-aboriginal-history-...
14 Mar 14: "The national history curriculum implemented across Australia from 2011 provides the opportunity for educators to comprehensively tackle for the first time 50,000 years of Australia’s history. The future of this innovative new approach to understanding Australian history is potentially threatened by moves from the new government to review the national curriculum. It is not yet clear how this review might reshape the history curriculum. The Federal Minister for Education has stated that the legacy of Western civilisation needs greater acknowledgement, but what does this mean for the Aboriginal past? ... " Michael Westaway

Michael Westaway: The Conversation
http://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-westaway-118240/profile_bio
"Senior Research Fellow at Griffith University. I am a biological anthropologist and archaeologist and have a strong interest in human evolution in Australia and South East Asia and zooarchaeology in Australia. ... I am very active in promoting the value of Australia's archaeological record for telling a deeper story of Australia's past. In 2001 I started National Archaeology Week which each year delivers events across the country promoting our rich archaeological heritage. I believe archaeology can play an important role in reconciliation as it holds great potential to help to deconstruct stereotypes about different cultures. ... "

* PAUL DALEY, THE GUARDIAN: HISTORIAN SHINES A LIGHT ON THE DARK HEART OF AUSTRALIA'S NATIONHOOD

- Analysis / Opinion

The Guardian: Historian shines a light on the dark heart of Australia's nationhood
http://www.theguardian.com/world/postcolonial/2014/mar/10/historian-shin...
10 Mar 14: "Henry Reynolds says the frontier war - his term for the violent dispossession of Indigenous Australians - raises questions of global importance about the ownership of an entire continent ... As a student at school and university in mid-20th century Hobart, Henry Reynolds received a conventional education in Australian history. Which is to say he learnt absolutely nothing about the violent dispossession of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders after European settlement in 1788 - events he has referred to unambiguously in his controversial writings as "frontier war"." Paul Daley

Paul Daley: The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/profile/paul-daley
"Paul Daley is a Canberra-based author and award-winning journalist who writes about Australian history, culture and identity. Several of his books have explored Australia's WW1 experience. ... "

* MICHAEL WESTAWAY, THE CONVERSATION: WORKING WITH ELDERS AND RETURN OF FIRST AUSTRALIANS' REMAINS

- Analysis / Opinion

The Conversation: Working with Elders and return of First Australians' remains
http://theconversation.com/working-with-elders-and-return-of-first-austr...
14 Mar 14: "Evidence of the first people to settle in Australia can be found in the Willandra Lakes World Heritage Area, in western New South Wales, informally referred to as Australia’s Rift Valley. Hundreds of archaeological sites dating back to the last Ice Age are found across the landscape. The remarkable discoveries from the Willandra have revealed a story central to our understanding of the colonisation of this continent by the First Australians. They also add to our understanding of the complexities behind the initial dispersal of our species Homo sapiens across the globe. ... " Michael Westaway

Michael Westaway: The Conversation
http://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-westaway-118240/profile_bio
"Senior Research Fellow at Griffith University. I am a biological anthropologist and archaeologist and have a strong interest in human evolution in Australia and South East Asia and zooarchaeology in Australia. ... I believe archaeology can play an important role in reconciliation as it holds great potential to help to deconstruct stereotypes about different cultures. But archaeology can also disempower people, so it is a difficult field at times to navigate through. I find it very encouraging to see that at long last Australia's 'ancient history' (the last 50,000 years) has now a place in the National History curriculum. ... "

* HILARY SMALE & VANESSA MILLS, ABC MELBOURNE: DARK EMU ARGUES AGAINST 'HUNTER GATHERER' HISTORY OF INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS

- Analysis / Opinion & Audio & Video

ABC Melbourne: Dark Emu argues against 'Hunter Gatherer' history of Indigenous Australians
http://www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2014/03/17/3965103.htm?site=melbourne
17 Mar 14: "A fresh perspective of Indigenous history showing evidence of village populations, crop harvesting, and irrigation, is all explored Bruce Pascoe's new book Dark Emu. ... The common perception of Indigenous Australians leading a 'hunter-gatherer' lifestyle before European settlement is ignoring strong evidence of sophisticated farming and agriculture practices, argues Mr Pascoe. ... In Dark Emu, Mr Pascoe revisits early explorers' accounts of seeing women harvesting yams, onions, and cultivating the land. " By Hilary Smale and Vanessa Mills

* PS NEWS ONLINE: FIRST ROLL CALL OF NATION'S INDIGENOUS SERVICE

- News

PS News Online: First roll call of nation's Indigenous service
http://www.psnews.com.au/Page_psn400f6.html
14 Mar 14: "A project to compile the nation's first comprehensive record of Indigenous service in the Defence forces has been launched at the Australian National University in Canberra. Researchers said the Serving Our Country: a history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the defence of Australia project would address past silences and enrich Australia's war history. The project would involve two years of community consultations followed by another two years of compiling the records of Indigenous servicemen and women, nurses, ancillary staff and peacekeepers from the Boer War through to 2000."

* BACKGROUND TO THE ABORIGINAL SOVEREIGNTY MOVEMENT

Last updated: 10 March 2014

http://indymedia.org.au/2012/04/22/background-to-the-aboriginal-sovereig...

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