Tuesday, January 25, 2005
Vital Perceptions
As I write this (despite the date stamp) it's January 26 here.
For most of the population it's "Australia Day". For a minority, it's "Invasion Day".
Either way, it's commemorating the arrival in 1788 of the first fleet of British troops, settlers and convicts intending to permanently colonise 'the Great South Land".
Aboriginal people who had lived here for tens of thousands of years were ignored by the British - simply shouldered aside.
In the 1990s, even the legal system supported their blindside view when it declared northern parts of the country 'terra nulius' - interpreted as 'unclaimed land'.
Few Aboriginal people in 1788 saw the bigger picture. Or if they did, they lacked the means to avert the takeover of their land and their culture.
Perceptions can be everything.
For most of the population it's "Australia Day". For a minority, it's "Invasion Day".
Either way, it's commemorating the arrival in 1788 of the first fleet of British troops, settlers and convicts intending to permanently colonise 'the Great South Land".
Aboriginal people who had lived here for tens of thousands of years were ignored by the British - simply shouldered aside.
In the 1990s, even the legal system supported their blindside view when it declared northern parts of the country 'terra nulius' - interpreted as 'unclaimed land'.
Few Aboriginal people in 1788 saw the bigger picture. Or if they did, they lacked the means to avert the takeover of their land and their culture.
Perceptions can be everything.
