Indigenous Voice to Parliament
Yes Is The Only Vote That Will Move Us Forward
The Uluru Statement from the Heart is a call by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for real and practical change in Australia through the establishment of a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament and a Makarrata Commission, to undertake processes of treaty-making and truth-telling.
You can read all about it here at this link below and if you can vote here in Australia you should ensure you are educated and understand why a “YES” vote in October is vitally important.
https://fromtheheart.com.au/explore-the-uluru-statement/
This week has been declared a National Week Of Action on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. I decided it was an excellent moment to submerge myself in local activism and support.
Saturday found me at the St. Kilda Festival which was dedicated as a First Peoples Festival Day. There were so many deadly artists in attendance. The Tribute to Uncle Archie Roach was particularly moving when his band was joined by a variety of vocalists from Emma Donovan to Radical Son.
Sunday was to be a day of listening, ceremony and discussion about how indigenous people can move forward and retain their voice and culture after colonization.
This meeting organized by Initiatives of Change Australia in partnership with the Sustainable Architecture Forum brought together indigenous elders from Australia and Canada. With close to 500 people in attendance, it was good to see so many allies and First Nation people front up on a gorgeous summer Sunday morning.
Our brothers and sister from Canada spoke about how they built and worked with the Edmonton government to build a ceremonial ground close to the urban area. This was done because most of the First Nation people in Canada, as is around the globe, have been removed from their native land and now live in urban environments.
Ceremonial space is vitally important and how they worked with the powers that be is an excellent case study to examine.
But of course, they have treaty. First Nation people here in Australia have been fighting for decades to even have a voice and once the Constitution has been changed, will lead to Treaty.
I wept today. The sorrow I feel from being born American and becoming Australian permeates my being at times. The pain and bloodshed my ancestors have brought upon indigenous people is a stain upon my consciousness.
But I cannot wallow in what is behind us, I know that moving forward with love and spirit is what needs to be done.
Our role as allies of our indigenous brethren is to ensure we can have conversations with our community so we can push this agenda forward. The deconstruction of how we operate today is underway. And as an elder, I know I will not see the end of this road. But the work we do today, will be what we pass on to our grandchildren and great-grandchildren and onwards.
We need to rebuild a pathway to a unity of all humanity and honour, respect and care for the custodians and indigenous ways that will show us a better way to live than this culture we have been born into. We need to truly and deeply listen to the stories that are shared with us.
Sunday found me back in ‘ceremony’ with a fabulous set by Yothu Yindi under the warm sun in St. Kilda. Thousands of people danced, clapped, and sang. This was a remarkable gathering of spirit and love.
We have many months ahead of us. Out conversations about The Uluru Statement and Voice To Parliament are vitally important. The stories we tell can influence people who may be on the fence and inspire others to take action where needed.
Use your voice, from your heart.
And educate yourself. One fact to keep in mind is that 80% of our First Nation brothers and sisters want the vote to be a resounding YES.
And check out the Start A Yarn campaign which is an opportunity for Australians to engage in a virtual yarning circle to hear directly from the architects of the Uluru Statement on the importance of First Nations Voice.
I did it today….and I learned even more!
ULURU STATEMENT FROM THE HEART
We, gathered at the 2017 National Constitutional Convention, coming from all points of the southern sky, make this statement from the heart:
Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign Nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent islands, and possessed it under our own laws and customs. This our ancestors did, according to the reckoning of our culture, from the Creation, according to the common law from ‘time immemorial’, and according to science more than 60,000 years ago.
This sovereignty is a spiritual notion: the ancestral tie between the land, or ‘mother nature’, and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who were born therefrom, remain attached thereto, and must one day return thither to be united with our ancestors. This link is the basis of the ownership of the soil, or better, of sovereignty. It has never been ceded or extinguished, and co-exists with the sovereignty of the Crown.
How could it be otherwise? That peoples possessed a land for sixty millennia and this sacred link disappears from world history in merely the last two hundred years?
With substantive constitutional change and structural reform, we believe this ancient sovereignty can shine through as a fuller expression of Australia’s nationhood.
Proportionally, we are the most incarcerated people on the planet. We are not an innately criminal people. Our children are aliened from their families at unprecedented rates. This cannot be because we have no love for them. And our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future.
These dimensions of our crisis tell plainly the structural nature of our problem. This is the torment of our powerlessness.
We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country. When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.
We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution.
Makarrata is the culmination of our agenda: the coming together after a struggle. It captures our aspirations for a fair and truthful relationship with the people of Australia and a better future for our children based on justice and self-determination.
We seek a Makarrata Commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history.
In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard. We leave base camp and start our trek across this vast country. We invite you to walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future.
