National day to Commemorate Indigenous Massacres

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-...and-formal-apology-coniston-massacre/10157304

I don't want a "commemoration" of the massacres but I would love to see an acknowledgement and maybe even a national sorry day

For those who do not believe many were massacred

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_massacres_of_Indigenous_Australians

And there is at least one I know of missing from that disgraceful list

 

I think that commemorate is a good term.

 

Words change over time and I just would not want even the slightest touch of condoning surrounding any of this. It is something that only recently has become an open part of our history and although I grew up knowing indigenous people had been killed during settlement I was appalled at the list of massacres. Just in this immediate region where I live there are at least a dozen known about. Many such a Bladensburg we have only a couple of witnesses and no real idea if that was the only massacre or how many were killed

 

It was a revenge killing sanctioned after a station worker who went to a dingo hunting was found dead at a place now known as Yukurru. At least the Aboriginals fought back against the encroachment of white settlers which threatened their water resources.

 

It's funny that in our enlightened moderate society that people defending our nation's borders are heros where as we look upon those indigenous to this land as savages or terrorists for doing the same. Seems the shoe looks different on the other foot.

 

I suppose it's relative really.

 

Why would I say sorry? I was not alive at the time. My ancestors were not on the continent at the time. Should I feel shame on a racial basis?

 

It was not that long ago. Within my lifetime at least that ur indigenous people were officially listed as animals

Whole tribes were slaughtered

That I think at least needs acknowledgement

 

There's plenty of acknowledgement everywhere. It happened. Nobody is hiding it.

The fact remains, the child is not responsible for the sins of the father. Especially if that father had nothing to do with it either.

I feel no shame because I have no connection to any of this. No connection stronger than any indigenous person, should they say sorry to themselves?

 

Yeah I've gotta say I'm not really a fan of these "Days" for things, especially if it's not born out organically from a popular movement.

I'm not even a fan of ANZAC day, bit of a glorification of war and ignorant nationalism.

The idea of a day where essentially white Australians are saying "Sorry" to Aboriginal Australians is not something I would support. Seems quite patronising to be honest. I don't think it's really worthehile to further signpost people of Aboriginal heritage as perpetual victims by ceremonially saying "sorry" to them every year. If there was going to be a "day" let's make it a little more positive please, I don't want to be depressed and thinking about massacres and pressured into being "sorry" for things that I had absolutely nothing to do with.

They could definitely do a better job of teaching Australian history in school though. We already have naidoc week right?

I actually studied "Australian history" in VCE and did quite well but managed to come out of it in denial that there was any kind of deliberate attempts at genocide, and seem to remember arguing about it on here rather ignorantly about 10 years ago.

Needless to say my views on the matter have changed.

But I think that a lot of people would still disagree that there were any "massacres" or oppression, and that if there was it was just isolated incidents and whatnot. So education is certainly still needed, I assume it's improved these days but I wouldn't bet on it.

 

No one has asked anyone to feel shame, ashamed of this part of our history yes, but that doesn't mean I personally feel ashamed of myself. It's acknowledgement, recognition that this country was taken by force.

A true history of the colonisation / invasion would show that the Europeans were welcomed, even though cautiously there was no immediate attack on the intruders.

The problem was not that the English wanted to settle here, the problem was their unwillingness to accept that Australia was already settled and that the indigenous peoples had rights of ownership.

Not only were they robbed of their lands, their food and water ,but also their lores ,culture ,language and dignity.

In retaliation for the "theft" of a sheep or a few potatoes they were hunted down and slaughtered like feral animals.

They don't want you to feel guilty for something we didn't do but to recognise with due respect that it did happen.

It would also be nice if we didn't rub it in their faces at every given opportunity.

 

Indigenous people were never "officially listed as animals" as far as I'm aware.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-20/fact-check-flora-and-fauna-1967-referendum/9550650

They did not have full rights as citizens however.

 

If you're going to feel ashamed and apologise for all the wrongs that British colonialism inflicted upon people, then you'll need to apologise to probably 2/3rds of the global population, if not more.

The flip side of this whole being "ashamed" by association based on ethnic heritage or whatnot, is nonsense like demanding all Muslims apologise for the actions of Muslim terrorists.

Collective responsibility, or ancestral guilt, is not a concept I agree with at all. It's like the left wing version of original sin.

I don't even feel responsibility for all the absolute nonsense I don't agree with that my government has done while I've been alive, let alone things that happened before I was born.

 

Should the Spaniards have a day where they say sorry to the millions of WASPs they horribly burned alive at the stake? Should the Moroccans have a day where they say sorry to the Americans they slit the throats of on the high seas during the era of piracy? Should West African nations have a sorry day for the millions of their countrymen they sold into slavery, and in some cases keep in slavery to this very day?

****, the Germans are going to need a whole damn month to apologise for all the **** they've done.

All cultures have barbaric histories. Those that don't never got the chance. The culture of self-flagellation on display by the intersectional left is harmful.

It's time to move on into the world of equality and liberty we currently enjoy. To move forward together as AUSTRALIANS, not Anglo Australians, Chinese Australians, Indian Australians, Indigenous Australians - we are Australians.

 

We are not talking about the Germans, Muslims or any other country, race or religion. We are talking about Australia. If your kids say "But our friends are allowed", do you say oh OK then.

Did you read anything I wrote? I said it is not us that should feel shame, well not if we support some sort of recognition.

I know that it is a difficult prospect in it's entirety, but there are some very simple painless processes that can help to create a more positive pathway to a future for which we can all be proud.

To move forward we have to acknowledge ,no matter what it is. Over coming alcoholism for example, first we have to admit we are an alcoholic.

We won't admit we are racist, I see it every day, yes we may single out people because they have red hair or are tall or short. They are all wrong, just because we do one doesn't justify us doing others.

A day commemorating the massacres would be very similar to ANZAC day. It's not to glorify anything, it's not to say sorry for all the deaths. It's not to celebrate any victory or achievements. It's not to stick it to the Turks, the Germans or the British.

It's to acknowledge that they happened, remember our people that died, it's to remember the madness that led to the deaths and to remember never to let it happen again.

 

Who is denying it? The extreme fringes? Bob Katter?

We have too many public holidays already.

 

That's correct, that's some people's belief that if you don't deserve human rights you can't be human.

Until 1964 it was not against the constitution to deprive indigenous Australians their human rights. Still to this very day they have been given more rights from international human rights regulations then our willingness to close the gap.

 

OK let's get rid of the Queens Birthday, it's a farce anyway.

 

Yeah Katter and a few others, our constitution!

 

I agree. Let's do it. **** the Queen.

 

In the first instance, it's about acknowledgement, recognition on an official level that there was these massacres. It's undeniable there is too many official records and thousands of reputable notes and letters.

A few simple relatively painless steps along a road of healing.

 

No-one alive today should feel shame about what happened before their birth. However we do need to get rid of the national amnesia we have. We're not our ancestors, we should be proud to show that we're not by acknowledging what happened in the past and not burying it because of embarrassment.

 

Could not have said it better

 

That was only one

The one that is missing from Wiki is Sweres. The whit owner would ride around the island shooting all but the young women who he would rape

Then there was battle mountain. It is said the sides of the mountain was white with the skeletons and skulls of the murdered Kalkadoon

And that is just my area

 

I have a friend. She is indigenous he is white. He tells me that when he first started dating he had to apply for permission to do so under, and get this, the Fauna and Flora Act of Queensland

I live it

We do not have the resources we need to really close the gap. We can make token attempts but all too often projects that should help end being either designed so that it is impossible to achieve or have funding pulled before there is a significant outcome

Health care workers who SHOULD be a vital bridge for the gap are paid on the lowest level of the health pay scale