Friday essay: ‘but we already had a treaty’ – Tom Griffiths on a little known 1889 peace accord

Wed, 8 Jun 2022 19:05:40 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-but-we-already-had-a-treaty-tom-griffiths-on-a-little-known-1889-peace-accord-182511>

"In July 2019, the Queensland Government launched a series of community
consultations as part of its Path to Treaty initiative. The then Department of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships explained that “when
Queensland was settled, there was no treaty agreement with Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first custodians”.

“First Nations peoples,” continued the government statement, “were displaced
from their land without any negotiation, resulting in political, economic and
social inequalities that continue to this day.” On 11 November 2019, one of 24
public consultations around the state was held in Birdsville in the Channel
Country of south-western Queensland.

At the Birdsville meeting to discuss Treaty, Mithaka Elder Betty Gorringe said
just one thing from the back of the room: We already had a treaty: the Debney
Peace. It’s in Alice’s books.


What was the Debney Peace, when and where was it negotiated, and why is it
nationally significant in 21st-century Australia?

And who was Alice?"

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

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