<
https://theconversation.com/nt-election-promises-for-indigenous-people-buckle-under-historys-weight-236409>
"Earlier this month on the Bungul ceremonial ground at Gulkula in Arnhem Land,
Northern Territory Police Commissioner Michael Murphy apologised to First
Nations people for “past harms and injustices caused by members of the Northern
Territory police.” The aftermath has been much discussed.
Irrespective of your view on the commissioner’s apology, police are but one cog
in the wheel of “government men” about whom Aboriginal people in the NT have
rightly long been suspicious.
Other cogs over the course of history were overland telegraph officers, welfare
officers, “protectors” (some of whom were police), doctors (some of whom were
protectors) and magistrates. In fact, many Aboriginal people in the NT are
rightfully distrustful of almost any organ of government. This is because
settler colonialists engulfed their lands and forced them onto the most arid
and least fertile areas, among other reasons.
It’s against this ongoing backdrop that Territorians head to the polls this
weekend. With such a traumatic past casting a long shadow, the little that
political parties are offering Indigenous communities this time around hardly
moves the dial."
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
