scholarly journals How television moved a nation: media, change and Indigenous rights

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 (7) ◽  
pp. 992-1007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Waller ◽  
Kerry McCallum
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Global Connections ◽  
Media Change ◽  
First Nations People ◽  
First Time ◽  
Ongoing Project

This article examines the role of television in Australia’s 1967 referendum, which is widely believed to have given rights to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It presents an analysis of archival television footage to identify five stories that moved the nation: Australia’s shame, civil rights and global connections, admirable activists, ‘a fair go’ and consensus. It argues that television shaped the wider culture and opened a channel of communication that allowed Indigenous activists and everyday people to speak directly to non-Indigenous people and other First Nations people throughout the land for the first time. The referendum narrative that television did so much to craft and promote marks the shift from an older form of settler nationalism that simply excluded Indigenous people, to an ongoing project that seeks to recognise, respect and ‘reaccredit’ the nation-state through incorporation of Indigenous narratives. We conclude that whereas television is understood to have ‘united’ the nation in 1967, 50 years later seismic shifts in media and society have made the quest for further constitutional reform on Indigenous rights and recognition more sophisticated, diffuse, complex and challenging.

scholarly journals Silent but deadly: a review of "Samson & Delilah"

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rayane Tamer
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
Nations People ◽  
Indigenous Representation ◽  
The World ◽  
First Nations People ◽  
Indigenous Society

Ironically, since European colonisation, there has been a deafening silence of Indigenous representation in all forms and at all societal levels. As Stanner asserts, Indigenous people have been written out of history (1967, p. 22), but the disappearance of our First Nations people is not limited to just the encyclopaedias. Australians have long been viewing media and cinema through a white lens, largely representing an Anglo society, and by its binary, neglecting the Indigenous society that – while subjugated to a near nothingness – remains poignant to this nation’s existence. Indigenous filmmaker Warwick Thornton challenges this white lens in Samson & Delilah (2009), in what has been hailed as Australia’s ‘most important film’ (Redwood 2009, p. 27). Thornton’s film encapsulates the post-colonial state of Indigenous society through a perspective that is rarely shown, but is necessary for the nation and, more generally, the world, to understand the ways in which the First Nations people are subordinated on their own land.

scholarly journals Reforming Indigenous policing: Understanding the context for change

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 144-155
Author(s):  
Rick Ruddell ◽  
John Kiedrowski
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Policy Development ◽  
Public Safety ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
Urban Policing ◽  
Research And Policy

Protests over the policing of Black and Indigenous people and people of Colour that started after the death of George Floyd in May 2020 at the hands of the Minneapolis police set the stage for debates about the role of the Canadian police in ensuring public safety. These protests have resulted in calls for police reforms, including reallocating police funding to other social spending. The public’s attention has focused on urban policing, and there has been comparatively little focus on policing rural Indigenous communities. We address this gap in the literature, arguing that Indigenous policing is distinctively different than what happens in urban areas and the challenges posed in these places are unlike the ones municipal officers confront. We identify ten specific challenges that define the context for Indigenous policing that must be considered before reforms are undertaken. Implications for further research and policy development are identified, including founding a commission to oversee First Nations policing.

Demanding dialogue in an unsettled settler state: implications for education and justice

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Rudolph
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Education Politics ◽  
State Education ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Challenge Education ◽  
Historical Accounts ◽  
Ongoing Project

Purpose:The purpose of this paper is to examine the educational impulses and effects of Indigenous dialogue with the settler colonial state. Taking the Uluru Statement from the Heart, devised in May 2017 by a convention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as a starting point, and contrasting this with the 1967 Referendum campaign for constitutional reform, the paper explores the role of multiple forms and contexts of education during these processes of First Nations dialogue with the settler state.Design/methodology/approach:This paper draws on historical accounts of the 1967 Referendum and the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart.Findings:The paper demonstrates how education provided by the state has been used by First Nations peoples to challenge education systems and to dialogue with the settler state for Indigenous recognition and rights. It also illuminates the range of views on what education is and should be, therefore, contesting the neat and settled conceptions of education that can dominate policy discourse. Finally the historical cases show the deficiencies of settler state education through its failure to truthfully represent Australian history and its failure to acknowledge and confront the entirety of the consequences of settler colonial practices.Originality/value:This paper seeks to bring issues of education, politics and justice together to illustrate how the settler state and its institutions – specifically here, education – are part of an ongoing project of negotiation, contestation and dialogue over questions of justice.

Japan's post-war Ainu policy. Why the Japanese Government has not recognised Ainu indigenous rights?

Polar Record ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroshi Maruyama
Keyword(s):  
Social Welfare ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Japanese Government ◽  
Japanese History ◽  
Welfare Measures ◽  
The Law ◽  
Post War ◽  
First Time

ABSTRACTIn 1946, the Ainu Association of Hokkaido was established by the Ainu to reclaim their lands. The 1970s and 80s saw that the association successfully put pressure on the Hokkaido Prefectural Government to take social welfare measures for the improvement of their life and make a new law counter to the Hokkaido Former Aborigines Protection Act. In 1997 the Japanese Government enacted the so-called New Ainu Law. However, it is totally different from the original draft made by the Ainu. The law does not designate the Ainu as indigenous people. Further, it is outstripped by the decision of Nibutani Dam Case that, for the first time in Japanese history, recognised Ainu right to culture and indigenousness in Japanese territory. In 2008 the Japanese Government finally recognised the Ainu as indigenous people in the wake of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. However, the Ainu do not yet have any indigenous rights. This note chronologically outlines Japan's post-war Ainu policy, and moreover explores who and what has influenced Ainu policy and the law.

Indian Frontiers

2020 ◽  
pp. 256-287
Author(s):  
Kate Flint
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
British Empire ◽  
Travel Writing ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
American Frontier ◽  
The Social ◽  
Adventure Fiction ◽  
First Nations People ◽  
Indian Perspective

This chapter discusses the parallels that could be drawn between the American frontier and various frontiers in the British Empire, together with the apparent lessons that might be taken on board from America's treatment of her native peoples. To be sure, the romance of the American frontier played a significant role in adventure fiction—both homegrown and imported—and within travel writing, and the role of the frontiersman was co-opted into various versions of Anglo-Saxon manliness. But at the same time, concerns about American coarseness, brutality, exploitation, and greed, as manifested in different aspects of frontier life, raised issues about the social directions that country was taking and about the dangers of atavism on the borders of “civilization.” This anxiety held true for the edges of empire as well. Indeed, for the Victorians, the very term “Indian frontier” was highly ambiguous. The chapter then looks at how the visits to London of Catherine Sutton, a Credit Indian, and then of the poet and performer Pauline Johnson illuminate Britain's attitudes toward First Nations people from an Indian perspective.

Soil and plant outcomes of harvesting a Noongar staple geophyte in south-western Australia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison Lullfitz ◽  
Carol Pettersen ◽  
Lynette Knapp ◽  
Stephen D Hopper
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Western Australia ◽  
Soil Nutrient ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Australian Aboriginal ◽  
Post Harvest ◽  
Root Crops ◽  
Australian Flora ◽  
First Nations People

Abstract Geophytes are a considerable component of Southwest Australian flora and thus, unsurprisingly, feature heavily in the diets and culture of Noongar First Nations people of this old, climatically buffered, infertile landscape-dominated global biodiversity hotspot. Of ~650 geophyte species recorded in south-western Australia, 90 are known traditional Noongar foods. Despite the significant role of geophytes in Noongar traditional lives, there is little published knowledge of the ecological effects of harvesting geophytes. We measured and observed soil and plant outcomes of tuber harvest for two Noongar staple species of Platysace Bunge to test whether it improved soil conditions for plant growth and/or aided tuber availability, as suggested for other Australian Aboriginal root crops. Harvesting of Platysace deflexa led to increases in some soil nutrient levels and, unexpectedly, to an increase in bulk density. Platysace deflexa stem abundance was restored to the pre-harvest level within 1 year post-harvest, whereas tuber weight and volume were less than pre-harvest levels after 2 years. A post-harvest increase in the proportion of small tubers in crops suggests that harvest has a renewing and homogenizing effect on tubers. Site-based differences in post-harvest P. deflexa and Platysace trachymenioides quantity of tubers were consistent with preferential harvest of some populations by present-day Noongar families and their ancestors.

Torres Strait Virtual Reality: A Reflection on the Intersection between Culture, Game Design and Research

2021 ◽  
pp. 155541202110203
Author(s):  
Rhett Loban
Keyword(s):  
Virtual Reality ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Game Design ◽  
Cultural Influences ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Cultural Framework ◽  
Nations People ◽  
Torres Strait ◽  
First Nations People

This article is a reflection on the development of Torres Strait Virtual Reality (TSVR), a virtual reality game created to raise awareness of one of Australia’s First Nations people, Torres Strait Islanders. Through the development of TSVR, the author discovered that the processes of cultural protocols, game design and research, intersected and enriched each other to produce a culturally sound and culturally centred game. This article explores project examples of these intersections, such as the converging practices of community engagement and playtesting, and the role of Indigenous cultural influences in game design choices. The cultural focus of TSVR is best represented through the Torres Strait Cultural Tree as a conceptual framework. The Torres Strait Cultural Tree exemplifies how cultural traditions and knowledge can be used to anchor cultural reproductions in new mediums and offers an Indigenous cultural framework for developing cultural-centred games.

scholarly journals The Community Housing Plan: The Role Of Capacity In Canadian On-Reserve Housing Policy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Harder
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Housing Policy ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
First Nation ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Governance Capacity ◽  
Housing Systems ◽  
First Nations People ◽  
Complex Housing

On-Reserve Housing Policy is failing First Nation communities across Canada as it appears unable to meet the complex housing needs of First Nations people, or effectively manage the operation of housing systems on reserve. This paper explores whether a relationship exists between the ability of First Nations to develop and implement a Community Housing Plan (CHP) and capacity development on-reserve. It does this by questioning whether on-reserve housing policy has created the appropriate administrative, financial and governance capacity to support the successful implementation of Community Housing Plans onreserve. The research uses qualitative methodology, reviewing literature and seven reports that explore Indigenous history in Canada and Canadian On-Reserve Housing Policy. The findings contemplate the wider implications of On-Reserve Housing Policy when First Nation capacity is not supported by the Federal Government, and the role of planning in the decolonization of Indigenous housing and policy.

scholarly journals The Community Housing Plan: The Role Of Capacity In Canadian On-Reserve Housing Policy

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristen Harder
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Housing Policy ◽  
Qualitative Methodology ◽  
First Nation ◽  
Successful Implementation ◽  
Governance Capacity ◽  
Housing Systems ◽  
First Nations People ◽  
Complex Housing

On-Reserve Housing Policy is failing First Nation communities across Canada as it appears unable to meet the complex housing needs of First Nations people, or effectively manage the operation of housing systems on reserve. This paper explores whether a relationship exists between the ability of First Nations to develop and implement a Community Housing Plan (CHP) and capacity development on-reserve. It does this by questioning whether on-reserve housing policy has created the appropriate administrative, financial and governance capacity to support the successful implementation of Community Housing Plans onreserve. The research uses qualitative methodology, reviewing literature and seven reports that explore Indigenous history in Canada and Canadian On-Reserve Housing Policy. The findings contemplate the wider implications of On-Reserve Housing Policy when First Nation capacity is not supported by the Federal Government, and the role of planning in the decolonization of Indigenous housing and policy.

scholarly journals The "Idle No More" Movement: Paradoxes of First Nations Inclusion in the Canadian Context

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry Wotherspoon ◽  
John Hansen
Keyword(s):  
First Nations ◽  
Indigenous People ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Indigenous Population ◽  
Indigenous Rights ◽  
Alternative Conceptions ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Canadian Context ◽  
Limit Solutions

Idle No More, a recent protest movement initiated to draw attention to concerns by Indigenous people and allies about changes in Canada's environment and economic policies, has also raised awareness about social and economic conditions experienced by much of Canada's Indigenous population. While discourses and policies oriented to social inclusion are not as prominent in Canada as in Europe and several other contexts, these conditions and the strategies adopted by governments to address them are consistent with narrowly-framed inclusion policies. We provide an overview of what these conditions represent and how they have come to be framed in the context of the Idle No More movement. However, we extend our analysis to understand how the Idle No More movement and discourses of inclusion and exclusion alike have often been framed in ways that further limit solutions to the problems that they are oriented to resolve by stigmatizing and distancing Indigenous people, especially when they ignore or undermine distinct Indigenous rights and the foundations of formal Aboriginal status. We draw upon Indigenous concepts of justice and critical analyses of power relations in order to explore the contradictory locations and experiences associated with Indigenous inclusion in the Canadian context. We conclude by exploring the movement's contributions to broadened conceptions of inclusion that build upon alternative conceptions of socioeconomic participation and success.

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