  | |
|
|
what i did on australia day
 Australian Aboriginal flag The colourful spheres reminded me of the dots in Aboriginal paintings, so I asked him if I could use some of what he made for my own purposes. I wanted to try to create a version of the Aboriginal flag. I am not a fan of the actual Australian flag. Australia Day is January 26th. Many Aboriginal Australians refer to Australia Day as Invasion Day, and for them it is not a day of celebration, but of mourning. To put a positive spin on this, it is sometimes called Sovereignty Day, Survival Day, or Arrival Day and there are those who spend the day trying to bring awareness to certain issues. Indigenous Australians are still experiencing the effects and aftereffects of British colonization. They have a much lower life expectancy and quality of life than other Australians, and are more likely to die in custody or get shot. They still don't have adequate land rights, and their lands have been used for things like uranium mining, or nuclear testing, and nuclear waste disposal has been proposed. Most people are probably just happy to have some time off, but celebrating in a certain fashion can come across as saying 'we are happy to have killed off your ancestors, and we have no intention of acknowledging the richness of your culture on our day.' This might change if there was a more inclusive kind of celebration. I spent the day listening to the Triple J 100. I didn't start drinking until around the top 20. My room is above the garage, and in the garage, Kiki and her new baby Oz were in a nestbox that is situated in the garage (it's the only nestbox that isn't outside). It was the first time the baby had been seen out of the pouch. One DJ did ask listeners to think about what Australia Day might mean to indigenous Australians. Maybe I wasn't totally paying attention, but it seemed to me that most of the people phoning in were spending Australia Day in extremely conventional, unimaginative ways: playing cricket or footy, drinking beer and eating sausages, sausage rolls or meat pies. I was a bit surprised that the concepts behind a 'progressive' station like Triple J don't apply to other areas of Australian lives. Why do food and activity choices have to be so limited? So many of them have been brought over from you-know-where. When celebrating a country's name day, it would seem to make sense to celebrate what is unique or special about that particular country. Do Australians appreciate or acknowledge the cultural contributions of indigenous Australians? The incredible diversity of flora and fauna? In a sense, native animals are also indigenous Australians, but they don't have as many rights as cats and dogs, and most Australians really don't know much about them. To sum it all up: a more progressive, inclusive approach to Australia Day is needed. ->exile on meme st: a diary ->xesce.net  |
|