Educating for Reconciliation:  the ‘Rights’ Approach

Peter Lewis

ANTaR Victoria

www.kooriweb.org

•Over 400 nations within this continent

• Each nation had every institution we currently have in Australia

• Law, belief, occupations, family structures, trade, art, recreation and systems of ‘Government’

•People have lived on this land for over 60,000 years

200 years ago…

•Dark green area is what is also known as the Kulin Nations• Many people like to be called by their country name – Yorta Yorta, Wathaurung etc much like the Europeans prefer being called French, Irish etc.

Traditional Circles of Nurture, Learning and Care

Child

Parents

Siblings

Brother Cousins Grannies

Uncles

Aunties

Sister Cousins

Community Elders

Skin GroupTotem

Moiety

Clan

Community

The Great Divide: Cross-cultural Cross-over

Aboriginal Non-Aboriginal/Western

Economics based on environmental sustainability

Economics based on production and consumption

Spirituality based on the land and waters Spirituality (in most cases) based on sacred, written texts

Law ‘written’ in the land, passed through ancestral story telling, unchanging

Law established by common law (past judicial judgements) or parliament, constantly changing

Politics based on consensus of Elders Politics based on representative democracy and power elites

Child rearing involves extended family and whole community

Child rearing based on nuclear family

Disadvantaged by process of colonisation Advantaged by colonisation

Minority cultures Dominant culture

Aboriginal Reserves and Missions in Victoria

•People of different language groups were gathered and forced to live together in places convenient to the dominant culture

Movement & Transfer of Population between Missions

• Family groups were split

•Young men were often sent far away to work

•Young women were sent to domestic service,

• Even when land was granted, it was taken back at the whim of white authority

Terra nullius ‘empty land’ no peoples, no connection to land, treated like

flora and fauna

‘protection’

forced separation, forced removal, assimilation

‘whitening’ race

Stolen Generations – forced separation of children

No self-determination, no citizenship rights, no rights

as peoples

A question of foundations• No consent, no treaty – despite

instructions from Britain

• Intention of proviso in Letters Patent 1836 – settlement in SA dependent on respect for Aboriginal rights – ‘always’

• Batman Treaty 1835 – not acknowledged, terms not met, leasing or possession?, temporary or permanent?

• No recognised process of transfer of sovereignty or possession

1788

Europeans arrive in Australia

Invasion and Conquest 1788- 1858

1790

First Contact in many areas. Misunderstandings. Death through disease. Frontier wars.

Resistance and battles.

1837

Board of Protection of Aborigines established – They were given the power to determine where Aboriginal people lived.

1869

Aboriginal Protection Act 1869 (Vic)

In 1869 the Board for the Protection of Aborigines became responsible for the administration of the Aborigines Protection Act, which in part sought:

• To separate Aboriginal children from their families and communities in order to 'educate' them within a European system.

• To control where Aboriginal people could live, work, what kinds of jobs they could do, who they could associate with and who they could marry.

Segregation 1835-1886

1938

Petition to Queen by Australian Aborigines League.

Protest at German Consulate by Australian Aborigines League

1933

A large camp of 200 Aboriginal people near Cumeragunja refused dole in Victoria because they were 'NSW residents', but denied assistance in NSW because they were 'too black and should apply to the NSW APB". Under the prevailing assimilation policies of the NSW APB, they were

told that they were "too white" to receive rations because they were not 'predominantly Aboriginal blood‘.1937

Assimilation Policy endorsed at the first Commonwealth State conference on Native Welfare.

Jack Patten goes to Cumeragunja in late January 1939 to talk to the residents about their failed campaign to remove manager A.J. McQuiggan.

200 Cumeragunja residents decide to 'walk-off' the reserve in protest at APB policies cross the Murray River into Victoria and set up camp at Barmah.

1939

By 1951 all Australian governments claimed they had adopted a policy of 'assimilating' Aboriginal people into the wider society

The policy was defined as:

... All Aborigines and part-Aborigines are expected eventually to attain the same manner of living as other Australians and to live as a member of a single Australian community enjoying the same rights and privileges, accepting the same beliefs, hopes and loyalties as other Australians.

However, the policy of assimilation was more devastating as the aim was to "breed" out the Aborigines' and Islander peoples' "traits" and to westernise the so called "half-castes".

1951 Assimilation Policy

Assimilation 1951-1970

Learning from the past – Stolen Generations

The practice of removal was based on the assumption that – disconnection from Aboriginal culture was in the best

interests of the child and– Aboriginal communities should not determine their

own future

Assimilation 1951-1970

1957

Aborigines Protection Board changed to Aborigines Welfare Board to assist the assimilation policy

1966

Policy shift: Indigenous children should stay with their families if possible

1967

In the 1967 referendum, an overwhelming majority of Australians (more than 90%), and all the States, voted in favour of amending the Federal Constitution so that Aborigines could be counted in reckoning the population of Australia and that the Commonwealth had responsibility for Aboriginal Affairs.

The Great Australian Silence

Inattention on such a scale cannot possibly be explained by absentmindedness. It is a structural matter, a view from a window which has been carefully placed to exclude a whole quadrant of the landscape. What may well have begun as a simple forgetting of other possible views turned under habit and over time into something like a cult of forgetfulness practised on a national scale. We have been able for so long to disremember the Aborigines that we are now hard put to keep them in mind even when we most want to do so.

W.E.H.Stanner, After the Dreaming: The Boyer Lectures

1972

Tent Embassy. Aboriginal flag designed.

Whitlam Government Policy of Self Determination for Aboriginal people is adopted by Federal Government replacing earlier policies of protectionism and assimilation.

Land Rights Acts.

Racial Discrimination Act.

Mostly bi-partisan approach to Indigenous affairs.

1975

Post 1967 Policies

1970s

Establishment of many Aboriginal organisations.

Post 1967 Policies

1989

Bi-partisan Policy of Reconciliation. Establishment of Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation.

1991

Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody – discovered that 43 out of 99 deaths in custody were of people who were separated from their families as children

1992

High Court Mabo Decision (end of bi-partisan approach) and PM Keating’s Redfern Speech

1996

Wik Decision – pastoral leases don’t necessarily extinquish native title

Post 1967 Policies

1997

National Inquiry into Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their families “Bringing Them Home Report”

Victorian Parliament apologises for the forcible removal of Indigenous children. Federal Government doesn’t apologise1998

First Sorry Day.

Native Title Amendment Act passed

Post 1967 Policies

2004

Federal Government announces the mainstreaming of Government services and the abolition of ATSIC

2000

Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Final Report calls for ‘negotiated framework agreement’.

Reconciliation Walks – 1 000 000 participate in walks across the nation

2007

Federal Government announces the NT Emergency Intervention. Overrides Racial Discrimination Act

Colonisation as an ongoing toxic reality– Loss of self-determination (disempowerment)

• Treated as client communities

– Loss of economic and social capacity (disadvantage)

• Unemployment (15%)• Incarceration (13.3 times more likely)• Child protection (7.7 times more likely)• Life expectancy (12 years less)

– Pervasiveness of racism and cultural abuse/disrespect

The Howard Years:Federal Policy Impasse

• Acknowledging the past and its impact on the present vs. denialism

• Self-determination vs. mainstreaming

• Restoring capacity through cultural respect vs. blaming culture

• Addressing the ‘unfinished business’ vs. ‘practical reconciliation’

Rudd Government Approaches

• Apology to the Stolen Generations and Welcome to Country

• Adjustments to NT Emergency Intervention• National Indigenous Representative Body• Signing of the UN Declaration on Indigenous

Rights• Healing Foundation• Evidence-based Approach• Closing the Gap

The NT Intervention Issues

• the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act • hasn’t followed the recommendations of the “Little

Children Are Sacred” Report• the blanket treatment of all welfare recipients and the

loss of dignity and shame that people experience when shopping with their compulsory BasicsCard

• Reported drop in nutrition statistics • Government Business Managers have replaced

Aboriginal community councils • that more well being and health comprehensive services

should all be provided.

Closing the Gap targets

• Close the gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a generation: Currently the gap has been revised to 11.5 years for Indigenous men and 9.7 years for Indigenous women.

• Halve the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under five by 2018: Indigenous children under 5 are more likely to die than non-Indigenous children.

• Ensure access to early childhood education for all Indigenous four year olds in remote communities by 2013: Just over 60 per cent of Indigenous children are enrolled in early childhood education programs in the year before school compared to around 70 per cent for all children.

• Halve the gap in reading, writing and numeracy achievement for Indigenous children by 2018: Only 63.4 per cent of Indigenous Year 5 students were at or above the national minimum standard for reading compared to 92.6 per cent of their non-Indigenous counterparts.

•

• Halve the gap for Indigenous students in Year 12 or equivalent attainment rates by 2020: Non‑Indigenous 20–24 year olds are almost twice as likely to attain a Year 12 or equivalent qualification as their Indigenous counterparts.

• Halve the gap in employment outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians by 2018: In 2008, almost 54 per cent of the Indigenous working-age population was employed compared with 75 per cent of the non‑Indigenous working-age population.

Victorian Aboriginal Children Policy

• Self-determination • Best interests of the child

– Acknowledgement of importance of Aboriginal culture and connection for the child

• Aboriginal Child Placement Principle• Transfer of authority to Aboriginal

agencies• Cultural plans• Cultural competence

Currents in Indigenous Policy

Forces For and Against Cultural Safety

a) internal strength-based processes within Aboriginal communities which encourage cultural resilience and resistance and

b) external processes of the colonised environment which are generated from the broader society.

Cultural resilience and resistance

• Community wealth – extended family networks, looking after each other – demonstrating elasticity (functionality in the face of risk) and buoyancy (ability to recover from trauma)

• Story telling – of creator spirits, key land marks, contemporary stories

• History of resistance – eg. Cold Morning, Jupiter, Cocknose, Barak, Cooper, the Walk Off, Patton, setting up of Koorie orgs

• Cultural expression – songs/music and art

Addressing the causal factors

The problem

• No self-determination

• Little respect for culture

• Fear and mistrust

The answer

– Self-determination, capacity building, partnerships and cultural competence

Colonisation and its Echoes• Homelessness – terra nullius/empty land,

disconnection from land, moved onto reserves/missions• Powerlessness – no law, lack of acknowledgment of

Aboriginal authorities, not citizens until 1967, lack of real self-determination

• Poverty – no ownership, no recognition of traditional economies, limited access to dominant culture economy, dependency

• Disorientation/Confusion – nowhere, no place in dominant culture, cultural in-competence of mainstream, constant policy changes and confusion, racism

(above factors identified by W.E.H Stanner in the 60s)

Three Keys to Cultural Safety

• Respect for, and processes towards, self-determination

• Resourcing Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander-led Solutions

• Respect for culture and addressing racism

Human rights based social investment framework:

- recognises that colonisation has impacted

negatively on Indigenous social and economic

capacity,

- builds on the strengths of Indigenous culture

- respects the self-determining rights of Indigenous

communities in order to re-build capacity. 

Human rights as an inclusion and investment strategy

Self-determination

• sovereignty - which acknowledges the traditional owners and custodians of the land and waters who have never ceded their sovereign rights;

• Aboriginal peoples who have been forcibly removed from their traditional lands but are still ‘peoples’, as defined by international human rights conventions;

• community controlled organisations and agencies; and

• ‘practical self-determination’ which ensures that communities and community controlled organizations are being resourced and allowed to act as equal partners

Article Two of the UN Charter

Article One of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and

Article One of the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights

Article One of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) defines the right of self-determination as involving the free choice of political status and the freedom to pursue economic, social and cultural development.

UN Conventions: Rights of all peoples to self-determination

EXAMPLE OF COMMUNITY-LEVEL INDICATORS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO A

HEALTH OUTCOME –

Suicide rates by number of factors present in the community (1987–1992). (Taken from Chandler M and Proulx T. Changing selves in changing worlds: youth suicide on the fault lines of colliding cultures. Archives of Suicide Research 2006: 10: 125-140. 2006).

An index of ‘‘cultural continuity’’ comprised of six marker variables: degree to which each of B.C.’s individual bands have already secured 1) some measure of self government; some control over the delivery of 2) health, 3) education, 4) policing services, and 5) cultural resources; and 6) are otherwise at work litigating for Aboriginal title to traditional lands.

Rat

e o

f yo

uth

suic

ide

Practical self-determination

• self-determination needs – to be resourced, – capacity building; – respectful dialogue, partnership and

community development.

Aboriginal and Islander people want rights not welfare so they can action their responsibilities

.

Culture – meaning and identity

“Culture frames the identity of all peopleOur senses see, hear, taste, feel and smell the world through cultureCulture is as necessary to a sense of meaning and identity as air is to living.Culture is the air our minds breathe.Culture is our eyes onto the world.Culture explains the world to us and us to the world”

Muriel Bamblett

Culture Abuse

“When the culture of a people is ignored, denigrated, or worse, intentionally attacked, it is cultural abuse. It is abuse because

it strikes at the very identity and soul of the people it is aimed at;

it attacks their sense of self-esteem, it attacks their connectedness to their

family and community.”Muriel Bamblett

Cultural Competence Continuum

CulturalDestructivene

ss

CulturalIncapacity

CulturalBlindness

Characterised by

Intentional attitudespolicies & practicesthat are destructive

to cultures and consequently to

individuals within the Culture

Characterised by:

Lack of capacity to help minority clients or Communities dueto extremely biased

beliefs and a paternal attitude

toward thosenot of a mainstream

culture

Characterised by:

The belief that serviceor helping approachestraditionally used by the dominant culture

are universally applicable regardless of race or culture.

These services ignore cultural strengths and encourage assimilation

Characterised by:

The desire to deliverquality services

and a commitment to diversity

indicated by hiringminority staff,

initiating training and recruiting minority members for agency

leadership, but lacking information

on how to maximise these capacities.

This level of competence can lead to tokenism

Characterised by:

Acceptance and respect for difference

continuing self assessment, careful

attention to thedynamics of

difference, continuousexpansion of knowledge

and resources, and adaptation of services tobetter meet the needs of

diverse populations

Characterised by:

Holding culture in high esteem: seeking to

add to the knowledgebase of culturally

competent practiceby conducting

research, influencingapproaches to care,

and improving relations between

culturesPromotes self determination

CulturalPre

competence

CulturalCompetence

CulturalProficienc

y

Towards cultural competence

• Cultural Awareness – Knowledge with Understanding

• Commitment to Aboriginal Self-determination and Respectful Partnerships– the Ground Rules

• Cultural Respect - Attitude and Values• Cultural Responsiveness – Ability and Skills• Cultural Safety – Environment and Client

Experience

Conceptual Framework

“Racism Makes us Sick”

• Internalised racism

• Interpersonal racism

• Systemic/Institutional racism

Interrogate our terra nullius blindness (whiteness)

Peggy McIntosh - the “invisible knapsack”.

I can arrange to be in the company of my race most of the timeIf I need to move to rent or buy or if I need credit my skin colour will not be an obstruction to getting the propertyI can turn on the telly and see my race widely represented I can swear, get drunk, dress in second hand clothes, not answer letters without people saying how typical of my raceI can do well without being called a credit to my raceI am never asked to speak for all people of my race.

Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation

The Declaration Towards Reconciliation,

The Roadmap Towards Reconciliation

– which included national strategies for

– sustaining the reconciliation process,

– promoting the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights,

– overcoming disadvantage and

– economic independence  

Reconciliation: Australia’s Challenge (the Council’s final report) recommendations for

• COAG to implement and monitor a national framework to overcome disadvantage

• Support/strategies for The Declaration Towards Reconciliation and The Roadmap Towards Reconciliation by all governments

• change the Constitution to recognize the First Peoples in a new preamble, remove the ‘race powers’ (Section 25) and introduce constitutional protections against racial discrimination

• commitments from all sectors of society to affirm the declaration, action the roadmap, provide resources for reconciliation,

• each government and parliament to recognize that its land and waters were settled without treaty and negotiate a process to achieve these agreements/treaties in order to protect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples political, legal, cultural and economic position in society and

• enact legislation to put in place a process towards agreement/treaty to resolve the unfinished business of reconciliation

“Indigenous people want very little. They just want justice”.

1. Acknowledge Sovereignty:

2. Be Honest about our history:

3. Safeguard Aboriginal Cultural Heritage:

4. Recognise and Respect Aboriginal culture:

5. Seek Aboriginal representation in all areas and at all levels of civic society:

6. Pay reparations:

Close the Gap

In relationships and narratives by

• A conversation about a re-negotiated social contract with human rights as the foundation

– issues such as the constitution, treaty/ies and agreements

• Time to reframe the national identity

Treatment Treat each other - human rights as meeting

place and rules of engagemento Self-determination and cultural respect

Healingo of relationships with each other

– tackling racism and white privilegeo within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Communities– restoring culture and tackling lateral

violence Writing a new story - a new shared narrative, a

new shared identity