Tent message
The tent embassy (Aboriginal Tent Embassy) is a politically controversial, semi-temporary tent structure of the claim of Aboriginal intended to confer on their rights emphasis. The founding date of what is now known as the Tent Embassy is January 26, 1972, on the annual Australia Day , when four protesting Aborigines gathered to protest under a parasol. Derived from the later tent construction, the term also stands for part of the political movement of the Aborigines, which manifests itself in the tent embassy with activists, signs and tents on the lawn of the Old Parliament House in Canberra , the Australian capital. This has not yet been recognized by the Australian government as an official embassy; however, it ushered in the change in official Australia's attitude to Aboriginal land rights.
subjects
The tent message stands for the independence of the Aborigines. The demands include land rights and mining rights on Aboriginal land, legal and political control of certain sacred sites; Compensation for land that was stolen from them. These demands have so far been rejected by all past and present governments.
The tent was also used as a place to protest against other issues, such as uranium mining in Jabiluka in the Northern Territory during the 1990s. Currently, a group of elders, such as Neville Williams from the tent embassy, are campaigning for the traditional land of Wiradjuri on Lake Cowal in western New South Wales to prevent the mining of gold.
This group calls itself a message that represents the displaced peoples, which the Australian government does not accept.
history
On Australia Day 1972, the tent embassy was erected to draw attention to the rejection of the Native Title of the government under McMahon and to protest against the proposal of a new leasing rule . This envisaged making leases to Aborigines dependent on whether they have the "intention and ability to make reasonable economic and social use of the land"; in addition, all rights were to be excluded that they had previously had on land with minerals and forests. The founders of the tent message in 1972, with the support of the Communist Party of Australia, were four Aborigines Michael Anderson , Billy Craigie , Bertie Williams and Tony Koorie from Redfern , who had gathered to protest under a parasol in Canberra.
The tent embassy has existed intermittently since 1992, continuously since 1992. Some of the personalities who helped create it are: Gary Foley , Chicka Dixon , Pearl Gibbs, and Paul Coe .
In February 1972 the tent embassy presented a list of demands:
- Control of the Northern Territory as a separate state within the Commonwealth of Australia ; Parliament in the Northern Territory is mainly occupied by Aborigines and has a secured legal claim to the land
- Legal title and mining rights in all reservations and Aboriginal settlements in Australia
- Preservation of all sacred Aboriginal places in Australia
- Legal claim and mining rights to Aboriginal areas in and around the state capitals
- Compensation for land that cannot be returned: payment of 6 billion Australian dollars and an annual percentage of the gross national product.
The demands were denied and in July 1972 the police moved in, removed the tents and arrested eight people.
In October 1973, 70 Aboriginal protestors held a sit-in on the steps of the Old Parliament House and rebuilt the tent embassy. The sit-in ended when Prime Minister Gough Whitlam agreed to meet with the protesters. In February 1975 activist Charles Perkins negotiated with the government to temporarily remove the embassy in the event of a concession by the Australian government on land rights. The Aboriginal Embassy was established in a house in the Red Hill suburb in March 1976, but closed again in 1977. For a short time the embassy was built as the "National Aboriginal Government" on Capital Hill , the site of the future new Parliament House . On the 20th anniversary of its founding, the tent embassy was set up on the lawn of the Old Parliament House. Although it remained a constant source of controversy, it has persisted on this point ever since.
Aside from political pressure, the tent embassy was subjected to several violent attacks; Molotov cocktails were thrown at her several times. There were a number of arson attacks, the most devastating of which resulted in the loss of a container in June 2003 that contained the archives of the tent embassy for the past 31 years.
Despite the disputes, the tent embassy was listed with the Natural Heritage Trust in 1995 as the only body representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders in their political struggle.
When the 2000 Summer Olympics were held in Sydney , Aboriginal people erected a second tent embassy on the Games floor. At times there was also a tent embassy in Victoria Park in Sydney in recent years.
A symbol of the tent message is the so-called holy fire, which represents peace, justice and sovereignty. The holy fire has been burning since 1998.
Tent message in art
14 years after the tent embassy was erected, in 1986, Robert Campbell Junior painted the picture Aboriginal Embassy with transparently naked figures with a recognizable esophagus, symbolizing the Aborigines' view of whites and their interests. He was expressing that the Aborigines were expropriated and that they were deprived of the rights to their own land. This and other of his works attracted greater attention in 1987 because he alluded to the prevailing racial segregation and the Aboriginal view of whites.
Future of the tent message
In August 2005 the federal government announced that it would review the tent embassy. They consulted with Aboriginal communities across Australia to see what form the message should take in the future. The Mutual Mediations group was chaired by Minister Jim Lloyd, and other members were Aboriginal elders from all over Australia. Professional mediators such as Callum Campbell and Tom Stodulka were involved to obtain and promote views on the topic in the process and to advise indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. In December 2005, Jim Lloyd published a press release; therefore nobody will live in the embassy and the tent will be replaced by a permanent structure. A No Camping sign was put up and Minister Lloyd agreed that no residents would be removed against their will.
The message remains. From there, the annual Corroboree for Sovereignty , which has its origins in a traditional meeting of the Aborigines in northwest Australia, is planned. It takes place on Australia Day on January 26th, a day that Aborigines also call "Invasion Day" or "Survival Day".
Movement "Aboriginal Tent Embassy"
On January 26, 2012, the 40th anniversary of the tent embassy was celebrated and following this, various regional Aboriginal tribes in Australia set up further tent embassies in several locations. This was to support the striving for an Aboriginal nation of their own, which the last living founder of the first tent message, Michael Ghillar Anderson, is striving for as the leader of this movement. The regional tent embassies are not manned all the time. In the following the places and the time of the creation of the regional tent embassies are mentioned.
- Brisbane , Queensland (March 13, 2012)
- Cowra , New South Wales (May 27, 2012)
- James Price Point , Western Australia (September 14, 2011)
- Moree , New South Wales (April 12, 2012)
- Perth (on Heirisson Island ), Western Australia (February 12, 2012 and rebuilt in February 2015)
- Port Augusta , South Australia (August 15, 2012)
- Portland , Victoria (February 8, 2012)
- Redfern , a borough of Sydney , New South Wales (May 2014)
- Sandon Point , New South Wales (December 2000)
- Swan Valley , Western Australia (May 19, 2012)
- Woomera , Queensland (May 16, 2012)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Australia Day under a beach umbrella (English). In: National Museum Australia. accessed on March 17, 2015
- ↑ Willy Caruana: The Art of the Aborigines. (German edition). 198. Thames & Hudson, London 1999. ISBN 0-500-95051-2 .
- ^ Tent Embassy article by Uncle Neville Williams in Canberra Times
- ↑ Five Fast Facts - The Aboriginal Tent Embassy ( Memento of the original from April 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English). In: Reconcillation Australia. Retrieved March 15, 2015
- ↑ ABC report
- ↑ Natural Heritage Trust ( Memento of the original dated May 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Willy Caruana: The Art of the Aborigines. P. 198
- ^ Government press release ( Memento of August 31, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Canberra (English), on creativespirit.info, accessed on March 25, 2015
