It’s National Reconciliation Week (NRW) - a time to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture in Australia and foster reconciliation.
It's the first reconciliation week since the failure of Australian people to adopt the Voice to Parliament referendum last October.
We’ve been blithely posting a project each day, celebrating collaborations with Noongar artists and Elders to share their stories, their way.
And that’s all nice, however on reflection, in a post-referendum Australia there is a lot of hurt and anger and rejection, and that needs to be addressed.
That’s reflected in the NRW theme this year "now more than ever"; it’s an urgent call for progress.
Reconciliation needs to be the work of wadjelas / white fellas, and that work starts with truth telling.
So, instead of celebratory posts, we’re inviting you to make plans for tonight or maybe the weekend - make a cuppa, get comfy on the couch, pop on the tellie, and settle in for some truth telling.
We’re recommending that you turn to SBS On Demand and watch The Australian Wars.
It’s a three-part award winning documentary series that traces the Australian frontier wars from the landing of the First Fleet in 1788 until the 1920s.
Created by the brilliant First Nations filmmaker Rachel Perkins, it seeks to understand the tactics and strategies employed by both British and Aboriginal people, and asks why war was never declared.
The series focuses particularly on Aboriginal resistance to settlement, and explores the lives of those involved in the wars, its impact and legacy on Australia today, and what has been called "the great Australian silence" about many of the massacres.
Truth Telling
Now More Than Ever
