Senior Indigenous Men Forgotten

There have been real achievements in relation to articulating the needs of indigenous woman and children over the last decade.  The needs of senior indigenous men are not taken so seriously; and this group is regularly marginalised and poorly represented in non-indigenous forums.

This is probably because a perceived degree of similarity with women and children between the two cultures when approached from a modern viewpoint (as found in the mainstream media).

The perceived needs of indigenous women and children make ‘commonsense’ and appear to require little serious thought.

However, understanding the needs and role of senior indigenous men in Australian life poses a much more difficult challenge.

In place of informed opinions based on real indigenous men, we regularly encounter the worst kind of negative stereotypes. And so we are manipulated by those with other agendas.

Learning to ‘see’ Australia and speak fair-dinkum Australian

The present episode in the long running debate about whether or not tourists should be allowed to climb Uluru, against the wishes of the traditional owners shows us that we are making some progress in learning to ‘see’ Australia.

There are many people who respect the Traditional Owners requests, even if they do not fully understand the reasons why. That is a promising sign. A respectful stance is the main pre-requisite for real life indigenous studies 101.

You can click here for a media release and views of Anangu Traditional owners on this issue.

I think it was Harry Butler who said, years ago in an interview in Playboy of all places, (Interview: Harry Butler. Issue: 1980.07?) that we have to learn to appreciate the culture of the people at Uluru in order to really appreciate the place of the "Rock" in Australian life.

Drawing Level VS Closing the Gap

Meaningful change needs to be a two-way street.