AND I KNEW NOTHING - Bicentennial January, 1988

 

Worship in the Park

The Festival of Sydney -- The Domain, Sydney

Choreography: Annette Maie

Music:  Alister Spence

Guest performers: National Aboriginal and Islander Dance Theatre

(I don’t remember who took the rehearsal and performance photos, but I am so grateful to have this memory – with thanks)

January 1988 was a pivotal moment for me.  There were bicentennialcelebrations around the continent to mark 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet from Britain, especially at Sydney Cove/Warrang  – ground zero.  As descendants of First Fleet convicts there was a sense of excitement in the family and I and a few others dressed up in 'convict gear' to head down to the steps of the Opera House to watch the official ceremonies, including the re-enactment of the arrival of the Fleet tall ships.

As we walked to the Quay we passed a significant protest march of tens of thousands from Aboriginal communities and supporters.  I’m not sure how, but I already knew something was not quite right so had made some earrings of the Aboriginal flag to wear in my ears.  As they passed I cheered them on.  It was a weird moment.

After the official ceremony was over we headed back to St James church where I had been teaching colonial dance to some of the congregation, and we performed a set of dances in the square between the church and the law courts.

Leading up to the celebrations we had been rehearsing for an ecumenical service in the Domain - Worship in the Park - for which I had been invited to choreograph segments of a danced history of arrivals and conflicts, leading to a message of reconciliation and ‘working together for the future’.  I read Manning Clark’s A Short History of Australia in preparation.  The fact that I had to do this reflects how little I knew of, or had interest in, Australian history at the time.

The National Aboriginal and Islander Dance Company had been invited to be part of the performance to represent the First Peoples of this continent, their enduring life and culture, and to be involved in the following scenes as part of the Australian cultural mix.  The music and direction of the scenes had already been decided so already it was an invitation illustrative of privilege and ignorance.

NAISDA company insisted on including a dance solo to the song: My Brown Skin Baby, They Take 'im Away by Bob Randall.  At the time the organisers did not realise the significance of the song even though it had been well known in Aboriginal communities for eighteen years, neither did I, and there was a lack of understanding about NAISDA's insistence.  But, of course, it was the story and reality of the Stolen Generations.  These events that had a devastating impact on Aboriginal communities across this continent, including on Bob Randall, had not been included as part of 'our' Australian story.  We, that is the church organisers and me as a choreographer, thought we were being inclusive.  We weren't.

Brown Skin Baby was included in full. 

 

 

AND I KNEW NOTHING

NOTHING ABOUT how the land was stolen.

NOTHING ABOUT the stealing of babies and children or that it was not just a one-off event but government policy.

NOTHING ABOUT the church or government controlled missions and reserves where tens of thousands of Aboriginal peoples were sent and confined – at least fourteen missions and hundreds of reserves in NSW alone.

NOTHING ABOUT the wars, massacres and other atrocities carried out on Aboriginal peoples by settlers and government forces or the waves of infectious diseases brought in by the newcomers that decimated communities.

NOTHING ABOUT the protests and requests and approaches to governments from Aboriginal peoples since 1788 about rights to land, self-determination and to be heard and listened to which were repeatedly ignored, dismissed or reversed on change of government.

NOTHING ABOUT the Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal men who fought in the Australian Defence forces in all wars - including the Boar War, WWI and II, Borneo and Vietnam - before they were even considered citizens by Australia, and returned to discrimination, prejudice, unemployment and lack of benefits that other returned personnel received.  Some returned to discover the reserves that they had been living on had been closed by the government and the land handed over to returning soldiers, but not to Aboriginal returning soldiers, and that they, their families and communities had been moved on. 

NOTHING ABOUT the discrimination, apartheid, and violence that was directed towards Aboriginal peoples and families in all communities and which continues during my lifetime.

In spite of my ignorance I somehow knew how we needed to end the performance – finish with one of the members of NAISDA Company out in front leading us all into the future.

So began my journey to try and (un/re) learn and understand.

 

This year, 2023, Australians are being asked to consider the proposal for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander body, called the Voice, embedded in the Australian Constitution which will, in addition to recognising the 60,000+ years of Aboriginal law and culture prior to colonisation, and continuing, ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices are heard on matters and law which will affect them.

Constitutional recognition through a Voice would enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to give advice to the Federal Parliament about laws and policies that impact them through a simplified policy making process and structural change.

(Fromtheheart)

So this year I am carrying the image of that last scene from the performance: members of the First Nations peoples of this continent being recognised as such in the Constitution, being listened to, and leading us into the future.

............................

2025 Update.  It is now history that the Voice Referendum was defeated by the Australian public and that Aboriginal voices had, once more, been dismissed and silenced.  In W.E.H. Stanner's Boyer lectures, 'After the Dreaming' (1968) he analyses the 'cult' of 'silence', 'disremembering' and self-focus that exists, and obviously is continuing to exist, in relation to the Aboriginal experience of colonised Australia.