International Assimilatory Effort
The UK has recently blocked and refused to acknowledge the UN Declaration Of Collective Rights For Indigenous Peoples, stating clearly that it does not accept that all peoples have the right to self-determination, thereby overturning even the Universal Declaration Of Human Rights.
In a coordinated effort with this atrocious affront to the UN and to Indigenous peoples around the world, the Australian government has begun a campaign of digital and verbal violence against Aboriginal people, with the aim of extinguishing our hope of sovereignty forever. The basis for their propaganda is a "leaked" (oops!) dossier on child rape in impoverished Indigenous communities.
Irrational Propaganda - It Works
Never mind that all similarly impoverished communities suffer the same levels of abuse against children, regardless of ethnicity. Never mind that government claims of current Aboriginal self-governance are a lie. Never mind that the gaols (note colonial spelling) are crammed with Indigenous people who are ethnically overrepresented, despite government claims that they are "respecting Aboriginal customs by allowing elders to deal with crimes themselves". Never mind the truth. Bring on the lies.
The aim of these lies is baldly stated in the opening paragraph of the Times article. "It is a catalogue of atrocities that has shocked Australia and prompted the Government to declare Aboriginal people incapable of deciding their own destinies." Now, to help us swallow this bitter pill, the article goes on to graphically outline six consecutive cases of child molestation in Indigenous communities.
It's funny, whenever high-level paedophile rings are uncovered in the dominant culture, they are never accompanied by calls to strip power from those groups. When rampant paedophilia in the Church is exposed, nobody calls for an end to the clergy. But when a systematically persecuted and poverty-stricken Indigenous group is found to contain these same monsters, suddenly it's a national priority to have this group stripped of its autonomy. Autonomy, mind you, that has not once existed in any real form since European occupation.
Aboriginal Culture Equals Rape?
There is too much offensive drivel in this article to list, beginning with a simplistic and patronising appraisal of "men's business" as some kind of boy's club promoting sexual violence against women and children. Anyone who has participated in, or observed actual men's business would be horrified to see it portrayed in this way. True men's business is about sustaining and nurturing the land, culture and community, including women and children. Anyway, the term "men's business" is an English language utterance, and does not even begin to touch on a man's role in traditional Aboriginal society. If a few ignorant European lawyers have been misusing the term to get rapists out of prison, then that's not our fault. That's not our language, and that's not our way.
The Article Photo
The photograph* (pictured above) is the worst. The caption reads, "A minister has called Aboriginal camps ghettos of despair..." A mainstream viewing of the photo is that there are several old, sick women caked with mud and filth, sitting in a dustbowl, in front of makeshift homes cobbled together out of sticks, blankets and rubbish. They are cooking food in an old rusty bucket on an open fire. They look tired, and can only stand if aided by a walking stick.
That is not what I see. The "camps" they are referring to are those on the ouskirts of Alice Springs, where housing is provided for Indigenous locals to segregate them from the mainstream neighbourhoods and international tourist areas. I've been to these "camps", and have seen no shanties - only solid brick houses and streets. So why are they called camps? Because historically, in the old days every town had a "blacks' camp" on the outskirts where the local remnant Aborigines were forced to stay. As far as I know, Alice Springs is one of the few places that still openly continues this practice, even retaining part of the original label. That politicians have even adopted this language is indicative of the colonial mindset of the government propagandists.
So, what do I see in the photo, if I know it is not actually a picture of the "camps" or "ghettos" as the caption claims? I see women engaging in activity in a ceremony that shouldn't be on the front page of a newspaper to be viewed by men like me. I see women painted up with clay for ceremony, with the area carefully cleared of grass and the ground swept smooth. I see something boiling on the fire for craftwork - possibly dyes, but not my place to say. I see four vibrant, healthy older women keeping their culture alive. One stands, holding a stick, talking to those gathered (out of shot) about something of importance. Temporary lean-to's have been erected with posts and blankets to provide shade from the sun during the ceremony. The photographer has been trusted enough to be allowed to take this picture.
That trust was obviously misplaced, considering what the photo was designed to communicate - "This is how they live! Quick! Don't ever let them gain autonomy or women and children will continue to be violated and killed."
The "Women And Children" Trump Card
Propagandists always use the "women and children" line. I recall seeing a debate in which the merits of the terms "freedom-fighters" vs "terrorists" were being argued. The "terrorist" labellers had lost the debate, so they simply said, "Women and children," and then suddenly the contest was theirs. Works every time. It is the best weapon in the Western propagandist's arsenal.
But have you noticed that it's never a crime for a Western government to kill women and children? That is not terrorism. That is not something that automatically results in the dominant culture being stripped of the right to self-govern. Why does it not matter that this government has killed more women and children in our communities than the worst of our murderers and rapists ever have, or ever will?
More on this in my related article, Reframing Genocide
* Photograph As I don't believe this image should have been used in a newspaper as it was, I have thought long and hard about whether or not I should show it here. In a way, the damage has already been done, with the image printed on the front page of thousands of newpapers. I have obscured the faces, and the image is too small to make out any real detail.
