Namatjira
An Australian Aboriginal Artist's Life Of Oppression And Injustice
Oldman Namatjira was an internationally renowned artist who lived under racist local laws making him an illegal alien on his own land. Still had to pay taxes though.
A… Namatjira was an Arrente man from Central Australia. He became so famous that in 1957, he and his wife were made honorary citizens of Australia, as at that time Aborigines were regarded as aliens on their own land.
Before he was granted citizenship however, he existed under a double standard. Although he was not allowed a basic citizen’s rights, such as the right to own his own house, he was still expected to pay taxes on earnings from his paintings.
Even after he and his wife were granted honorary citizenship, his children still did not belong to him. Legally, they remained wards of the state.
A year later, he was arrested for giving alcohol to a relative, an Aborigine who did not share the same citizenship priveleges as Mr Namatjira. He was kept under open arrest for two months as a result, and by most accounts was jailed for six months. The following year he was dead.
Upon his death, his estate (including all his paintings, worth millions) was seized by the government. It was sold to an American millionaire. In the following decade, when all Aborigines were granted citizenship, his family was left penniless. Today, his children are still denied compensation for the loss of their rightful inheritance.
