PrefaceFor as long as I can remember, I was fascinated by the country of Australia and it quickly became a set idea to me that as soon as it was possible I was going to spent at least a couple of months "down under". Through this interest I read various book on Australia and became more and more aware of the problems indigenous people had to face in the country I adored so much.
When I heard about student exchange programs, I took the first chance and left at the beginning of 1999 to spend seven months in an Australian host family, missing the second semester of yr 10 in Austria but going to an Australian High School, where I attended yr 11classes.
From the beginning I knew that in some way I wanted not to let my experiences and memories fade away but do something useful with them which led me to the idea of writing a "Fachbereichsarbeit".
Through lots of books, discussions with (Australian) friends and family, as well as information I found on the Internet and other media, I feel I can give a broad overview of the problems indigenous people have to face since the arrival of "the white man" in the land down under.
First of all, I want to give a short introduction of Australia′s history which will be essential to understand the latest developments and the deepness of pain and unfortunately even hatred between to different cultures sharing one continent. Although these historical aspects are very interesting I will focus on the last decade to show the present situation and struggle of aboriginal people for reconciliation.
Jasmin Malekpour
1. Introduction
The indigenous People of Australia, called ,,The Aborigines", have inhibited the Continent of Australia for over 40,000 years by now.
In their past they lived in balance with the ecological system, they obtained their culture and religious beliefs, wandered the land and lived peacefully together in an often-unfriendly environment.
Their strong bounds to nature were displayed in sacrificial customs based on the "Dreaming", also called "The Dreamtime". This was the time when their ancient ancestors built the earth, showed them the meaning of the land and gave instructions on how they would have to be worshipped. Therefore the Aborigines had sacred sites where they held their ceremonies.
In 1770 Lieutenant James Cook "discovered" the continent of Australia and claimed it as colony for the British Empire on the legal grounds of the concept of terra nullius (the land belongs to no one). Aboriginal people were dispossessed, forced off their lands, they were regarded as mere working slaves and even as cattle that could be exploited and slaughtered. They were deprived of their humanity and all their legal rights.
Even in the 20th century the Australian government disregarded basic human rights and took children away from their families, "re-educated" them in mission schools and thereupon created the "Stolen Generation" of children who were withheld from their own indigenous identity.
It was not until 1992 that Australia′s indigenous people′s claims over their cultural heritage were endorsed by a verdict of the Australian High Court, known as the "Mabo decision", which destroyed the principle of terra nullius.
With a government still refusing to say a simple "sorry" in order to confess to all the crimes that happened in the centuries of white settlement and occupation of the country known to the world as "the land down under", the struggle for reconciliation is not over yet, it has only just begun.
2) A brief overview of indigenous history
2. 1) Dreamtime
In order to describe best the "time" on which Aboriginal believes, culture and traditions are based, I want to use a citation from an homepage about Aboriginal mythology:
"During the creation of our world, the ancestors moved across a barren land, hunting, camping, fighting and loving and in doing so shaped a futureless landscape.
Moving from Dreams to actions, the ancestors made the ants, the emus, the crows, the possums, the wallabies, the kangaroos, the lizard, the goanna, the snakes and all the food and plants.
They made the sun, the moon and the planets. They made the humans, tribes and clans.
Each could transform into the other. A plant could become an animal, an animal a landform, a landform a man or a woman.
Everything was created from the same source.
Everything was created in our Dreamtime.
As the world took shape and was filled with species and varieties of the ancestral transformations, the ancestors tired and retired into
· the earth
· the sky
· the clouds
· and the creatures to live within all they created
· in our Dreamtime." 1
[Still today Aborigines believe in the connection of all forms of life, might it be] "Human, Animal, Bird and Fish, [as being] part of one vast unchanging network of relationships which can be traced to the great spirit ancestors of the Dreamtime"
2 Abb.1
2. 2) Prehistory
[The people of the Aborigines] "came originally from somewhere in Asia and [has] been in Australia for at least 40,000 years. (In 1990 a date of 60,000 years [sic!] was suggested for a rock shelter in the Northern Territory, but the finding, based on the use of a recently developed technique called thermoluminescence, is still being evaluated.) The first settlement would have occurred during an era of lowered sea levels, when there was an almost continuous land bridge between Asia and Australia, but watercraft must have been used at some points. By 30,000 years ago most of the continent was occupied, including the southwest and southeast corners" 3
2. 3) White Discovery of the South Continent
[British explorer and navigator James Cook] "set out in the "Endeavour" in 1768, bound for Tahiti, to make observations of the planet Venus. His orders, however, also provided for charting the coasts of New Zealand and searching for "the Great South Land".
Leaving New Zealand in March, 1770, Cook sighted the south-east coast of Australia a few weeks later. He discovered and named Botany Bay, carefully explored and mapped the coast northward, and finally, on Possession Island in Torres Strait, took possession of the whole eastern coast, naming it New South Wales."
2. 4) British land claim and first (penal) settlements
After the American Revolution the British had lost all their land rights to the Americans and could no longer ship their prisoners to "The New World". "[Therefore the] British Government [decided] to establish a colony at Botany Bay (...) Captain Arthur Philip was commissioned (...) as ′Governor of our territory called New Wales (later New South Wales)′." 5
"A fleet of eleven ships sailed from England on the 13th[sic!]May 1787.5
In addition to their crews numbering over 400 seamen, the (...) ships carried about 780 convicts. Phillip arrived at Botany Bay on January 18, 1788. Finding the bay a poor choice, he moved north to Port Jackson, which he discovered to be one of the world′s best natural harbours. Here he began the first permanent settlement on January 26, now known as Australia Day. The settlement was named Sydney for [sic!] Britain′s home secretary, Lord Sydney, who was responsible for the colony. Phillip′s domain covered half of Australia (from the eastern oceanic waters to as far west as the 135th meridian)"6
In the beginning, encounters between white settlers and Aborigines were rare but when Tasmania (then Van Diem′s Land) was being colonialized, British killed almost all of the more than 5,000 inhibiting indigenous people.7
2. 5) The rise of the new colony
Despite the presence of convicts also many free settlers arrived in the new colony. They claimed more and more farmland on which convicts were used as cheap workers. The land was cultivated and Sydney began to flourish. Convicts were liberated after having had served their sentences. A new society was formed and the colony extended its reach continually. New settlements were founded.7
2. 5. 1) The colony′s official policy and its changing
"In principle, the official colonial policy throughout the 19th century was to treat the Aborigines as equals, with the intention of eventually converting them to Christianity and European civilization." 7
This policy quickly changed though and soon new laws laid the basis as a policy of punishment for uncivilized actions undertaken against indigenous people. [There was a] "severe culture clash between whites and Aborigines, which" [made hunting and poisoning Aboriginal people to leisure time activities of white settlers although they exploited them on their farms like slaves.] Neither Women, nor children were save although some governours and even church undertook efforts in order to keep relations between the races stable.7
8Abb. 3
Cruelties and massacres by settlers as well as neglect by the government, which lead to malnutrition and disease, made the number of Aborigines decline. [The high death rates were explained] "as a natural
process of `survival of the fittest′ ", [a term derived from social Darwinism.]9
2. 6) Stolen Generation
At the beginning of the new century, the number of the indigenous population had already reached a dramatic low. This was also caused by mixed race children (offspring of a white and an Aboriginal), called "half caste".10 Those children were thought to gradually stop the "Aboriginal problem" by feeling as whites and integrating into the non-indigenous society. Therefore, a law had to be passed which enabled government officials to take Aboriginal and half-caste children away from their families and force them to live in institutions run by the state and church for re-education.
This law made it illegal for everyone who had less than a certain percentage of European blood to grow up with his family and laid the foundation for "The Stolen Generation" - a term used to refer to the generations of children who were deprived of their families and cultural background as part of the genocide committed among Australia′s indigenous people.
In those institutions, settlements and missions children, normally taken away from their mothers at the age of four, were brought up by nuns and priests. They lived there until the average age of 14 and were then sent away to work as poorly paid servants for white families.
"Indigenous girls who became pregnant were sent back to the mission or dormitory to have their child. The removal process then repeated itself."
Up to the 1940s those missions were poorly founded but then the law was changed so that children could only be taken away from their parents based on neglect or mistreatment. Numbers of removals did not decrease though. In fact, they even increased as the government granted a larger endowment to Aboriginal children. This money was paid to State missions and institutions if children grew up there.
"During the 1950s and 1960s even greater numbers of Indigenous children were removed from their families to advance the cause of assimilation. Not only were they removed for alleged neglect, they were removed to attend school in distant places, to receive medical treatment and to be adopted out at birth [sic!]".
These practices were carried out until the 1970s.
In the 1980s the way of thinking and therefore removal procedures changed.11
It is hard and actually nearly impossible to estimate how many children were taken away from their families between 1900 and 1980 due to improperly kept records making it difficult to trace all the evidence.12
However, what can be said is that this policy of assimilation by removal has caused wide damage to all Aboriginal communities, families and almost every single individuum throughout the whole of the country.
There are numerous first-hand accounts of life in those institutions and its aftermath by Aboriginals and half Aboriginals who have undergone this treatment.
In the following, I want to place a few statements from Tjalaminu Mia′s article entitled "The Stolen Ones", in which she describes the way removal influenced her life:
"It was only after we had all grown up and were able to talk with Mum about some of the things that had happened to us that we began to understand on a deeper level the terrible manipulation. This manipulation was designed to break down the strong bonding that existed in most Aboriginal families. They wanted us to think our families were not interested in us, so that we would leave our heritage behind and take our place in `white′ society. This experience made all of us confused, hurt and insecure for a very long time. But slowly, things have turned around for us, though only after a traumatic road travelled to adulthood, maturity and for some of us - happiness and inner peace.
In hindsight, I can see all the negative ways in which institutionalization damaged the lives of my brothers, sisters and me and how it made it hard for us to reconcile with our mother and each other as a family." 13
14 Abb. 4
3) Aboriginal land rights
3. 1) Aboriginal affinity with their land
Indigenous people believed in the Dreamtime as already described in chapter 2.1). They thought that their spiritual ancestors had created the land the Aborigines lived on for them. Therefore, their bounds to their homeland were extremely personal ones.15
[For Aborigines Native Title is seen as a community title, which means that], "every member of a particular band, clan or sub-tribe owned a particular area." [These areas were referred to as their] "belonging place." However, community title was not the only way in which Native Title could be held. [There was also the possibility] of a "single headman or Elder" [being the] "custodian of the land."
"There were wars between tribes. But none that involved the conquering of one group by another for the sake of taking-over the land. The basic reason for this is linked to the belief that land had been created by spiritual beings, many of whom were considered to continue to live in the land they had created (in secret places). The Aborigines were a superstitious race and would not live in an area occupied by the spirits of another group." 16
3. 2) Discovery
When the British arrived on the continent of Australia, they claimed the region of New South Wales, which then expanded over almost half of the eastern part of the country, as their property.
This claim was based on James Cook′s discovery of the South Continent.
But did he actually "discover" the country? Could any place that was already occupied by people be "discovered" ?
[The Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius answered this question by stating that it] "was equally shameless (...) to claim for oneself by right of discovery what is held by another, even though the occupant may be wicked, may hold wrong views about God, or may be dull of wit. For discovery applies to those things which belong to no one."17
However, there was also the concept of "terra nullius".
3. 3) Terra nullius
[The concept of terra nullius meant] "a land belonging to no one." 18
Was this the case in Australia? Obviously not, as there had already been sightings of indigenous people by James Cook and his crew on their first journey to Australia.
[So, in order for the British to take Australia legally as their property there had to be determined] "whether" [the people sighted] "simply occupied the land or if they owned it."19
"European powers adopted the view that countries without political organization, recognizable systems of authority or legal codes could legitimately be annexed." 18
To the British it was clear at that time that all the above criteria were fulfilled and they could legally become the "owners" of the country of Australia.
3. 4) Settlers and Native Title
At the end of the 18th century European settlers, attracted by Australia′s recent discovery of gold, started to colonize the land. They ignored Native Title and forced indigenous people mercilessly off their land. Aborigines were no longer allowed to use their own language, hold their ceremonies or to venture coroborees. 20
"They were restricted from moving around their territory because it was fenced off into farms, towns quickly grew up on traditional hunting grounds, animals and birds were scared away and their habitat reduced
(in many cases) to nil." 21
This left Aborigines unable to lead their lives the way they were used to as hunting and gathering was no longer allowed for them. So they had to make their living by begging or stealing. 21
3. 5) Land Rights Movements
3. 5. 1) First movements in the 19th century
Only little is known about the resistance movements of Aborigines during the 19th century.
[There are stories about farm and mission raidings committed by indigenous people but legal steps were only taken by a few white Australians and British humanitarians who] "equated the existing system of colonization with slavery" [by comparing that]"slaves were denied their liberty, Aborigines their land, often their lives." 22
Although several attempts were made to pass new laws, which would grant Aborigines basic rights to their land, none of them really
succeeded. 23
3. 5. 2) Formation of associations and first legal gains
"By 1901, (...) Aboriginal people literally lived on the outskirts of towns or in ghettos in capital Cities while many worked and lived in mainstream society." 24
Starting from the 1920s, associations were formed in order to improve aboriginal living conditions and to help indigenous people gain more legal rights.
In the 1960s, public pressure and activism by aborigines had risen and forced the government to initiate legal changes.
Unfortunately, no real gains could be achieved until 1976. This was the year when the Aboriginal Land Rights Act was passed. However, this Act only concerned the Northern Territory and included only minor concessions.
Throughout the 1980s, resistance among federal governments and especially among mining companies against aboriginal postulation grew.
Nonetheless, in 1985 there were plans for a new law, which would have given indigenous people the right to obtain legal possession of national parks, undeveloped real estate and earlier reservations. Due to the pressure of companies this law was discarded though.
In October of the same year Uluru, known to Europeans as Ayers Rock, was given back to its original owners under the condition that it would remain open to the public.
Therefore, it was not until 1992 that Australia′s land policies were overthrown by the historical High Court judgement, which has come to be known as the "Mabo decision"25
3. 6) The Mabo decision and its aftermath
3. 6. 1) Edward Koiki Mabo - his life
26Abb. 5
"Edward Koiki Mabo was born on Mer on 29 June 1936 (...). He grew up and went to school on Murray." 27Later he often changed not only his profession but also his residence. He moved to the mainland where he worked among other things as canecutter, labourer or gardener.
[He became]"involved with [sic!] the trade union movement."
[His] "involvement in black organisations in Townsville dates from 1962 when he became secretary of the Aboriginal and Islanders Advancement League" (...). "In 1970 (...) he resigned and became president of the Council for the Rights of Indigenous People, an all-black organisation." 28
From 1973 to 1985, he was director of the Black Community School, which he had established together with friends.
[His] "involvement in" [certain] "organisations made him a national figure in black Australian circles (...)." 29
His struggle for justice led to the landmark ruling of the "Mabo decision". However, Edward Koiki Mabo did not live to see his victory over Australia′s tort concerning land rights. He died on 21 January 1992 and was buried on 1st of February 1992 in Townsville.
3. 6. 2) Claim for Native Title
[In 1981 Mabo and a group of other Murray Islanders decided] "to take their claim for native title to the High Court of Australia." 30
The court case, which was going to be the breakpoint in the land rights question, commenced in May 1982 and was not settled until ten years later, months after Edward Koiki Mabo had died of cancer.31
[The Australian High Court passed the case on to the Supreme Court of Queensland in 1987, where the issues of fact were to be determined, due to the fact that in 1985 the Queensland federal government had passed the Coast Islands Declaratory Act which extinguished] "any native title to land which may have existed prior to British annexation."
This Act was declared invalid by the High Court in 1988 but the hearings by the Queensland Supreme Court were at a standstill until 1989 when the Moynihan Inquiry commenced. 32 [Judge] "Moynihan delivered his judgement on 16 November 1990."
Abb. 6: Hearings before Justice Moyniham of the Supreme Court of Queensland, Mer, 198933
Thereafter the case was heard in the High Court in May 1991.
[It was not until the 3 June 1992, that] the High Court ruled in favour of Mabo in Mabo and Others v. the State of Queensland.
This destroyed the legal doctrine of terra nullius (...).
3. 6. 3) The meaning of the Mabo decision
The Mabo decision was one of the most important steps towards reconciliation. By destroying the concept of terra nullius indigenous people were given back the right of ownership for their own land, which they had inhibited for thousands of years.
Now mining companies feared for "their" property. Due to their strong economical influence the Mabo decision had to be modified.
So, in 1993 the Native Title Act was passed, trying to conciliate aboriginal claimants and non-aboriginal defendants by establishing a national court. If conciliation is not possible due to already expired claims, reparation payments for indigenous people are obligatory. 34
4) Exploitation of Aboriginal art
4. 1) Traditional art
Aboriginal art commenced about 25,000 years ago with rock and cave paintings which were based on a symbolic language that was used until only two or three generations ago. Cultural life was a permanent repetition of the myths of origin.
The motivation for "creating" art was a religious one. There was no differentiation between certain types of art like music, dance, narration and painting. Drawings were used to express dreams, which officiated a collective subconsciousness. 35
4. 2) Assimilation of art
4. 2. 1) Bark Painting
36
Abb. 7
In the Western part of Australia the basic artistic art were bark paintings. Normally they could not be transported as they were painted directly onto the trunks of dead trees but when European settlers arrived, they were so delighted by those pieces of art they wanted to purchase them. Therefore, Aboriginals especially made transportable bark paintings for their white customers. 37
4. 2. 2) Aboriginal paintings for Europeans
The policy of assimilation initiated by the first settlers (see 2. 5. 1) also made its impact on art.
In the 19th century Aboriginal children and adults were introduced to pen and paper, which they started to use for their drawings.
These drawings showed scenes of indigenous life and were made for the British. Therefore, art was no longer a way for Aboriginal people to express and live their mythology but an amusement for their white suppressors. 3
4. 2. 3) Albert Namatjira
38
Abb. 8
Albert Namatjira grew up on a mission station his parents had moved to. Nonetheless, at the age of thirteen his underwent the aboriginal ceremony of initiation, which gave him the chance to spend six months living in the outback with tribal elders who taught him traditional customs and laws.
Some years later, he met the arts teacher and painter Rex Batterbee who taught Albert how to paint. 39
Success and fame came quickly as Albert′s virtuosity and use of European techniques were seen as a great achievement of assimilation.
White Australians misunderstood his paintings though. Albert Namatjira did not choose his motives in accordance with the European conception of beauty, he selected the places he painted in order to show the special relationship Aboriginals had and still have to their land. 40
4. 3) Modern Aboriginal Art
4. 3. 1) Initiation of a new indigenous art
In the 1970s there were various Aboriginal settlements where white arts teachers instructed children in painting with acrylic tints and soon they started to use every reachable flat material for their "new art".
This new movement though had nothing in common with traditional Aboriginal art, far from it, it started a wave of modern indigenous craft based on and initiated by a "white" perception of arts.
The artefacts produced were sold in mission own shops and therefore no longer part of indigenous mythology but for the solemn use of making profit as it was interpreted by white Australians. 6
4. 3. 2) Formation of artists associations
After these new ideas had been introduced and therewith had created a new form of Aboriginal art, indigenous artists shifted from serving their
culture to becoming "artists by profession".
They sought international commercialisation and in order to do so artists associations were funded. 41
4. 3. 3) Other streams of modern Aboriginal art
There is a distinction between urban and rural arts although these terms rather refer to social surrounding than to art style.
Although urban indigenous artists have tried to redefine their cultural heritage and trace back their origins by the means of art. They not only use Aboriginal techniques but also mix them with European styles, whereas rural artists seek solidarity to the land by the use of traditional techniques, such as a strong relationship and extremely small distance between the motive, the material of the medium, the medium itself and the artist.7
4. 4) Today′s exploitation of Aboriginal art
Although Aboriginal art is highly commercionaliced nowadays, to the artists their paintings still signify the mythological background they try to transport and teach their children so their culture and believes will not be forgotten.
When Western companies noted the tremendous impact and success indigenous artist had not only in Australia but all around the world, they started to broadly use Aboriginal motives for their products. You will find anything from tea towels to socks, t-shirt and even screen savers showing more or less authentic Aboriginal art.
But this theft of cultural heritage had not been unnoticed.
There have been several cases when indigenous artists took companies to court.
"(...) Bulan Bulan, [ for example], a highly successful Aboriginal artist from central Arnhem Land, brought a successful action for "infringement of copyright and breaches of the Trade Practices Act 1974" in the Federal Court in Darwin against a T-shirt manufacturer who reproduced several of his paintings on T-shirts without his authorization (...). "This reproduction has caused me great embarrassment and shame," Bulan Bulan testified (...) some painters have come to establish special reputations by virtue of their proficiency and popularity in the western art market. Despite this commercial influence, the creation of a painting is regarded as an act in itself which conjures the spirit power of a tribe. The paintings are also used to educate members of a tribe in the tribe′s rituals and dreaming, and may be studied by younger tribe members, under the supervision of an artist, in order that the rituals of the tribe are properly imparted. This is done sometimes before an artwork is released for sale. In traditional Aboriginal society, the designs of a tribe are amongst the most important possessions of the members of the tribe. When an artwork is sold, it is never considered that the title to the design has passed. This always remains with the artist who is permitted by his tribe to depict the design in question." 42
5) Reconciliation
5. 1) Discrimination
[Aborigines] "are the single most disadvantaged group of people in Australia." 43
Although some white Australians still close their eyes to historical facts and deny Aboriginals present day situation, there is clear evidence on disadvantages and discrimination indigenous people have to face every day.
"In May 1991 the National Report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody reported: The racism under which Aboriginal people labour (sic) is institutionalised and systematic, and resides not just in individuals or in individual institutions but in relationships between the various institutions...An institution, having significant dealings with Aboriginal people, which has rules, practices, habits which systematically discriminate against or in some way disadvantage Aboriginal people, is clearly engaging in institutional discrimination or racism." 44
5. 2) Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation
"(...) Formed by a Federal Act of Parliament (the Aboriginal Reconciliation Act) in 1991, the Council is comprised of 25 members drawn from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and businesses people from a variety of business sectors. The Council′s vision for reconciliation was expressed as:
A united Australia which respects this land of ours;
values the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and
provides justice and equity for all."45
The council primarily was installed in order to improve the relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous citizens of Australia (Aboriginals were not granted full Australian citizenship until 1967 46)
5. 3) Sorry
47 Abb. 9
There is a strong urge in today′s Australian society for a formal apology to all indigenous people by government. The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation has there drafted a document that stated:
"Speaking with one voice, we the people of Australia of many origins
as we are, make a commitment to go on together recognizing the gift
of one another′s presence.
We value the unique status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
peoples as the original owners and custodians of traditional lands and waters.
We respect and recognise (sic) continuing customary laws, beliefs and traditions.
And through the land and its first peoples, we may taste this spirituality
and rejoice in its grandeur.
We acknowledge this land was colonised (sic) without the consent
of the original inhabitants.
Our nation must have the courage to own the truth, to heal the wounds
of its past so that we can move on together at peace with ourselves.
And so we take this step: as one part of the nation expresses its sorrow
and profoundly regrets the injustices of the past, so the other part accepts the apology and forgives.
Our new journey then begins. We must learn our shared history, walk
together and grow together to enrich our understanding.
We desire a future where all Australians enjoy equal rights and share
opportunities and responsibilities according to their aspirations.
And so, we pledge ourselves to stop injustice, address disadvantages and respect the right of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to determine their own destinies.
Therefore, we stand proud as a united Australia that respects this land of
ours, values the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and provides justice and equity for all." 48
Although Prime Minister John Howard had supported the declaration in the beginning he did not endorse it.
"Personally the Prime Minister said in the media, that he could not apologize for past acts towards Aborigines, that he wasn′t responsible for. He anticipated that the average Australian held the same point of view. In other words, the current generation of Australians were not responsible for acts that took place before they were born. In his Parliamentary speech, the Prime Minister′s said ′the reconciliation process must focus on the future."
6) Conclusion
Since the arrival of the British in Australia, Aboriginal people have permanently been disadvantaged.
In the beginning they were slaughtered and hunted like animals because they were not even considered human beings.
When this point of view had changed, they were still seen as inferior "race", which had no rights whatsoever. They were not only still deprived of their human dignity but also forced to assimilate into a culture that could not be any more contrary to their own.
Indigenous children were stolen from their families and forced to adopt a new way of living, withholding them from their proper heritage.
In recent years there have been significant changes in the Australian laws and society, commencing by granting aboriginals full citizenship to giving back land to its original owners under the impact of the "Mabo decision", which tried to right to wrongs of the past but still no real reconciliation could be achieved due to Prime Minister Howard′s refusal to say "sorry".
Although gestures of reconciliation are being made, such as Kathy Freeman, one of the most famous Aboriginal people, being the torchbearer at the Olympic opening ceremony, there is still the mandatory need for Justice and a formal apology.
