that only exists at home or in the community. All of a sudden they feel proud because they’re
part of this beautiful ancient culture that’s being celebrated as it should in school. And
everyone understands and they can walk with a sense of pride. And the white kids who feel
guilt and shame as a result of what their ancestors did, they can also feel like they belong.
And realise that some of the racist shit that’s been passed down is not actually true. I have an
Uncle, Gubbi Gubbi fella, sometimes we’d be travelling and we’d notice racist things—him
getting treated differently than I did if we walked into a shop or whatever. And I’d get pissed
off. And he’d always be like, “Oh poor fella, don’t worry, you know, it’s not his fault. It’s how
he was brought up.” And it still exists today. I mean one of the Bundjalung boys from Fingal
was telling me just last week some kid was calling him “coon” and “boong” and shit at the
local high school. And that’s up here around Byron Bay, one of the most progressive places
in the country. And this is going on. And the kid got expelled and, you know, it’s all good.
But these kids are saying there’s a lot of racism towards them at school. And it breaks your
heart. But you know, are those kids to blame? Well yeah they shouldn’t be saying that stuff.
But where have they heard it from? Generations of people who don’t understand. And our
education system is the most important part of the story.You imagine society 20 years from now once all those kids grew up. It’s only the non-
Indigenous people of Australia who go on that journey themselves that get to understand
that wisdom that’s a beautiful part of our lives. Everyone else is denied it and has been
denied it since Captain Cook arrived. And it’s a great shame. And it continues to this day.
I just don’t get it. It’s not even a topic that seems to come up.Oh totally. And that’s not going
to go away. That’s going to take
a few generations. But it has to
start. And the Old People have
to accept too that reconciliation
stuff has to be done in a different
way. It has to. The fact is that
everyone has to work together.
And it has to be reshaped. I see it
every time I go to New Zealand.
I was there recently and this mob did a welcome dance for me. It was one of the most
powerful things I’ve seen. And the next minute this one fella started singing a Maori song and
a whole crowd started singing along with it. There’s 2000, 3000 people with pride singing
along. Where do you ever see that in Australia?Where do you ever see people doing that? And the sad part is I felt equally as sorry
for white Australia because they’re denied that opportunity. We know about pain on
the black side but also the white side, there’s so much pain there. There’s so much shame and
so much guilt. And most people are good people. Most people are absolutely appalled by theNo. And it’s landing at that true understanding that this country has a
black soul, a black history—but it also has a black future. And I think some
of the hesitation from our community, and I hear what you’re saying, but
some of the hesitation is that how can we talk about one consciousness
when we haven’t yet even “conciled”—there’s nothing to reconcile—we’re
talking about “conciling.” And exactly what you’re saying. The systemic
change at that level of education with our young ones is the bridge to be
able to have that conversation about being one spirit. But that bit does
have to happen first. And you can understand why there’s a lot of mistrust.
Nah. It doesn’t happen.
If our government decided we’re going to have
Indigenous education in every school and we’re
going to make it as important as the rest of the
curriculum, fuck there’d be some changes.93RALLIESCONVERSATIONS