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[eniar] update | October 2002

• STOLEN GENERATIONS
~~~~~~~~~~~
Rabbit-Proof Fence, which opens in the UK in November and the USA in December, and is currently showing in Europe, is the first major film to dramatise the 'Stolen Generations'.

Aboriginal children were taken from their parents, institutionalised and trained for low grade domestic and farming work. This was the government's assimilationist, some say genocidal, policy for much of the twentieth century.

The Australian government has refused to apologise for this policy and Labor has stopped pursuing them.

The Guardian reports on the furore the film has generated
http://www.eniar.org/news/fickling.html
The first compensation claim has finally been won
http://www.eniar.org/news/compo1.html
Indigenous people have expressed widespread support for a reparations tribunal http://www.eniar.org/news/restoreident.html
Doris Pilkington Garimara, the author of the book on which the movie is based and the daughter of one of its central characters, says that organisations that support the 'Stolen Generations' are crying out for proper funding http://www.eniar.org/news/rabbit2.html

Our main Rabbit-Proof Fence page includes links to articles about a new wave of Aboriginal-themed movies » http://www.eniar.org/news/rabbit.html
Our main 'Stolen Generations' page » http://www.eniar.org/news/stolen.html
Find out where Rabbit-Proof Fence is screening in the UK »
http://www.eniar.org/news/rpfvenues.html

• RECONCILIATION
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The government's approach to reconciliation has been attacked as 'directionless and unaccountable', "no longer an issue of national importance" » http://www.eniar.org/news/hreoc1.html

Says London's Independent newspaper; "Australia marches backwards on its Aborigine rights" http://www.eniar.org/news/marks.html

'Work for the dole' schemes attacked by Indigenous Australians as "labour apartheid" and "the old Australian habit of indentured labour for blacks" »
http://www.eniar.org/news/langton1.html

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) has suffered years of attack — but, because other levels of government don't fulfill their responsibilities, ATSIC has to pay the bill and then face accusations of ineffective use of the money » http://www.eniar.org/news/welfare.html

• LAND RIGHTS
~~~~~~~~~~~
Mining giant Rio Tinto has said it will abandon the Jabiluka uranium mine after years of campaigning by the Mirrar people »
http://www.eniar.org/news/jabiluka8.html

The Martu in WA have won their native title claim, though they will not have ownership of rich mineral and petroleum deposits » http://www.eniar.org/news/Martu.html
But the Miriuwung-Gajerrong also in WA lost; a "step back to the days of terra nullius" and a "severe blow to the land rights movement" say Aboriginal people » http://www.eniar.org/news/Miriuwung.html

Has recognition of traditional rights to land made things "better" asks Galarrwuy Yunupingu »
http://www.eniar.org/news/clark.html#Galarrwuy

• OTHER NEWS & OPINION
~~~~~~~~~~~
Activist Bruce Reyburn asks 'Will Australian Prime Minister John Howard show his true colours when he visits Africa to protect the privileges of white farmers?' » http://www.eniar.org/news/reyburn.html

Australia's richest Land Council has said it will launch legal action in the UK that royal instructions were ignored when Aborigines were dispossessed of their land » http://www.eniar.org/news/crownsued.html

Meet Deborah Mailman, Aboriginal star of the hit soap 'The Secret Life of Us' »http://www.eniar.org/news/mailman.html

Acclaimed Tasmanian author Richard Flanagan told London's Guardian newspaper about a bitter row about what it means to be an Aboriginal person. Read his story and Tasmanian Aboriginal leader and lawyer Michael Mansell's response »
http://www.eniar.org/news/Flanagan.html

ACTION
~~~~~~~~~~~
The campaign for the return of 'Stolen Wages' continues.

From 1904 to 1987, the Queensland Government withheld or underpaid wages earned by Aboriginal workers. Aboriginal stockmen and domestic workers were the underpaid backbone of the pastoral industry for much of the 20th Century.

The State Government has offered a settlement but it represents only a fraction of what was stolen — Indigenous people regard it as "insulting" and "blackmail". ENIAR is supporting this campaign and your assistance would be greatly appreciated » http://www.eniar.org/action/stolen.html

We have an extensive guide to intergovernmental, Non-Government and Indigenous Support Organisations based in Europe and internationally, for aborigines and others interested in European campaigning »
http://www.eniar.org/euro.html

EVENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~
REMINDER: The Institute of Archaeology in conjunction with the European Network for Indigenous Australian Rights (ENIAR) will be hosting a public lecture with Doris Pilkington Garimara followed by a reception on:

Monday November 4th, 6.30-7.30pm
@ G6 Lecture Theatre, Institute of Archaeology, University College London
31-34 Gordon Sq, WC1H OPY (nearest Underground: Euston or Euston Square)

Map of the area including directions
»http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?G2M?X=529735&Y=182224&A=Y&Z=1
Transport for London travel information updates
»http://www.londontransport.co.uk/tfl/service_inf.shtml

Other places to check for news of events »
http://www.eniar.org/events/index.html#others

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