Sovereignty Day
Today, Friday January 25th 2008, marks the 219th anniversary of the last day that Australia’s indigenous population had full and unchallenged sovereignty over their lands, and is therefore the day that I think should be celebrated as Sovereignty Day. Tomorrow, Australia Day, marks 220 years since Arthur Philip, by mere speech act, decreed that the entire continent belonged not to its inhabitants, but to the British Empire instead.
In commemoration and acknowledgement of this, I’d like to share a sentiment demonstrated two nights ago by Björk at her concert in Sydney, which I was lucky enough to attend.
During her encore, she dedicated a song to Australia’s Indigenous people, which I thought was a nice gesture, though one which was probably lost on the majority of the crowd. It’s not very musically adventurous, but when I heard the lyrics I was amused, especially in the context of the NT intervention. So here it is:
In case you’re wondering what that awesome instrument is, it’s called a reactable. It’s basically a synthesiser with a very cool visual method of input; manipulating perspex blocks to alter the properties of the modulation, all of which happens in a computer and is translated to the surface via a camera and a projector underneath.
It’s very cool and I want one. Pity; only two exist.
A minor point (but one that is important to those of us from Western Australia) is that it was not the whole continent that was claimed at that time, but only the eastern half (well, two-thirds). The western part was formally claimed some time later (1829?). Growing up in WA I recall it was a common complaint that ‘Australian Day’ was actually ‘Eastern States Day’.
Dez
25 Jan 08 at 9:48 pm
I stand corrected. Thanks Dez.
jangari
25 Jan 08 at 11:32 pm
The arrogance of the colonizer is boundless, regardless of which part of the world their claiming for themselves.
Mrs. Chili
25 Jan 08 at 11:50 pm
Oh come on Guys the reality of the world is that we can only truly own a piece of land if we can exclude others from it.
This country could have been colonised by anyone and the indigenous people could have been far worse off, than they are now, under a different regime we could be speaking French and you lot would have a great deal more to complain about. Good bad or indifferent we can’t change the events of 220 years ago but we can celebrate the virtues of the country now and that is what Australia day is about, rather than being a reason to whine about wrongs in the distant past.
Iain Hall
26 Jan 08 at 2:09 pm
n how was the bjork concert? what did she play? any classics? i’m jealous you got to see her…
wamut
28 Jan 08 at 2:43 pm
Iain, that first sentiment of yours is particulary worrying - are you advocating some sort of proprietary anarchy?
Secondly, I think the language of the colonisers is neither here nor there; the country was colonised in a manner that, under our current understanding, was highly immoral. If we were mature enough as a nation to accept that fact, then it would be a large step in the right direction, but we aren’t. Instead, we seem determined to continue on with a colonial mindset that assumes that everyone wants what Anglo-Saxon people want. In that respect, nothing major has changed since 1788.
Finally, the virtues of this country, wonderful as they are, would not have been possible without this immoral acquisition of land. So in fact, if Australia Day is about celebrating Australia’s achievements, then it should be a day of thanks to Aborigines for their land, without which we would not be able to prosper.
It was brilliant, Gagu. Hunter, Pluto, Hyperballad, a few off Medúlla and quite a few from Volta, which I haven’t even heard yet.
It was a pretty good show all in all, especially with that reactable, but definitely overpriced.
jangari
28 Jan 08 at 3:05 pm