Ae Marika – The struggle for indigenous rights continues …

Posted on October 10, 2012 by admin in Ae Marika

Just back from the Great Southern Land and saw a few things over there that I reckon we could do up here in the far north – like a man-made lagoon on the shoreline where people and kids can swim safely (an easy fit for a place like Ahipara, great for the far north and a tourist puller), and free community BBQ’s in public places (great for encouraging people to get out and eat at the pools, in the park, and just get together), and excellent sports facilities and sports grounds everywhere (like Aniwaniwa).

Mind you, their TV is crap so people spend a lot more time outside anyway – hence the excellent outdoor facilities!!

I actually went over to watch my moko play in the Queensland Maori Rugby League Tournament, and I was also hugely impressed with the level of organisation and support that this event attracted. They had U16s, U18s, U20s and Premiers. Each team was well prepared and immaculately turned out (training gear, polo shirts and playing strip). Kids had to travel for hours to make the training and the tournament and some kids even had to fly down from way up north and organise accommodation for a fortnight just to participate, but they all made it.

The really cool bit was being able to catch up with a whole heap of people, including friends I hadn’t seen since the 70s, whanau from all over the place, and to no-one’s great surprise a really close knit Aniwaniwa crew who live all over Queensland, play for different clubs, but all hang out together – an excellent day, wicked weather (hard grounds and 35o heat), great whanaungatanga, and of course … too much kai.

Oh yeah, and we also got caught up in a big Aboriginal land rights march as well.

We’d just finished breakfast when I got a call from an old Movement brother Tiga Bayles, who (like somebody else I know) had spent the last 25 years building a school and a radio station in his community.

He’d heard I was in town and promptly ordered me to drop everything and “get your black a**e into town right now mate, we’re marchin’ again”, so I grabbed the whanau and off we went.

It was the 30th anniversary of the Aboriginal protest against the Brisbane Commonwealth Games and in favour of Aboriginal Land rights back in 1982, and the opportunity to complete the march through Brisbane which the police had stopped 30 years ago. How’s that for patience … 30 years to complete a march of some 5 kilometres!

And the turnout included some very prominent (and now very grey) warriors I’d marched with over the last 40 years, including: Michael Mansell, activist and lawyer, who had established the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, helped draft legislation on Aboriginal land rights, and was the current secretary of the Aboriginal Provisional Government; Grace Smallwood, a very powerful Aboriginal nurse and midwife with an excellent perspective on the way in which racism impacts on Aboriginal health; Geoff Clark, first chairman of ATSIC (Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders Commission); Les Malezer, co-chair of the National Council of Australia’s First Peoples and an Aboriginal activist well known in the United Nations for his efforts in lobbying for indigenous rights; and of course Tiga Bayles himself, son of another prominent Aboriginal woman activist, writer and poet, Maureen Watson.

The struggle for indigenous rights continues …

AE MARIKA is an article written every week by Hone Harawira, leader of the MANA Movement and Member of Parliament for Te Tai Tokerau. You are welcome to use any of the comments and to ascribe them to Mr Harawira.