Media Release 21st September 2000 Aboriginal Elder embarking on a Speaking Tour in Japan Aboriginal Elder, Wadjularbinna, will be leaving for Japan on Saturday 23rd September for a 14-day speaking tour to highlight the struggle of her people. The tour is organised by Professor Goichi Terachi of the Tokyo Keizai University with the support from other concerned individuals in Japan. Wadjularbinna is a spokesperson for the Gangalidda people from Doomadgee Aboriginal Community in Queensland's Gulf Country. She gained prominence through her campaign against the Century Zinc Project and, more recently, her involvement in a number of court cases undertaken against the Australian government for genocide. Wadjularbinna will be the guest speaker for the centennial celebration of the Tokyo Keizai University. She will later travel to Hokkaido to meet with Mr Shigeru Kayano, the most respected Ainu Elder in Japan. Shigeru is a noted ethnographer and the founder-curator of the Ainu museum in Nibutani, the heartland of the Ainu people in Hokkaido. He was the first and the only Ainu parliamentarian in the Diet. According to Prof Terachi, "It will be mutually empowering for the Ainu and Indigenous Australians to share each other's experience and culture so that their shared vision based on spirituality - as against the imposed materialism, can be advanced. In light of globalisation, it is critically important for indigenous peoples around the world to join forces to fight for their rights to live according to their own beliefs and systems." Earlier this week, Wadjularbinna gave evidence on behalf of her people at a sea claim hearing in Mornington Island. She says, "I have fought long and hard for my people to have our laws, our spirituality and our culture recognised and accepted. I am getting old and I have not seen any positive change for my people. Today, we are still not free to live as who we are because our spirituality and our way of life is connected to the land and water, and we continue to be denied free access to these." Wadjularbinna will be delivering a series of lectures and talks in Japan to a cross section of Japanese society, including the media. To date, the Tour has already attracted much media interest in Japan. "My people are dying, the Elders are despairing, our young ones have no future and unless our fundamental rights are recognised and upheld, the genocide of my people will continue. While the world is focusing on Australia because of the Sydney Olympics, I'm taking the messages of my people overseas to tell the world the hidden story of Australia.' Says Wadjularbinna. Wadjularbinna will be accompanied by her grand daughter Belinda Falbo and supported by Lee Tan and Belinda O'Dwyer of Friends of the Earth Australia. ------------------------------------------------------ RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 and is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/ To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." RecOzNet2 is archived for members @ http://www.mail-archive.com/recoznet2%40paradigm4.com.au/
