Suze,
I agree wholeheartedly. At one stage I was in Alice Springs and one of the
Government ministers at the time used to get me to sound out Aboriginal
opinion on various matters. When this happened I would never put a time
limit on the negotiations. The circularity of discussion used to drive so
many bureaucrats and politicians mad but for some reason, which I don't
fully understand, I was able to live with this form of discussion quite
comfortably. My approach was the opposite to the usual negotiations that
took place between the polies and the Aboriginal People, which consisted of
arriving about two hours late in a aeroplane, stepping out and asking some
question to which the answer would be, "Yes." The polie would return to
Darwin or wherever waving his piece of white paper but somewhere down the
track the People would say, "But we never said that" or "Agreed to that."
And that would be true because as you say they just clam up and anyway for
them it is bad manners to say "No!" to these propositions until fully
considered.
This is what I mean by sovereignty, making meaningful decisions about your
own lives in your own way. If Pearson has not respected this path then he
needs to be chopped off until he does. I find it difficult to understand why
he would do such a thing because he must know.
Cheers,
Ian Henderson.
_____________________________________________________________
Ian Henderson Murdoch University
24 Harfleur Place Perth, W.A.
Hamilton Hill Tel: 61-8-9418-3972
Western Australia, 6163 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
May all beings be free from the tyranny of my expectations (Miriam Solon)
_____________________________________________________________
Subject: Re: [recoznet2] Issues Pearson raised
> Tim the Qld govt has not gone ahead yet with this plan. I found this clip,
reveals just a bit of
> dissention up the Cape. I also note *none* of 300 that attended the Wujal
Wujal summit raised
> concerns at the time...why? I'm unsure, but I've got a strong suspicion
it's because of a lack of
> understanding the protocols.
>
> Those respecting aboriginal law are unlikely to voice concerns at a
briefing while they're absorbing
> the info they've just been given. Ya just shouldn't expect quick
decisions, its not on. You try and
> hurry people for a quick decision and they're likely to tell you what you
want to hear,
> simultaneously switching off...because your too impatient and rude. Ya
gotta present info, then
> leave plenty of time for individual representatives to fully think over
*all the potential
> consequences* of proposals...then they'll discuss it with other tribal
members whose opinions they
> respect, pointing out what they're concerned with thus far...sharing the
burden of such
> responsibility. Then, leave more time to let their collegues think...then
they'll discuss it again
> and come to a conclusion. Then a representative will be able to give you a
'well thought out
> response'.
>
> Especially these days with all the heavy responsibility on people's
shoulders when they do act as a
> tribal representatives...ya gotta respect these protocols. It's their
neck on the chopping
> block...if they go out on a limb and make a decision that the rest are
upset with...its not just a
> mistake that's eventually forgiven, they're not trusted with tribal
responsibilities anymore...and
> that's a truly shameful situation to live with, really bad for the guys in
particular.
>
> I'm getting the impression a lot of people think aboriginal "culture" is
not much more than bark
> paintings and dance expression. To me, the guts of aboriginal culture is
*the law and the protocols
> of respect*.
>
> Yeah Don, got ya drift there, I've learnt a bit in the last few days : )
> From what I have read Balkanu is already established as Pearson's Advice
Consultancy, but I have no
> info 'yet' of whether Balkanu is implicated in the "plan". I'd be very
surprised if they weren't
> though.
> http://www.balkanu.com.au/index.html
> I don't begrudge Pearson earning a crust. In my personal opinion he's just
gotta get back in touch
> with his people's feelings. At the moment 'some' of his ideas are talking
assimilation, pure and
> simple. People are wondering why, and of course are gonna suspect it's for
some kinda personal gain,
> career status. He better jump into damage control real fast. I get the
impression he really means
> well, and its maybe cuttin him up that he can't just plonk the nice and
simple solutions in front of
> everyone. But ya can't ignore aboriginal culture if ya wanna fix these
problems. No
> shortcuts...Cultural Respect comes first and foremost.
>
> Suze
>
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