Paul Iozzi's letter in the last Nonviolence Today was a catalyst for me to become aware of the absence in these pages of discussion on Aboriginal nonviolent struggle. This is a letter of suggestions to Paul, and an encouragement generally for NvT and participants in ANN to bring out and think about the Aboriginal history of nonviolence.
There have been some excellent discussions and resources made available on this subject. Much of the resource is available through radio history and documentary.
The following are programmes that I have heard that may or may not have references to nonviolence.
· The Pilbara strike in the 1940s. (history programme) The Freedom bus rides. (Awayee)
· The tent embassy campaign (Awayee)
There is an excellent interview with Marcia Langton done by Philip Adams in which Marcia talks about choosing nonviolence after visiting the United States in the late 60's; And about how they developed campaigns and strategies including the early thinking behind Mabo.
Other campaigns in which there is currently a lot written, stories told.
· The campaign to win the referendum in 1967.
· The Gurindji walk out. (Complete with Kev Carmody/Paul Kelly song).
· The current reconciliation campaign. (Heaps available from the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation - including strategies and plans).
· The current native title campaign. (A new group Australians for NT and Reconciliation have an entire nonviolence campaign planned for 1997/1998).
· The Hindmarsh Island Campaign. (Kumarangk Coalition).
· The Starke Campaign (The Cairns Wilderness Society).
There are very many examples of green or peace campaigns that have had some element of an Aboriginal land rights (solidarity??) campaigns. The degree of involvement of Aboriginal people as leaders or as participants has varied greatly. I have seen this involvement change and develop over the period of a campaign as Aboriginal people were sort out as allies and relationships were built. Participants of these campaigns have had their lives greatly enriched and have often moved to do much more intensive Aboriginal land rights or allies work. For example the campaigns against Nurrangar, Pine Gap, East Gippsland, Skyrail, Fraser Island.
In the campaign for Starke, land rights, relationships and Aboriginal leadership were always central and powerful.
The resistance of Aboriginal people is probably the largest and arguably the most successful and influential "campaign" in Australia's recent history.
A fifty year series nonviolent campaigns by Aboriginal people has seen:
· the recognition of civil and political rights for Aboriginal people;
· overturning of oppressive legislation and the creation of self-managed government on Aboriginal controlled land;
· recognition and enactment of native title rights, through the Mabo and Wik judgements and subsequent legislation;
· creation of an international spotlight now being focussed on the Australian government to keep it honest;
· and the creation of a national, regional, powerful network of Aboriginal organisations that achieve amazing things for their peoples.
Unfortunately because of the historical isolation of whites from blacks these struggles are not always recorded in this magazine, or even told widely in ANN, and can easily be lost sight of. e.g the Australian struggles Paul Iozzi mentioned are all Euro-centric struggles that were largely isolated from the Aboriginal struggle.
Increasingly, as we nonviolent activists in Australia build and maintain long term friendships with Aboriginal people this is changing. Many of us are currently working on land rights/reconciliation campaigns under Aboriginal leadership. We need only to look for oportunities to link contemporary activist experience - black and white - with the rich history and meaning of nonviolence.
Margaret Pestorius