Christian+Atkinson

=//**Christian Atkinson**//=

Welcome to my Wiki page where you will find my investigation of various representations of the indigenous people of Australia. Every text type that i have selected will represent an aspect of the indigenous prespective. Watercolour drawing, DG XV/1
 * Indigenous Perspectives**
 * [Corroboree on the Murray River]**, 1858, by Gerard Krefft

'Corroboree on the Murray River' is a watercolour drawing by Gerard Krefft. I have chosen this image to represent the Indigenous Australian Perspective as it shows what the Indigenous Culture was like a long time ago. It symbolises their way of life and the rituals that they have. The visual image shows that the Aboriginies are having some sort of ceremony and it shows what a ceremony would have looked like back then. As it may not seem like it, Gerard Krefft has pointed out many things about the Indigenous life in this one painting. He didn't show any of their faces in detail, which could have meant that he wanted to give the message that all of them are of equal status.

=Proud Murri= by **Dan Davis**, Queensland

I'm proud to be a Murri, proud to be a true Australian. I'm proud of my culture, my heritage, that's what makes me who I am.

My father, he Kukuyalanji, my mother Baradah woman. But all we are family, we are all one of many men. I'm proud to be a Murri, I'm not ashamed of who I am.

I'm not one of those gammon Murris who think they're only half. When I hear people talk like that, I just look at them an laugh.

Did I tell you I'm living as a proud Murri, I'll die as one too. All the way from Bluff, real Murri through and through.

But ashamed I don't know my culture as well as I would like. I guess that's my regret, not knowing my language and ways of living, that's my right.

But still, I'll stand ten feet tall when someone says 'who here belong to this country?' I'll jump up and say 'that's me mate,' I'm proud to be a Murri.

'Proud Murri' is a poem written by Dan Davis. The poem highlights how proud the Aboriginies are of what they are. It indicates an Indiginous Australian being proud of his own culture and heritage, and makes him what he is. Dan Davis used rhyming in this poem as it get the message of the poem across and tell the story in a way which is unique. Dan Davis uses the writing techniques of strong description, repetition and imagery to display the pride that one has for their country. He also used many other techniques in this poem, such as basing it on a first person narative. This technique would allow users to think in the way of the character in the poem, giving them more of an understanding and making it all the more interesting. Dan Davis also used quotes in this poem, such as 'that's me mate,'. This gives the poem a strong feeling as the readers can understand what the character's personallity is like and allowing readers to enter the mind of the character as it is first person written. The quote 'I'm proud of my culture, my heritage, that's what makes me who I am', can tell readers that the Indigenous people have strong beliefs and a sense of pride in what they have left of their race. The quote 'Did I tell you I'm living as a proud Murri, I'll die as one too' tells responders that the Indigenous people are brave. They will never give up and they stay strong in their beliefs and culture. This poem was written to show what an average indigenous Australian man feels towards his country. This also gives the reader an insight into the way of Indigenous Australia and give the message a an average white Australian what their life really is. This gives the poem a very strong emotion as he is talking about something he loves, not every person could feel the same as this man does. He is proud to be Murri.

Took The Children Away by Archie Roach

This story's right, this story's true I would not tell lies to you Like the promises they did not keep And how they fenced us in like sheep. Said to us come take our hand Sent us off to mission land. Taught us to read, to write and pray Then they took the children away, Took the children away, The children away. Snatched from their mother's breast Said this is for the best Took them away.

The welfare and the policeman Said you've got to understand We'll give them what you can't give Teach them how to really live. Teach them how to live they said Humiliated them instead Taught them that and taught them this And others taught them prejudice. You took the children away The children away Breaking their mothers heart Tearing us all apart Took them away

One dark day on Framingham Come and didn't give a damn My mother cried go get their dad He came running, fighting mad Mother's tears were falling down Dad shaped up and stood his ground. He said 'You touch my kids and you fight me' And they took us from our family. Took us away They took us away Snatched from our mother's breast Said this was for the best Took us away.

Told us what to do and say Told us all the white man's ways Then they split us up again And gave us gifts to ease the pain Sent us off to foster homes As we grew up we felt alone Cause we were acting white Yet feeling black

One sweet day all the children came back The children come back The children come back Back where their hearts grow strong Back where they all belong The children came back Said the children come back The children come back Back where they understand Back to their mother's land The children come back

Back to their mother Back to their father Back to their sister Back to their brother Back to their people Back to their land All the children come back The children come back The children come back Yes I came back.

Texts provide the means by which responders can formulate views about Australian culture. Values and attitudes associated with Indigenous Australia, including some bad ones such as discrimination or some good ones such as pride, don’t really mean much to the average modern Australian. However, Archie Roach's 'Took the Children Away', allow responders to understand something about the Indigenous Australian culture in the past. This song is about the stolen generation, of the native aboriginals of australia. Its a story of his life, growing up in the country town of framlingham and being taken away from his family. This song positions responders to understand that the Indigenous Australians are the heroes in this story. In this quote,’ He said, “You touch my kids and you fight me” and they took us from our family', you can tell that even though the Indigenous Australians were the heroes in this text, they may not have won. This brings out the bravery of the Indigenous men in this story and instead of the story showing continues negative attitudes towards the Indigenous Australians, this time, there are many positive attitudes towards the Indigenous Australians in the text, including the bravery of the Indigenous Australians. The quote 'Told us what to do and say, Told us all the white man's ways', tells the responders that the Indigenous Australians were being treated very poorly by the White Australians and this invites us to understand the stereotype of the white Australians being greater than the Indigenous Australians. Another quote that brings out the Indigenous Australians in a positive way is, 'One sweet day all the children came back'. This shows the responders that even though the Indigenous Australians may have lost in the start of the text, everything turned out fine by the end of the text, which creates a more interesting story to place the Indigenous Australians in a positive way. These techniques bring out both the positive and negative sides of the Indigenous Australians but hopefully it has shown people that the Indigenous Australians will always have a brave and strong heart.

This is an Australian Advertisement, designed to show the racism and stereotypes of people towards the Indigenous Australians. This visual image has a strong message and meaning to it even though it only has two sentences. It focuses on the subject that makes the Indigenous people of Australia so excluded, resented or even feared from the white people of Australia, Stereotypes. The question that is asked in this Advertisement would probably cause the whites to immediately draw their attention to the black, as they have it in their mindset that it would be the correct answer, this is because of the stereotypes that have been brought up onto the native Australians. Something that would have supported this stereotype would be the way that some whites were brought up to think that the Indigenous Australians were always the 'bad' or 'dirty' type. It wouldn't even have crossed the minds of these people that they were equals to them or that some might even be greater than they were. The most important technique that was put into this Advertisement was the answer which was put in a very small font so that the viewers could have their own answer and think of their own oppinion first. The answer in this Advertisement is important because it's the message that breakes the whole Stereotype in the Advertisement. It may still need some thinking but it helps people realise that stereotypes aren't a very good thing. The other technique that was used in this besides the question and answer was the way that the individuals are posed. Both men were shown in the complete same way, in order to form an equal setting in the advertisement. This is used so people shouldn't be able to distinquish which one is the 'criminal type' just by looking at how they look. These techniques bring out the stereotype that was intended to be shown in this Advertisement and hopefully it has shown people how Stereotypes are not good.

Who Took the Children Away? by Richard Frankland

Unlike most of the texts, this text shows the Indigenous Australians in a negative way, creating a rather sad short story. The main part of the story that revolves around the rasism towards the Indigenous man starts in the pub. The story revolves around two men, the Indigenous man as the Protagonist of the story and a white man as the Antagonist of the story. The first quote, 'They were all right back then', is said by the white man while trying to continue the converesation with the black man. He's refering to the blacks and even though, it isnt really a negative comment yet, the black man could have taken it the wrong way. This method is used because as the man said 'back then', he could have been insulting the black man or even complimenting his race at the same time and it gives the readers something to think about. The second quote, 'Drink too bloody much though,' is the quote that brings out the tension between the two men in their conversation. This is possibly the quote that brings out the negativity in the story and it create a dramatic effect. This brings out the stereotypes of the Indigenous people, as the man is listing facts he thinks he knows about them, such as the quote above, and these facts aren't nessesarily true among many indigenous people. The man used a very negative stereotype and Richard Frankland could have done this because he wanted to bring out the arrogance of many people when they use such stereotypes. The last quote, 'I wonder if he would have taken the children away,' is probably the sentence with the most meaning in this story. It brings out a strong message as it refers to Archie Roach's song, Took the Children Away. This song has a very strong meaning to the Indigenous people and as the Indigenous man in the story thought back about the man in the pub that knows everything about his people, he said this quote. This method is used as it connects with the song in saying that the white man's arrogance and stereotypical beliefs has caused the Indigenous man to quote that he was the one to take the children away. This would have an affect on the readers because it has a strong message towards stereotypes and also the pride that the Indigenous people have towards their own race.