Aborigines in white body paint danced and sang traditional songs yesterday in Australia's national Parliament, a day before the prime minister offers a formal apology to the country's indigenous people for past wrongs.
The ceremony yesterday was the government's symbolic recognition, for the first time, that the land on which Australia's capital was built was once owned by Aborigines and was taken away without compensation by European settlers.
Today, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will offer a formal apology to thousands of Aborigines who were taken from their families as children under now discredited assimilation policies abolished in 1970 -- an act that many people view as a vital step toward reconciling Australia.
Rudd has refused indigenous demands to pay compensation to members of the so-called "stolen generations." But his government's agenda, outlined in a speech by Governor-General Michael Jeffery to Parliament yesterday, included bold targets to lift living standards of Aborigines.
The government plans to close the 17-year life expectancy gap between Aborigines and other Australians within a generation and halve the difference in infant mortality within a decade, the speech that was drafted by Rudd's office said.
Aboriginal children are three-times more likely to die under the age of five than other Australian children.
The government also plans to halve the differences between reading, writing and numeracy skills within a decade.
With faces and bodies white and traditional didgeridoos blowing a deep drone in the background, Aborigines of the Ngunnawal tribe called on their ancestor spirits to welcome newcomers to Parliament in a ceremony held in a hall of the national legislature.
Rudd accepted the gift of a traditional "message stick" of welcome from Ngunnawal elder Matilda House.
"A welcome to country acknowledges our people and pays respect to our ancestors, the spirits who created the lands," said House, who crossed the hall's marble floor barefoot and draped in a kangaroo pelt cloak to give her speech. "This allows safe passage to all visitors."
Former prime minister John Howard had steadfastly refused to apologize on behalf of the government for the policies, arguing that today's generation should not be made to feel guilty for mistakes of the past.
"Today we begin with one small step to set right the wrongs of the past and in this ceremonial way it is a significant and symbolic step," Rudd said at the ceremony.
Aborigines and their supporters protested outside Parliament House yesterday, though many welcomed the gesture inside as a start to correcting a long litany of wrongs that Aborigines have suffered since British settlers arrived in 1788.
"I think it's fantastic that they've for the first time acknowledged the Ngunnawal traditional owners," local Aborigine Dave Johnston said. "It's a new government, a new era and a spirit of good will."
"With this welcome comes a great symbolism," House said. "The hope of a united nation [that] through reconciliation we can join together the people of the longest living culture in the world and with others who have come from all over the globe."
Rudd has invited more than 100 Aboriginal leaders to attend today's apology speech and other dignitaries, from business leaders to former prime ministers.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of
RSS