Welcome to Country - a Respect that is not so welcome by some
By Ranting Panda
16 November 2024
It has become the norm for venues to present either a Welcome to Country or an Acknowledgement of Country prior to an event starting. Welcome to Country is always presented by a local First Nations Person who has the authority to welcome others to their land. An Acknowledgement of Country can be delivered by anyone else in order to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the event is taking place.
Unbelievably, Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country are labelled as divisive by many conservatives. Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country are designed to be inclusive and welcoming for all; it is not their purpose to divide the nation.
Following European settlement, Australia's First Nations People were displaced from their traditional lands, they were prohibited from practicing their culture and speaking their language. Their complex marriage system was destroyed through this displacement when they were forced into communities with First Nations People of other traditional lands and were not allowed to marry without the permission of the local police. First Nations People were treated as inferior, as lesser than. They were whisked away to communities and institutions, so they weren't seen. Their culture was ignored and banned.
One of the purposes of Welcome to Country or Acknowledgement of Country is for First Nations People to be acknowledged and to feel proud of their culture, which is the longest surviving culture in the world.
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| Charlotte Allingham: Always was, always will be Aboriginal land |
Unfortunately, far too many people in Australia complain that the Welcomes and Acknowledgements are just part of a 'woke agenda' and that they should not be held. Whenever people complain about having to sit through a Welcome or Acknowledgement, it sends the message that First Nations People are still inferior, that their culture isn't important, that they are rejected in their own land. It reinforces the racism and cultural destruction that underpinned European settlement. Some politicians have even called for Australians to 'turn their backs' on the Welcome to Country ... at least brain-dead racists can out themselves by doing this.
Australia's First Nations People want acknowledgement, they want their history recognised, understood and appreciated. This should not be hard in this day and age where racist laws and policies are no longer in force or acceptable ... laws and policies such as the White Australia Policy, the Aboriginal Ordinance Act 1911 (NT), Aborigines Protection Act 1909 (NSW) and other so-called 'protection' Acts which gave Australian governments the power to control Indigenous people, forcibly remove them, and prohibit their cultural practices. The Aborigines Protection Act 1909 (NSW) wasn't repealed until 1969.
Yet, a lot of Australians seem to want a return to those days. At least, that is the message that is sent every time someone complains about a Welcome to Country or Acknowledgement of Country.
We saw just how touchy some conservatives are following a Welcome to Country by Indigenous Elder Brendan Kerin at an AFL game in Sydney between GWS and Brisbane Lions on 14 September 2024. Kerin attempted to address some of the misgivings that people have about the Welcome to Country. He explained its purpose, he explained that contrary to some commentary the Welcome to Country had existed for thousands of years, preceding the arrival of Captain Cook. He explained it was a formal process for welcoming a person from one traditional land to another. Disappointingly, although not entirely surprising, a lot of the sensitive and easily offended conservatives took offense. Apparently, history is something that they neither like nor want to hear ... unless it tells it's all about them and in a manner that caters to their ignorant and selfish sensitivities. Their reaction reinforced just how deep racism is still entrenched in Australian culture, society and psyche. If anything, the reaction of conservatives reinforced why Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country are necessary and relevant.
The racists were out in force during the 2023 referendum into giving First Nations People a place in Australia's Constitution and formal representation through a Voice to Parliament. It would have had no impact on non-Indigenous people but would have helped to improve the lives of First Nations People and ensure their voices were heard through better representation of their needs. Fearmongering and lies that were outright racist and wrong permeated the country, resulting in the majority of Australians rejecting a Voice for First Nations People. More detail on this was covered in our article: Hear the Voice, not the dog-whistle (https://thepandarant.blogspot.com/2023/04/hear-voice-not-dog-whistle.html).
'We shouldn't live in the past'.
How often do we here this said about Indigenous issues, including the Welcomes and Acknowledgements. It was the conservative mantra during the Black Lives Matter protests, it is howled in derision whenever there's talk of moving Australia Day, and it is repeated ad nauseum by those who refuse to respect Indigenous culture through a Welcome to Country or Acknowledgement of Country.
Ironically, by rejecting the Welcome to Country, conservatives are keeping the past in the present-day ... just like the laws of the 20th century when First Nations People weren't allowed to practice their cultures, the conservatives of today want to perpetuate that. It's the conservatives who are living in the past, not First Nations People.
It's almost as if these conservatives want to white-wash history. Remember how there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth when statues of certain racist colonisers were torn down? The conservatives squealed that tearing down the statues was 'erasing history'. Of course, it was no such thing. Removing those statues was acknowledging history, not erasing it. It's conservatives who want to erase history. There's a funny thing about history, not all of it is pleasant. We need to acknowledge history in its entirety, not water it down so as not to offend a pearl-clutching conservative.
Those who say that we shouldn't live in the past could do with a history lesson or two. For instance, former Prime Minister Scott Morrison tried to claim that 'both sides' (i.e. First Nations People and settlers), suffered in the early days of British colonisation. He was referring to the Australia Day 2021 protests and stated that the convicts on the '12 boats' of the First Fleet weren't having a 'particularly flash day either' when they landed in Botany Bay. Well ... firstly, it was 11 boats, secondly the settlers were responsible for multiple massacres of Indigenous people, so of course the local population was going to defend their own land ... that's what people do when they're attacked by a foreign force.
Those who say we shouldn't live in the past will then put on rose-tinted glasses and fondly recall Gallipoli and talk of Australia's gallant war-time efforts. Certainly, we should remember the sacrifice made by Australians in military service. Of course, not all of those who served did so gallantly. Some committed atrocious crimes, but to raise that is living in the past and unpatriotic according to conservatives who don't want to hear about Australian war crimes. Conservatives only want to remember history when it suits their narrative ... and to be quite frank, they often rewrite history to suit that narrative so that Australians are never portrayed as committing war crimes, massacres or genocide ... either overseas or against the First Nations People of Australia.
'Aborigines are lucky it was the British that settled here, and not the Dutch or the Portuguese', is a mantra that some conservatives like to bandy around. Apparently, British colonisers were magnanimous people who helped First Nations People grow and develop. Of course, this ignores the genocide that the British unleased on Indigenous People. It ignores the fact that colonising nations, including Britain, did not treat local populations well. They enslaved them, they brutalised them, they raped them, they stole their children, they massacred them!
Sensitive conservatives (who always argue about political correctness gone mad), have their own form of political correctness, and so when the ABC reported on BOTH Australia Day events and Invasion Day rallies (as called by the organisers), the pearl-clutching conservatives lost their proverbial and claimed the ABC had renamed Australia Day to Invasion Day. The ABC had done no such thing. They reported the rallies as Invasion Day rallies because that is what they were called by their organisers. But noooo ... the pearl-clutching, forever-offended, ABC-hating conservatives misrepresented what was reported, as they always do in their witch-hunts for leftist, do-gooding, virtue-signallers so they can unleash their dog-whistling falsehoods and fearmongering to the perpetually frightened.
The following illustrates the massacres of First Nations People following European settlement.
Reconciliation requires more than token gestures. Addressing the injustices of the past and present that Indigenous People have suffered, and many continue to suffer, requires more than symbolism. However, Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country are important elements in demonstrating to First Nations People that they and their culture and history are acknowledged, respected and welcome; that they are an integral part of Australian society.
Appreciating Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country are ways that non-Indigenous Australians can show respect to First Nations People, show that we actually care about them and their long, proud culture, and that they are part of Australia's history, as well as are included in our present and our future. We should not whitewash our history to avoid offending the racist or ignorant in society.
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