Babana Aboriginal Men's Group newsletter - May issue

Babana News

Babana Aboriginal Men’s Group Inc.

Volume 4 Issue 3

April 2012

Babana News is the official Newsletter of the Babana Aboriginal Men’s Group Inc., and is produced in the main as an e-letter. A copy will also be produced in the Babana Myspace site and a limited number will be available at our General Meetings. Opinions and conclusions contained in the ‘Your Word’ section are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, policies, aims or objectives of Babana Aboriginal Men’s Group.

Inside this issue:

after-march events.

No access to veterans'

benefits for a variety of

reasons.

Unmarked graves:

When Aboriginal Diggers

died the Department of

Veterans Affairs often

failed to provide plaques

for their graves as it were

supposed to do for all

veterans who died of war-

associated causes.

War traumata

continued to affect all

Diggers. As a

consequence Aboriginal

Diggers were unable to

forge lasting relationships

and turned to drinking

alcohol.

‘Uncle Jimmy was the

only one of the four

brothers who got any

counselling and was the

only one who would even

mention the war.’

—Susie Russell, sister of

the brothers

When you're serving,

things are pretty equal.

You do your job well, your

mates respect you and

you get promoted. It's

when you get back that it

gets hard on the black

Digger.

—David Williams,

president NSW Aboriginal

and Torres Strait Islander

Veterans Association

When Aboriginal people

returned from war they

faced many challenges,

some even many years

after they had returned:

No recognition for what

they had achieved. White

Diggers were heroes,

Aboriginal Diggers

forgotten and their names

omitted from war

memorials across

Australia.

Excluded from RSLs.

Returned Services

Leagues offered a forum

to returned Diggers to

enjoy comradeship and

share memories. For a

long time Aboriginal

Diggers were not allowed

entry.

Back to the mission. For

many Aboriginal Diggers

who returned from WWI

and WWII it meant that

they had to go back to the

missions they had lived

on, back to the physical

and psychological abuse

they suffered there.

The children were taken

away. To the horror of

what they had

experienced at war came

the loss of their children

which were taken away

whilst the Aboriginal

Diggers fought for their

country.

Their pay was withheld

from their families,

another aspect of the

stolen wages affair in

Australia.

Unable to march with

their comrades on Anzac

Day or join with them in

From the Chair 2

Aboriginal community

benefits from Cuban literacy

program

3

Donation to Barmbli Room

at Prince of Wales Hospital

4

Almost 70 years later, Digger

gets his burial

7

'The Best We Forgot' -

Aboriginal war involvement

8

An Anzac aftermath

May. It’s been strange weather.

But we all know the cold of winter is

coming.

It’s time for keeping inside and

keeping warm. But not for us. There

are still many things for Babana to do

in May.

There were many things to do in

April too.

We once again travelled to the

Prince of Wales hospital where we,

on behalf of the men of Babana,

presented the Barmbli Aboriginal

Room with a brand new television

set. Just another small part of our

involvement in the community.

Our brothers and sisters who have

family and loved ones staying in the

hospital will now have an even more

comfortable place where they can

stay. Particularly those who come

from the country areas of this state.

It is so difficult for many people to

feel at ease waiting while an

operation or a check-up is being

performed. A television in the

Barmbli Room will provide a small

way to keep the worry at bay.

And April was the Coloured Digger

March. An event that has in just a

few years become an integral part of

the fabric of the Aboriginal

communities of Sydney.

The march was hard work for the

organising committee who have given

their valuable time to ensure that the

whole day went off without a hitch. It

is up to their hard work and giving of

their time that the Coloured Digger

has become such an important part

of the calendar of Aboriginal Sydney.

From the Chair

Babana News

Volume 4 Issue 3

Mark Spinks Chair of Babana

The bus was a

gift from a

generous

anonymous donor.

He does not want

to be named—and

we will not. But

his generosity is

appreciated so

much.

And the volunteers who helped on

the day; once again giving of their

time and energy to ensure that

everything went well on the day. A

special mention must be made of a

small group of university students

who came along to give a hand on

the day. They were made up of both

Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal

students and their assistance was so

much appreciated on the day. We

never have enough volunteers really

and their giving of their time from

their studies was an indication of how

things are changing in the City of

Sydney and especially Redfern and

Waterloo.

And good news!!. By the time you

read this Babana will be in

possession of a new bus—our own

bus—which will be used to ferry our

members and friends to events and

gatherings.

The bus was a gift from a generous

anonymous donor. He does not want

to be named—and we will not. But his

generosity is appreciated so much.

A bus is something we needed so

much. For the work we do but also to

transport members when we go to

other areas and communities. It will

be well used, but carefully used. It is

a gift that will be used respectfully

and with gratitude to our donor.

So May is here. And there are still

so many things to do. We are

growing and our resources are

growing. Our ability to be even more

effective in our community ensures

that all—our members, our families,

our friends and all grow with us.

here and to have this experience in

Australia.

The name is enough to what is the

meaning, and we've started to practise it

in many countries. In Latin America, in

the Caribbean, in Africa and also in Asia.

NATALIE WHITING: Wilcannia has just

400 residents and 60 turned out to the

graduation dinner.

Glenys Marie Dutton was one of 10

graduates who spent 13 weeks

completing the course. She says she'd

like to see more Aboriginal people given

the opportunity to complete the program.

GLENYS MARIE DUTTON: It's a good

program - learning to read and write, and

whatever, you know. Because a lot of

people they don't know how to do that,

reading writing thing, and they can learn

a lot from it.

NATALIE WHITING: Jack Beetson has

been running the program and says the

success comes from having locals teach

it.

JACK BEETSON: Not just locals learning

from locals, but family learning from

family. So they understood each other,

they had an empathy or each other; they

had a familiarity that you just don't get

otherwise. If you bring teachers in

they don't belong in the community,

they're not from the community.

NATALIE WHITING: He says following

the success in Wilcannia, he'd like to

see it introduced across Australia.

JACK BEETSON: Something like 50

to 60 per cent of Aboriginal people

are functionally illiterate, especially in

some of the more remote areas of

Australia and I would like to see

it go on into other communities.

Other communities have

already asked, just by hearing

about it - can they try it?

NATALIE WHITING: Pedro

Monzon backs the idea.

PEDRO MONZON: To go on

helping to spread the program

in the whole Australia.

NATALIE WHITING: A second

session of the 'Yes, I Can'

program will begin next week in

Wilcannia, and already 20 people

have signed up.

Jack Beetson says it's good news for

the whole community.

JACK BEETSON: Literacy is not just

about learning to read and write, it's

about learning to speak up for

yourself. It's about learning how to go

and possibly defend yourself in court -

speak up in court, for yourself.

And if you look at the data, the

science around literate communities,

truancy decreases almost to nothing,

crime rates drop, health rates

improve. So it's not just about learning

to read and write.

Aboriginal community benefits from Cuban literacy program

ABC Radio Australia

11 May 2012

Cuba and Australia are

hemispheres apart,

geographically and politically.

But a Cuban adult literacy

program called "Yes, I Can" is a

remarkable success in outback

New South Wales.

The small Aboriginal community

of Wilcannia is trying it out with

help from the Federal

Government, the

University of New

England and the National

Aboriginal Adult Literacy

Commission.

Correspondent: Natalie

Whiting

Speakers: Pedro

Monzon, Cuban

ambassador to Australia;

Glenys Marie Dutton,

"Yes, I Can" graduate,

Jack Beetson, "Yes, I can"

coordinator

NATALIE WHITING: It's a long

way from Canberra to Wilcannia,

but the Cuban ambassador

looked right at home as he joined

in traditional Aboriginal dancing.

The ambassador visited the

remote New South Wales town to

see locals graduate from the 'Yes,

I Can' adult literacy program.

The program began in Cuba in

2000, and now runs in more than

15 countries.

Pedro Monzon is the Cuban

ambassador to Australia.

PEDRO MONZON: I feel really

good. I really feel very good to be

Babana News

Volume 4 Issue 3

Babana Aboriginal Men’s Group has

worked with the local communities to

raise money for the purchase of items

for the Barmbli Room. This allows for

opportunity of patients and their

families to have a place available for

respite.

In an effort to improve the surrounds

of the Barmbli Room at Prince of Wales

Hospital (POWH), Babana Aboriginal

Men's Group Inc raised funds with a

BBQ at last years National Aboriginal

and Islander Day Observance

Committee (NAIDOC) Week

celebrations for the purchase of a

television for the Barmbli Room.

At a morning tea held on Thursday,

19 April at POWH the donation of

Television by the Babana Aboriginal

Men's Group to the Barmbli Room was

presented by representatives led by

Chairman Mark Spinks

Mark said that he was very proud to

be contributing an item which will be

enjoyed by Aboriginal patients, staff

and visitors to POWH.

POWH’s Barmbli Room is an

Aboriginal Respite Room and actually

translates to ‘a place of rest’ in the

local Aboriginal language.

The Barmbli Room is used by

Aboriginal families who have family or

friends at POWH. They can take time

out to rest or to speak with Linda

Bonney, POWH’s Aboriginal Liaison

Officer.

Donation to Barmbli Room at Prince of

Wales Hospital comes full circle

Prince of Wales Social Work team with Babana’s Vic Simms and Chairman Mark Spinks

Linda Boney, Lara Boss and members of Babana Aboriginal Men’s Group Inc.

Linda Boney, Mark Spinks and Lara Boss

Mark Spinks with community members

Barmbli Room with guests

Lara Boss, Linda Boney and Mark Spinks

Babana member, Vic Simms

Barmbli Room with guests and Babana members

Volume 4 Issue 3

Babana News

Salute the coloured digger

There was another soldier, just as brave and strong. God Save the Queen the

other soldiers sang as they marched along. But not the coloured digger he

marched to a different song.

He fought his best for country he fought for sacred land. The coloured digger

fought for way more than the white fellas could ever understand.

The barking of machine guns and the bloody site of war, hurt the coloured dig-

ger as he lived a different lore.

Against the coloured diggers nature to kill for reasons none to him. It left the

coloured digger broken as it destroyed the spirit within.

The very flag the coloured digger fought under felt nothing for his pain, as allot

of the men that ruled under it left his people feeling the shame.

But this coloured digger holds no grudges towards his comrades that fight by

his side. He made bruthas for life with many and he mourned the ones that

died.

So tilt your slouch hat upwards coloured digger we honour your service to

country and kin. We salute you as a soldier and we share the fight within.

By Ray Eather

Dedicated to the forgotten coloured digger.

(Aboriginal art is free common)

Almost 70 years later, Digger gets his burial

The Canberra Times

20 April 2012

BEFORE he volunteered to fight in

the New Guinea campaign in 1942,

Private Frank Richard Archibald

needed ''dog tags'' to walk into an

Armidale shop.

They weren't soldier's tags,

although he had served in Egypt,

Tobruk, Greece and Crete, but the

label given to the Aborigines Welfare

Board certification that said he was

allowed to move freely in town.

''So this man give his life to his

country, and this country didn't

want to know this man as a

man,'' said his relative Mavis

Davis, 60. ''It treated this man

like a dog.''

Almost 70 years after the 25-

year-old soldier was killed by a

sniper's bullet on the Kokoda

Track near Sanananda, his

family and supporters go to

Papua New Guinea to honour

him and finally put his spirit to

rest.

A group of 12 - including his

only surviving sibling, Grace

Gordon, 75 - will leave Sydney

for Port Moresby this morning to

conduct a traditional Aboriginal

burial ceremony at his grave in the

Bomana War Cemetery, where the

family had decided to have him

buried when he died.

The Anzac Day event, six years in

the making, marks a new chapter in

Australia's history.

''This is the first time that it's ever

been done for the Aboriginal boys

that went overseas and fought for

Australia and up in New Guinea,''

said Ms Gordon from Armidale. ''I'm

very proud of them, and I'm very

proud now to think that this is going

to be a big thing.''

The ceremony will be conducted in

the Gumbaynggirr language from

northern NSW and use traditional

song and dance to invite Private

Archibald's spirit home. The group

will then visit the graves of five other

indigenous diggers buried in Papua

New Guinea, with instructions from

their families detailing how they

would like them honoured.

Private Archibald's cousin and only

surviving male relative, Richard

Archibald, 65, said he felt

responsible for ensuring his only

family member not buried in Australia

found a way back. A community-

based Kokoda Aboriginal

Servicemen's Campaign helped

raise funds.

"Now it is time to end the grieving

by bringing his spirit home to

Gumbaynggirr country - the

country of our people," Mr

Archibald said.

A specially commissioned

didgeridoo bearing Gumbaynggirr

totems, as well as the uniformed

images of Private Archibald and

other family members who

served, will mark the start of the

official Anzac Day service at

Bomana.

Babana News

Volume 4 Issue 3

Aboriginal Diggers served in all of Australia's main wars since the two Boer Wars—1880-1881 and 1899-1902. Here is

a list of wars in which Indigenous soldiers served Australia

:International Aboriginal war involvement

Note the year when Aboriginal people were recognised as Australian citizens in relationship to the number of conflicts

they participated in before then.

Yet Indigenous Australians were the backbone of the cattle industry which helped feed soldiers in both world wars,

while Aboriginal women assisted in hospitals and factories although they were not paid equal wages.

When my uncle came back from serving in Korea he couldn't even get a beer in a pub let alone a pension, and he wasn't

permitted to become a citizen until 1968.

—John Kinsella, nephew of Australia's most famous Indigenous soldier, Captain Reg Saunders MBE.

Fact In 2008 just over 1,000 Indigenous people were in the Australian Defence Forces, representing 1.4% of all em-

ployees [17]. Indigenous people comprise about 2.3% of the total population.

Fact Len Waters was the first Aboriginal fighter pilot to serve in the Royal Australian Air Force during World War II.

But Aboriginal people were not only involved in international conflicts. The following table (next page) might put your

knowledge of Australian history to the test:

War Year Region First Boer War 1880-1881 Transvaal, South Africa

Second Boer War 1899-1902 Transvaal, South Africa

World War I 1914-1918 mainly Europe

World War II 1937-1945 Europe, SE Asia, Middle East,

Africa

Occupation of Japan 1946-1951 Japan

Korean War 1950-1953 Korea

Malayan Emergency 1950-1960 Malaya

Indonesian Confrontation 1963-1966 Indonesia, Malaysia

Vietnam War 1962-1975 Vietnam

Aboriginal people are

counted as Australians 1967

First Gulf War 1990-1991 Iraq, Kuwait

Afghanistan 2001-present Afghanistan

Second Gulf War 2003-present Iraq

Peacekeeping 1947-present worldwide

'The Best We Forgot' - Aboriginal war involvement

National Aboriginal wars ('Frontier Wars)

Now, has Australia been 'settled' or 'invaded'?

All of the memorials that have been established generally commemorate the role of Australians in conflicts outside Australia

and there is no precedent for a civil-style conflict to be commemorated.

—Bill Crews, RSL National President

Black Anzac

They have forgotten him, need him no more

He who fought for his land in nearly every war

Tribal fights before his country was taken by Captain Cook

Then went overseas to fight at Gallipoli and Tobruk

World War One two black Anzacs were there

France, Europe's desert, New Guinea's jungles, did his share

Korea, Malaya, Vietnam again black soldier enlisted

Fight for democracy was his duty he insisted

Back home went his own way not looking for praise

Like when he was a warrior in the forgotten days

Down on the Gold Coast a monument in the Bora Ring

Recognition at last his praises they are starting to sing

This black soldier who never marches on ANZAC Day

Living in his Gunya doesn't have much to say

Thinks of his friends who fought some returned some died

If only one day they could march together side by side

His medals he keeps hidden away from prying eyes

No-one knows, no-one sees the tears in his old black eyes

He's been outcast just left by himself to die

Recognition at last black ANZAC hold your head high

Every year at Gold Coast's Yegumbah Bora Ring site

Black ANZAC in uniform and medals a magnificent sight

The rock with Aboriginal tribal totems paintings inset

The Kombumerri people's inscription of LEST WE FORGET

—Cecil Fisher, Aboriginal Australian who served in Korea.

War Year Region

Hawkesbury and Nepean Wars 1790-1816 New South Wales

Black Wars 1803-1830 Tasmania

Port Phillip District Wars 1830-1850 New South Wales

Kalkadoon Wars 1870-1890 Queensland

Western Australian Conflict 1890-1898 Western Australia

Babana News

Volume 4 Issue 3

The Coloured Digger March 2012

Babana News

Volume 4 Issue 3

Babana News

Volume 4 Issue 3

We thank our main

sponsors for the Coloured

Digger March

• Virgin Australia

• Indigenous

Coordination Centre –

Sydney

• City of Sydney Council

We thank our volun-

teers on the day, par-

ticularly those from the

University of NSW:

Sarah Hyland, Kelvin

Brown (both Australia

School of Business

UNSW)i and Nkki Suey

(John Holland Group)

Aboriginal activists warmly received in Anzac Day march

NZ Herald

Greg Ansley

26 April 2012

Activists urging recognition of

colonial Australia's frontier wars

and the treatment received by

Aboriginal servicemen after

their return from the two world

wars were applauded as they

marched in Canberra yesterday.

The small group of about 20,

carrying Aboriginal flags and

banners and accompanied by a

didgeridoo, joined the tail of the

national Anzac Day parade,

behind columns of veterans

that included a detachment of

New Zealanders.

Led by Michael Anderson, one

of the founders of the capital's

tent embassy, the activists were

separated from the main body

but were met with support as

they moved up Anzac Parade to

the Australian War Memorial.

Veterans' groups had earlier

attacked the march as

"inappropriate", and there had

been some concern after the

Australia Day protest, during

which Prime Minister Julia

Gillard and Opposition Leader

Tony Abbott were rushed from a

restaurant by bodyguards.

A few bystanders heckled the

marchers - one said they should

"join up or go home" - but were

outnumbered by others who

applauded along the length of

the parade.

Anderson said people had seen the

"lest we forget the frontier wars"

banners and others naming colonial

battles and massacres, and knew that

the march was not a protest.

"The public are a little more in the

know than politicians and bureaucrats,"

he said.

Anderson said indigenous groups

were asking governments to identify

and set aside sites of colonial conflicts

as memorials, but progress was slow.

Separate indigenous services were

held in Canberra and the Sydney

suburbs of Redfern and Blacktown.

Across the nation, tens of thousands

of Australians turned out for

commemorations that began with dawn

services ranging from drizzle in

Melbourne and 2C temperatures in

Canberra, to Elephant Rock on the Gold

Coast's Currumbin Beach.

The services were overlaid with the

toll of 32 dead and 220 injured in

Afghanistan, a war, which after more

than a decade, appears likely to end

ahead of time with the return of most

of Australia's 1550 troops by

December.

In Townsville, the dawn service

remembered three soldiers from the

north Queensland city who were killed

in Afghanistan in the past year. "Young

men who last year may have well stood

next to you at this gathering or played a

game of two-up with you have made

the ultimate sacrifice for our nation,"

Brigadier Shane Caughey told the

service.

At Belgium's Menin Gate, a

passageway to World War I's

western front that bears the names

of 55,000 allied soldiers lying in

unknown graves, Defence Force

Chief General David Hurley said

Australians, New Zealanders and

Belgians were again overseas at war

or on peacekeeping operations.

"As today's Anzacs rise this

morning to commemorate Anzac

Day we think of them and their

families," he said.

Speaking at the Lone Pine

cemetery, Gillard said that the

Dardanelles campaign was

Australia's first act of nationhood,

the place where "its spirit and ethos

were sealed".

She said that for the allies,

Gallipoli had been a battle for wider

strategic goals, and for the Turks, a

defence of the soil and sanctity of

home, but all who fought there

faced deaths that spared no age or

rank or display of courage.


General Meeting

Babana invites members and interested men to

join us at our general meeting

The next general meeting of Babana Aboriginal

Men’s Group Inc. will be held on: Friday 25 May 2012 NCIE George Street Redfern

All men of good will welcome


PO Box 3292

Redfern NSW 2016

Phone: 0402 567 473

Email: [email protected]

[email protected]

babana@ babana.org.au


Our web sites Http://www.babana.org.au http:www.myspace.com/babanaboriginal http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?

id=1715072238&ref=profile

Babana members, guests and friends

To support, e

nable and empower Aboriginal men and families in our community

Quotes:

Mr Huggonson said he had uncovered

the names of 428 Aboriginal soldiers

who served in WWI. ----

Eniar.org

Babana Aboriginal Men's Group newsletter - May issue

Documents

Transcript of Babana Aboriginal Men's Group newsletter - May issue