[ad_1]
Before Charles III was proclaimed King in Canberra on Sunday, a welcome to land was delivered by Ngunnawal’s traditional owners and the first rendition of God Save the King was followed by a spiritual dance and song by Ngunnawal.
It was a strange moment to see the Ngunnawal officers from the King’s welcome onto lands stolen from them only two centuries ago, but it also perfectly encapsulates the crossroads our country finds itself at.
Queen Elizabeth II’s reputation and contribution to public life is still discussed with solemnity and appreciation around the world.
But in our own country we have skirted the edges of the truth about the legacy the Queen leaves behind in Australia, a reign that lasted almost a third of our colonial history.
The foundations of institutional racism that still disadvantage Indigenous people today were built under the influence and leadership of the Crown, from the invasion to the White Australia policy, to the Stolen Generations and the subsequent poverty and intergenerational trauma that Indigenous people continue to live with.
Despite that, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags have been lowered alongside the Australian flag as a mark of respect, a move many First Nations people see as being forced to capitulate to the monarchy that dispossessed and abused them.
Their perspectives have been largely silenced since her death, and cries for respect for the dead drown out the reality of living under the monarchy for First Nations people, underscoring how uncomfortable we are with our tangled colonial roots.
“I respect the fact that people are entitled to their views,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on ABC’s Insiders on Sunday. .
“As prime minister, I’m not in a position to control people’s emotions. Of course, and many of them will be cordial, of course, but this loss is, I think, for us to come together at this time as a nation.”
But for a country conducting a national campaign to tell the truth, we must be able to face our past, even when it is uncomfortably close to a time of mourning.
We are caught in the paradox of a government campaigning to give indigenous peoples a voice in a constitution they did not choose, while forcing them to remain attached to the same monarchy that sought to silence them in the first place.
Native truth is no match for royal tributes
The Queen’s role in dispossession and violence against Indigenous Australians is difficult to reconcile with the image of the world’s most recognizable grandmother, a woman who lived a long life and loved dogs.
But the truth is that the Queen’s third-great-great-grandfather claimed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lands, leading to the violent takeover by British invaders.
The kings and queen who came after him – Elizabeth’s great-grandparents – oversaw a regime that saw Aboriginal people murdered, enslaved, dehumanised and denied recognition in their own land.
When Elizabeth ascended to the throne, she and her family were complicit in the acts of violence carried out in the name of the Crown, not only in Australia, but in countless British colonies, including Kenya, Jamaica, Ghana and Belize.
Aboriginal Tent Embassy Ambassador Gwenda Stanley said the only legacy the Queen has left is a disadvantage to Aboriginal people.
“She has left a legacy of genocide and we are the actual products of that, the result of the 232 years of genocide in this country,” she said.
During her seven decades in power, the Queen did nothing of note to make reparations or improve the lives of the indigenous people who lost their lands, their culture and their lives at the hands of the British monarchy.
Not all aborigines are anti-monarchy, in fact many saw the crown as a measure of protection for their people after the border war ended, which eventually grew into true love, but over the years when indigenous people asked her for the rights her ancestors took away from them, she was silent.
And that is what her true legacy is for many First Nations people.
Asking First Nations people to mourn the Queen is asking them to turn a blind eye to the injustices they suffered under her rule.
We need to tell the truth
Queen Elizabeth II was head of state during terrible times for Indigenous Australians, and painting her as a symbolic figurehead with little power during that time whitewashes the truth about the monarchy’s colonial legacy.
Around the country, truth-telling and treaty processes are underway for First Nations people to address the injustices meted out to them under the rule of the British Empire, whose remains Queen Elizabeth II presided over until her death.
If Australia wants to be released from the Commonwealth, we will have to do it ourselves – even if the issue is not high on the government’s agenda.
Low down that list is also addressing Australia Day, which currently celebrates the first day of colonization – despite the simple matter of introducing a new one-off holiday to mourn the Queen.
The Prime Minister has been clear that he has no plans to pursue a republic during his first term in office, with an already full slate of government promises to deliver.
For now, Gwenda Stanley has no hope that things will change under the reign of a new king.
“This is based on genocide. If he wants to step up, he needs to step up and look at the genocide cases that are still going on under their monarchy system here in Australia,” she said.
[ad_2]
Leave a Reply