Agenda 21 is not a treaty. It has no force of law, no enforcement mechanisms, no penalties, and no significant funding. It is not even a top-down recommendation, seeking instead to encourage communities around the world to come up with their own solutions to overpopulation, pollution, poverty and resource depletion. It is a feel-good guide that cannot force anyone, anywhere, to do anything at all.
Yet Alabama has passed a law meant to outlaw any effects of the plan. The legislatures of Kansas, New Hampshire and Tennessee all passed state resolutions condemning it. Similar needless laws have been approved by one chamber of the legislatures in Arizona, Missouri and Oklahoma. And political fights over it have broken out in at least half a dozen other states and countless local communities.
The fears generated in such places are ridiculous to the point of utter absurdity, but they have had an important real-world impact. In communities like Carroll County, Md., politicians have been voted out of office for supporting local plans. In Baldwin County, Ala., all nine members of the Planning and Zoning Commission quit in disgust after the County Commission killed their plan “on a pretext so devoid of relevance and merit as, in our opinion, to elicit only ridicule,” as they wrote. Prominent politicians like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) have contributed to such outcomes as they denounce the plan that Cruz has claimed would “abolish” golf courses and paved roads.
Australia Must Finally Listen to Its Indigenous People
"Americans know of these sort of lies -- How a soap opera star pushed a conspiracy theory linking the Voice to Parliament to a UN takeover"
Oct. 9, 2023
Mia Boe, “The Trial,” via Sutton Gallery
By Thomas Mayo Mr. Mayo, an Australian Aboriginal activist and author, wrote from Sydney.
If you found yourself in the ocher-colored sands of an Australian desert, listening to the creation stories of Indigenous elders, you would discover that these tales are as marvelous and powerful — in their telling, humanity and spirit — as the greatest dramas by Euripides and Shakespeare.
They are stories of great heroes, floods, rising seas and exodus; of lessons learned from the migrations of wildlife and the shifting of the earth. These oral histories of the deep past — sometimes known as the Dreamtime — have been handed down so faithfully over hundreds of generations that researchers believe they may even describe geographical features .. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ancient-sea-rise-tale-told-accurately-for-10-000-years/ .. that predated the rise in global sea levels after the last ice age.
Within these stories are the accumulated knowledge, culture and heritage of a people who have occupied this southern continent for more than 60,000 years, some of the longest continuous human cultures on the planet.
Yet Australia’s First Peoples are not even mentioned in the country’s modern-day Constitution. Despite being citizens of one of the world’s richest nations, many live in poverty and despair.
Indigenous Australians like me hope this can start to change when the country votes in a referendum .. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/29/world/australia/voice-aboriginal-indigenous.html .. on Saturday. If approved, the measure would amend the Constitution to recognize Aboriginal peoples and establish a permanent representative body, the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
The white founders of modern-day Australia believed that Indigenous peoples were a dying race and, after Australia gained independence from Britain in 1901, sought to expedite our extinction.
Massacres were not uncommon .. https://c21ch.newcastle.edu.au/colonialmassacres/statistics.php , even after independence, as an expanding white population competed with Indigenous peoples for land and resources. The most recently documented massacre .. https://www.commonground.org.au/article/coniston-massacre .. happened in 1928. Discriminatory policies and laws providing for the segregation, forced assimilation and marginalization of Indigenous peoples continued into the 1970s.
Moving to cities in search of a better life is out of the question for many people who feel an attachment to the lands of their ancestors and a responsibility to stay and care for it or for sick or aging family members. Those who do leave often face racist barriers to jobs or housing.
Other nations have created the means to listen to Indigenous peoples. In Scandinavian countries, there is the Sami Parliament .. https://sametinget.no/about-the-sami-parliament/ . In New Zealand, Canada and the United States, First Nations assemblies represent Indigenous views and allow self-determination. Australia must reach this same standard.
In essence, the referendum is about enshrining the principle of listening to us, through a body whose members will be chosen by Indigenous communities and who will advise Parliament and the government on matters pertaining to Aboriginal people.
Our voice should be heard, and not just to safeguard our rights and interests. Modern society, with its individualism and alienation, has much to learn from the sharing, generous and harmonious nature of Indigenous ways.
I’m a Torres Strait Islander, from the turquoise waters off northern Australia. I grew up immersed in our culture — fishing sustainably on the shallow reefs, cooking what we caught in a traditional oven dug out of the ground, and celebrating our way of life in song and dance.
As do many Indigenous peoples, we believe there is a moiety .. https://experience.welcometocountry.com/blogs/learning/kinship-systems#:~:text=and%20skin%20names.-,Moiety,together%20to%20form%20a%20whole. , a kinship, between everything — between land and sea, earth and sky, and of course between people. It is a culture of sharing and respect, of laws designed not to punish but to resolve conflict. One of our most important beliefs is that you cannot touch things or walk upon places that are not yours. If only our British colonizers had believed that, things might be different for us today.
But the campaign against the referendum has caused confusion and fearmongering. In May, an opposition party leader, Peter Dutton of the Liberal-National coalition, said that approval would “reracialize .. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-22/peter-dutton-says-indigenous-voice-will-re-racialise-the-country/102378700 ” Australia. The online trolls emerged from beneath their bridges, and fake accounts and hateful keyboard warriors viciously attack those who express support for the Voice to Parliament. In my years of using social media to campaign for Indigenous communities, I have never seen such toxicity.
Despite the grossly dishonest fear campaign, Australia must vote yes on the referendum — to ensure that ancient Aboriginal wisdom endures, to preserve the reputation of the country that we love and the health of our democracy and to give hope to our Indigenous brothers and sisters around the world who also are fighting for their rights.
Australians like to think of their country as the land of the fair go — an expression that captures the national ethos of equality and looking after your mates. We must put that into practice.
Att blackhawks: The Brutal History Behind Jennifer Kent’s ‘The Nightingale’
Seen on Netflix. Two scenes particularly are among the most vicious, graphic scenes of brutality i have ever seen.
"Americans know of these sort of lies-- How a soap opera star pushed a conspiracy theory linking the Voice to Parliament to a UN takeover"
August 10th, 2020 | By Sarah Durn
The Nightingale is a graphic, brutal film full of 19th century colonial rage. The follow up to director Jennifer Kent’s debut horror tale The Babadook, The Nightingale delves into a very different kind of horror, that of the British colonization of Tasmania.
The Nightingale is a horror film not about a supernatural evil, like Kent’s The Babadook, but the horror and brutality people can enact on each other. Both for the indigenous Tasmanian Aboriginals and the convicts that were forcibly taken to the island, life was brutal and unforgiving.
The most horrifying aspect of The Nightingale is the truths it’s based on—the genocide of Aboriginals, and the brutality of convict colonies, all played out in the harsh beauty of the Tasmanian landscape. With The Nightingale’s recent release on the horror streaming platform Shudder, now is a timely moment to explore the history behind this haunting film.
The Historical Accuracy of The Nightingale
Set in 1825 Van Diemen’s Land (modern-day Tasmania), the film follows the 21-year-old Irish convict, Clare (Aisling Franciosi), as she and an Aboriginal tracker named Billy (Baykali Ganambarr) seek their revenge against Lieutenant Hawkins (Sam Claflin) and his retinue of abusive, drunken soldiers.
The “historical accuracy” of the film is key. Kent’s characters are based upon the real people who lived out their lives in 19th century Tasmania. Kent, who’s Australian, did extensive research before writing, working with an Aboriginal adviser to ensure that the violence portrayed in the film was true to history. “Nothing that happens in this film is fictional,” Kent told Vox in an interview. “The story itself is fictional, but the events are all factual, and worse.”
Setting the Scene
At the time the film takes place, Van Diemen’s Land was a frontier. The indigenous Tasmanian Aboriginals had settled the island 35,000 years ago. The Nightingale, by comparison, is set in 1825, at which point the British had only been living on the island for several decades.
Europe only became aware of the island’s existence in 1642 when the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman spotted the landmass. By 1798, more than 150 years later, European sealers and whalers began to base themselves on the island. It wasn’t until 1803 when the British created the first formal settlement, a military outpost under Lieutenant John Bowen.
With Bowen came 49 settlers—three female and 21 male convicts, British soldiers, and free settlers.
The Genocide of Tasmanian Aboriginal People during the Black War
Violence between these early settlers and Tasmanian Aboriginal people began almost immediately. As more settlers and convicts were transported to Tasmania throughout the early 1800s, tensions escalated into a conflict known as the Black War. Bloodshed would last from the mid-1820s until 1832. That said, many historians – such as James Boyce, Robert Hughes, Tom Lawson, and Lyndall Ryan – all agree that it was more genocide than war.
Convicts who escaped into the bush, known as bushrangers, committed “many atrocious cruelties” against Tasmanian Aboriginal people. These cruelties were documented in an 1810 report by Surveyor John Oxley. According to an 1808 letter written by another Surveyor, George Prideaux Harris, several bushrangers murdered a group of male Aboriginals then abducted and raped the Aboriginal women of the group. The British settlers and militia were often just as cruel.
On May 3rd, 1804, only a few months after the British colony was established, a confrontation between a large group of Mairremmener people and settlers at Bowen’s Risdon colony occurred. The confrontation left “a great many natives slaughtered and wounded” as convict Edward White later testified. Historian Henry Reynolds suggests the May 3rd confrontation ended any hope of peace between the islanders and settlers.
By 1826, the notorious Lieutenant-Governor of Tasmania, George Arthur, declared settlers could lawfully kill Aboriginals when they attacked settlers or stole their property. A local newspaper, The Colonial Times, saw this as a declaration of war. In 1830, Arthur even paid out bounties for the successful capture of Aboriginals—£5 for adults and £2 for children. These bounties were later extended to dead Aboriginals as well.
Before Europeans arrived, the Tasmanian Aboriginal population is estimated to have been around 6,000 people .. http://ecite.utas.edu.au/135659 . There were nine different indigenous nations divided into more than 60 different clans according to scholar Lyndall Ryan. Though the numbers vary, one source .. http://ecite.utas.edu.au/135659 .. estimates that there were fewer than 100 Tasmanian Aboriginals left by 1835. Those who survived were forced into exile onto surrounding islands without provisions and had to dress and live like Europeans.
Given the decades of brutality, it’s no wonder that Billy seeks revenge in The Nightingale. His people are gone—his family, his community—and only he is left. It’s a brutal and accurate retelling of the reality Tasmanian Aboriginals faced. Even his name, “Billy,” is filled with historical context, specifically the life of William Lanne, or “King Billy.” William Lanne’s death in 1869 was thought at the time to mark the “extinction” of all Tasmanian Aboriginal people.
......................... [ Insert: 1st April, 2019 in Biography & Memoir, Society & Culture, Women in History The land of the ‘free’: Criminal transportation to America By R.J. Clarke Not many people know that between 1718 and 1775 over 52,000 convicts were transported from the British Isles to America, mainly to Maryland and Virginia, to be sold as slaves to the highest bidder. It is reckoned that transported convicts made up a quarter of the British immigrants to colonial America in the 18th century. P - Before the Transportation Act of 1718, criminals either escaped with just a whipping or a branding. They were then released back onto the streets to commit more crimes. Or they were hanged. Because the jails were not intended for long-term incarceration, there was nothing in between. P - After the passing of the Act, transportation became the main punishment at the courts’ disposal. From May 1718 to the outbreak of the American War of Independence in 1775, over 70 per cent of those who were found guilty at the Old Bailey were sentenced to be transported, compared with less than one per cent in the period from 1700 to March 1718. https://thehistorypress.co.uk/article/the-land-of-the-free-criminal-transportation-to-america/
****
Why were convicts transported to Australia? Until 1782, English convicts were transported to America. However, in 1783 the American War of Independence ended. America refused to accept any more convicts so England had to find somewhere else to send their prisoners. Transportation to New South Wales was the solution. Why so many convicts? P - Life in Britain was very hard. As new machines were invented, people were no longer needed to do farming jobs so they moved to the cities. The cities became overcrowded. Many people didn’t have a job and were very poor. People stole things to survive. Minor crimes such as stealing items worth more than 1 shilling (about a day’s wages for a working person), cutting down a tree in an orchard or stealing livestock were punishable by transportation. The prisons quickly became full and prisoners were kept in old, rotting prison ships called hulks. These ships were usually an old naval or merchant ship that could not go to sea anymore but could still float safely in the harbour. What was life like on the hulks? P - Conditions in these floating gaols were terrible. https://mhnsw.au/stories/general/why-were-convicts-transported-australia/ ] .........................
During the time The Nightingale is set, most of those women had yet to arrive. Two-thirds of the female convicts transported to Tasmaiana arrived between 1842 and 1853. Clare’s world would have been overwhelmingly male.
When a convict arrived, they were interviewed before a prison board to determine any useful skills, like farming or shoemaking. Then, they were stripped naked and a detailed description of any markings was written down (in case an escaped convict ever needed to be identified). After a brief stint in the prison barracks, most convicts would be assigned as servants to free landholders. Those with the skills would work as blacksmiths, clerks, carpenters, or in other necessary trades.
Convicts that stepped out of line could be assigned to serve in chain gangs or, for repeat offenders, sent to Port Arthur prison.
Well-behaved convicts were rewarded through tickets-of-leave (which allowed them to earn a wage), permission to marry, and even pardons. In The Nightingale, Lieutenant Hawkins allows Clare to marry her husband, Aidan (Michael Sheasby)—something he holds over Clare when he refuses to release her. The film also alludes to the “papers” (tickets-of-leave or pardons) that free convicts had to keep with them at all times.
Female Convicts in Van Diemen’s Land
In 1825, when Clare and Billy’s story begins, there were less than 4,000 female convicts in Van Diemen’s Land. According to historian Dianne Snowden’s research, for every 10 men on the island, there were three women. Among convicts, the numbers were even more skewed with one woman to every nine men.
Most female convicts were assigned as domestic workers to free settlers or, as Clare does, for the British military. If, however, a woman committed further crimes—like drunkenness, lateness, or insolence—they’d be sent to a Female Factory .. https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to_tasmanian_history/F/Female%20factories.htm . As the name suggests, the Female Factories were factories designed to keep incarcerated women working, often as laundresses.
Through good conduct and hard work, some of the women sent to Van Diemen’s Land became an integral part of society as wives and servants. While there are some records of female sex workers, by and large, the female convicts sent to Van Diemen’s Land lived many different kinds of lives beyond the stereotype of “damned whores.” Some married and went on as free women after receiving their papers. Others were sent to Female Factories. The Female Convicts Research Centre has archived many of their stories here .. https://www.femaleconvicts.org.au/about-convict-lives/profiles# .
The Female Arsonists Who Sought Out Transportation
There was even a small subset of women, 79 in total, who were known to have deliberately set fires to be sent to Van Diemen’s Land. Like Clare, these women were taking control of their lives by escaping starvation, poverty, and abuse. Many were joining loved ones that were sent ahead of them to the convict colonies of New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land.
For instance, the female convict Catherine Smith persuaded her son and daughter-in-law to help set fire to her house so she could join her husband in Van Diemen’s Land.
Conclusion
When Kent first visited Tasmania [... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Diemen%27s_Land ...] , she felt the dark history behind the island’s beauty. Years later, that history would prompt her to make The Nightingale. In Australia today, there remains a reluctance to discuss the legacy of British colonialism. Just like here in the States, where we remain reluctant to talk about our own history of slavery.
Perhaps films like The Nightingale can create an opening for us to face the darker truths of our histories—histories that continue to perpetuate inequality today.
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