Oodgeroo Noonuccal Essay

White Australians state “shame when [their] kids they die from colds or from sheer neglect. Shame when [they] live on the river banks. While collectin' [they’re] welfare cheques. Shame when [they’re] blind from trachoma. Shame when [they’re] crippled from blights.” The rhyming scheme in the stanza makes poem flow seamlessly constructing a conversational tone as if the narrator is speaking directly to the audience. This feature purposefully lulls the reader into agreeing with the white Australia’s arguments as it constructs an image that the Indigenous people are refusing to integrate themselves with modern society and suffering the consequences of those decisions. The mention of welfare cheques also contribute to the perspective that white Australians are attempting to mend the lives of Indigenous individuals, however this could not be further from the truth and message of this

Oodgeroo Noonuccul’s ‘The Last of His Tribe’ challenges the traditional values of society by displaying the loss of tradition and culture through the use of contrast, first person narration and truncated sentences. The poem contrasts and compares the sorrow and melancholy of the loss of the man’s tribe’s past with cultural disposition and the impairment of personal identity. This is presented when the poem says; ‘And think of the gay throng, the happy people,” and later says; “And I feel, the sudden sting of tears, Willie Mackenzie in the Salvation Army home. Displaced person in your own country”. First person narration is used to allow the audience to relate to the emotions of the last man of the tribe. The poem also uses truncated sentences to make the point of dispossession bolder and stronger. This is displayed in the sentences; ”I asked you and you let me hear” and “No more forever. For me.” The poem “Last of His Tribe” uses

Using the text alongside the illustrations engages in critical literacy, revealing the hidden power relationships and ideological assumptions that underline texts (Winch 2014, p.539), and strike in-depth discussions. For example, about being lost and how you managed to find your way again, what the differences are between your approach and her approach, what do you notice about where they live, how is it different from where you live, and what are all the amazing things you could possibly do if you lived there. The idea is helping to develop a child’s knowledge of their world and the knowledge about a world that is not their own (Winch 2014, p.536). Majority of Indigenous content learning occurring in the younger years found in the Australian Curriculum, is remembering, understanding and applying, in relation to Bloom’s Taxonomy (Lowe, 2015). This book can be used to unearth these cognitive processes but can further be explored beyond the elaborations of the curriculum with the grade ones to build a greater depth of understanding through analysing, evaluating and creating (Lowe, 2015).

Throughout Australian history, there have been men and women who fought for the entitlements of the indigenous people. The most respected and recognised of these is Eddie Mabo, a Torres Strait Islander. Mabo stood up for the rights of his people from a very young age all the way to his death, in order to generate changes in the policies and laws of the government. Mabo battled for his right to own the land which he had inherited from his adoptive father, a fight which was resolved only after his demise. Despite this, Eddie Mabo became one of the key influential figures in the Aboriginal rights movement, as his strong will, determination, and intelligence allowed him to bring about change.

Our knowledge of the generic conventions used in poetry influences our understanding of the text. “The Firstborn”, a poem by Aboriginal author Jack Davis, enables the reader to determine the poem as a graphic protest about the extinction of and discrimination against the Australian Indigenous people, and the loss of their ethnicity, as their world collides with the Western culture. By focussing on my understanding of both generic conventions and author’s context, I am able to conclude that the poem concerns a tragedy within the Aboriginal community.

Readers often find Katharine Susannah Prichard’s “The Cooboo” deeply unsettling. The narrative is set in Australia during the European settlement of the continent. The plot revolves around an Aboriginal woman named Rose who is renowned amongst her peers for being an excellent cattle driver. She was so good, that her white bosses even held her skills higher than the other white musterers of the day. This all changed, once she became in the possession of a Cooboo. This term Cooboo is slang for the sound that an infant makes, and had become synonymous with the word for baby. Rose now had this Cooboo to worry about and care for, and it was hurting her efficiency and ability to drive cattle. This was deeply frustrating for her, because she found her identity in her ability to cattle muster. In the story, she was reprimanded by her superior for letting the cattle mob break three times in one day. She used to be his best, but now his go to girl is Minni, who Rose thought “did not ride or track nearly as well as Rose” (Prichard 17). Minni was very pleased with her own performance that day, and was “jabbering of the tobacco she would get” (Prichard 26). Rose was also being ridiculed by all the men, and her and Minni’s man Wongana had called her “a hen who did not know where she laid her eggs” (Prichard 25). This was maddening to Rose, who reasoned that the baby could be blamed for all of her current struggles. While riding back with Minni, Rose took the Cooboo from her breast and

This poem however can be indirectly confronting to those who don’t share the same viewpoints as Walker. The also poem has a degree of stereotyping in the sense where ‘love your people, freedom to the end’ takes place however there none that really strikes out as it. The white Australian perspective above all is silenced in this text, marginalized are her perspectives of the coming days which may well be shared by many like her.

Through the use of poetic devices, the author has successfully encouraged the audience to explore their thoughts on Australian identity and to reflect on our nation’s history.

Gilbert’s poem portrays many Aboriginals plight’s within Australia and conveys notions of despair, anguish and anger for his fellow Aboriginal comrades. Again, Gilbert uses strong visual imagery in “the anguished death you spread” which helps convey the persona’s feeling of horror and anger at the Europeans. This is further emphasised through the poet’s vehement and repetitive use of second person pronouns in “you” which conveys a sense of blame and accumulates into an accusatory tone and generates a strong sense of detachment between the author and the European settlers. Furthermore enjambment enhances the accusatory tone in “you pollute all the rivers and litter every road” because the lack of punctuation and pauses makes the lines sharp and quick, creating a sense of anger in the author. In addition the author’s use of metaphors in “humanity locked in chains” creates a sense of struggle and inability to escape the oppression the Aboriginals are in, whereby the word “chain” is symbolic for trapped and lack of freedom. Kevin Gilbert’s emotional poem brings light to the pain and suffering Aboriginals are going through, which is a stark contrast to the image of Australia, being a free and accepting

Written during one of the most defining moments in Indigenous Australian history, Enoch and Deborah Mailman’s ‘the 7 stages of grieving’ follows a young Aboriginal woman as she retells some of the hardships and injustices her and her people have and will continue to face. With the quote above in mind, it is clear to see that ‘The 7 stages of grieving’ combines the contemporary conventions of Australian theatre, such as applying multimedia with a decidedly traditional twist. Through the use of stagecraft and symbolism,

The poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal, draws the realistic image of the confronting realities of alienation and displacement of Indigenous Australians. It is because of such experiences that has empowered Noonuccal to express and advocate learning from experiences by positioning the audience to view the horrors that occurred, creating a platform for her poetry. Through the emphasis of identity, it allows the audience to deeply connect with the past, determining and illustrating a profound link between the ancient past and contemporary present. Oodgeroo’s deep connectivity with art and poetry highlights the importance of learning from experiences, for not only the Aboriginal culture but, for all cultures, and that colonisation does not destroy self-identity. Through the poems The Past and China…Woman, it has allowed the individual to promote change, encouraging the survival of cultures through learning from past experiences

This text response will be looking the comparison of the two poems, ‘Drifters’ by Bruce Dawe, And ‘In the park’ by Gwen Harwood under the name of Walter Lehmann. Drifters is about a seemingly constantly moving family, it describes the process the family will go through leaving their newest home. In the park is about a seemingly single mother raising her children, it describes the mother sitting in the park with her children when a previous lover comes by and talks about the children. With in each poem, the form and structure, language techniques and the tone and message will be analysed and compared with the other to gather a grater understanding of the Australian voice.

An individual’s search for identity is fuelled by a need to find a place in the world where we belong, thus not belonging consequently leas to a feeling of alienation and isolation. This notion is explored through May’s journey seeking to connect with her racial heritage, her idea of understanding and acceptance. The old man Graham, May encounters at the mission expresses an Aboriginal perspective on the contemporary relationship between the two societies. “no one to talk about it. And they die, kill em selves, than those governments just put another numba, nother cross in they list. They still trying to do it, kill us of, tell us that its always been they plan.” They hybrid vernacular communicates the hatred through the ethnolect strongly marked by the non –standard features of the pronouns in “they list,” “they plan.” Graham’s diatribe reflects him as an individual demonstrating the marginalisation of the minority groups. Similarly, Armin Greder’s picture book The island demonstrates the notion concerning the duality of belonging with its inherit prejudices and xenophobic attitudes expresses the majority’s deliberate exclusion of ‘the other’ outside

Australia’s identity has always been a complicated one. Starting with Aboriginal genocide, 1800’s cowboys and villains, two world wars and a bunch of poems describing them, it makes it difficult to conclude on what being an ‘Aussie’ really is. Thankfully, the two thought-provoking poems Nobody Calls Me a Wog Anymore by Komninos Zervos, and My Country by Dorothea Mackellar both use their discerning selection of themes to reflect modern attitudes in some extent. Along with their themes, Nobody Calls Me a Wog Anymore and My Country both use their story to capture the attributes modern Australians possess to some degree.

The Apology Day Breakfast, and, Heart’s Core Lament are two powerful indigenous poems which use poetic techniques and devices to portray theme, times, places and identities. These poems both address the stolen generation and the impact that white colonisation has had on the Australian indigenous community. However, Natalie Harkin’s, Heart’s Core Lament has more impact through using graphic imagery to connect the poem to historical