7SOG Flashcards
setter colonialism/a home invasion -gallows humour/black comedy - where invaders are seen as ‘troublesome neighbours” and First Nations people hold the power -
“Oi. Hey, you!” “You’re taking up the whole bloody harbor” - 1788
The media as a contemporary institution that perpetuate the inequalities pertaining to race
“Defiant Aboriginal March” “Aboriginal March, Traffic Stopper” - the disparity - “No one said that about the fucken Santa Parade the week before”
First Nations peoples distrust of institutions/authority - disconnection from broader society
“She was a woman who couldn’t trust doctors” or “speak to teachers or police” and “got nervous at any mention of the ‘gubberment’”
Community/family as a strong galvanising and healing force - collective mourning of Nana (62)
“taken from us, moved on…passed away” “my family were in mourning for a month. All of us together in five houses” “four hundred people turned up to the service. They couldn’t fit in the church”
Different expressions of grief
“I cry and cry until I can’t feel anymore”
“I fear I can no longer grieve”
“Our cultures have been denied to us. But we have been taught to cry silently”
“We’re not fighting, we’re grieving”
The importance of storytelling and passing on memories - as it shapes identity
“I miss my grandmother. She took so many stories to the grave”
Nana and her stories define “who I am”, and after Nana’s death she feels this has “gone”
Aunty Grace succumbing to the shared memory of the family and land - and her stance in the community
“throwing the contents [of her belongings] all over the ground” and filling “the case with red earth from the grave” “crying at last, crying”
“Dad said she was stuck up and wasn’t really family” - though family relationships are intense and important, they are not immune to dissolution
The edition of ‘Walking across bridges’ - after 250000 people marched in support of reconciliation
“They’ve written sorry across the sky”
cautious hope for the emancipation from past grief, juxtaposed with the MANY scenes of loss, grief and pain
“I guess we can’t go back now”
“The woman places the suitcase down at the feet of the audience” - offering them a chance to consider equality - “Everything has its time”
Grief has been ossified not explored, tears frozen, a significant emotional toll
“A large block of ice is suspended by seven strong roped. It is melting, dripping on to a freshly turned grave of red earth”
The fight against racism - the struggle to be heard and understood
“Don’t tell me we’re not fighting! Don’t tell me we don’t fight most of our lives”
Scenes/situations that highlighted inequality and casual racism as inwoven in Australian society (cultural prejudice and judgement)
The Murri girl getting a dress - the security guard paying unwarranted attention to her because of her “black skin”
“The neighbors watched from the “safety” of their kitchen windows”
The invasion poem
Reconciliation as more just a word and not a progressive or healing term. Its aim to placate rather than make amends
‘Written in childlike script the words “Wreck”, “con”, “Silly”, “Nation” are projected’
“What a mess” - Indigenous and non-indigenous relations
“Wreck, Con, Silly, Nation”
“What’s the use in having a word if we don’t think and talk about it”
“In the end it isn’t something you read or write that changes your life. It’s something you do” - criticises government inaction
Family and community as a support system
“but I’ve got home… and I’ve got family” Story of a Father
The suitcase of photographs is featured in a number of scenes - “Photograph Story” and “Family Gallery” - nonverbal textual dialogue - powerfully conveys the notion that family is a significant influence on individuals’ lives and identities - “images of landscape interweave with family portraits creating a tapestry of Land and People”
the actor representative of the ‘everywoman’ - her frequent use of inclusive pronouns - her existence as an Indigenous Australian
“you know how we all look alike”
“we come from a longline of storytelling”
Nana is “taken from us”
