Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NYP) Women's Council

By Deb Baxter - Values Coordinator - The Body Shop





























Images provided by Angela Lynch - NPY Women's Council

Look at these beautiful photos. I was quite overwhelmed when I received these; taken at the "Tjilpi Pampa Festival" - a festival for aged men and women from remote aboriginal communities in the cross border area of Central Australia.

Gathering about 100 elderly Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara speaking people from around twelve remote communities, the NPY provided an amazing week of song and dance, painting, weaving, bush tucker trips and pampering sessions.

At the same time as The Body Shop are supporting ANTaR in their pledge against Racism, I am happy to say we have once again supported a number of Indigenous organisations through our Mother's Day Gift Giving Programme. The NPY are one of these organisations and were thrilled to receive our products to share with their participants.

To find out more about the NPY, visit http://www.npywc.org.au

Racism Makes Me Sick!

Poster for ANTaR's new Racism Makes Me Sick campaign with The Body Shop.

Many Australians felt a new level of optimism as the Prime Minister committed his government to closing the life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians within a generation. But ‘closing the gap’ is not just a task for governments, it needs all of us.

Better health care may not eliminate health inequalities unless basic changes also occur in how non-Indigenous people behave towards Indigenous Australians. Misconceptions, stereotypes and myths about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders abound in Australian conversations, media and psyche.

Personal experiences of racism have a dramatic and negative impact, contributing to heart disease, premature births, hypertension and mental illness for those affected. Stereotyping and labeling, for example about willingness to work and levels of morality, have negative effects through both direct stress and trauma, and through effects on the life opportunities available to Indigenous people – like employment, wage levels, housing, and school retention, which are recognised ‘social determinants’ of health for everyone.

Tackling these stereotypes is a job for all Australians. We all have a role to play in changing the perceptions and behaviour of our fellow Australians to ensure that racism has no place in our communities, homes and institutions.

GET THE FACTS

Your efforts will be a driving force for success of the new ANTaR 'Racism Makes Me Sick' campaign, launched nationally on 21 April 2008.

To ensure that 'Racism Makes Me Sick' reaches as many people as possible, ANTaR is collaborating with The Body Shop. We will be promoting the campaign in our stores for 21 days (from 21 April 2008) as part of our commitment to defending human rights and promoting reconciliation in Australia.

Individual anti-racism action is the aim of the campaign. If you have ever felt powerless, or at a loss for ideas on how to end Indigenous disadvantage, this campaign will help you make a real difference.

You can sign a Personal Pledge to show your commitment, at www.ANTaR.org.au, where you can also find fact sheets and hints on how to effectively speak up when you encounter racist or misinformed comments.

If you care about Indigenous health crisis, please visit the website, sign on, talk to your friends, colleagues and networks about this campaign, and contact us with your ideas on how to take it into communities and workplaces.

ANTaR has prepared 9 useful tips to help you speak up against racism in your everyday conversations.

You can make a positive difference!

• Do something positive at home
• Do something positive in your the work place
• Do something positive in your school
• Do something positive for your community
• Support Indigenous businesses when you shop
  

Resolve to tackle racism and the Indigenous health crisis in Australia by signing this personal pledge.


Adam Valvasori - Sick of Racism

A New Beginning

'As Prime Minister of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the Government of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the Parliament of Australia, I am sorry. I offer you this apology without qualification.'' - PM Kevin Rudd.

"The essence of the message is: white Australia acknowledges the hurt that was imposed on black Australia and, by that acknowledgement, hopes that we can move to another stage in the quest for both reconciliation and tangible progress." - Michelle Grattan, The Age

"At The Body Shop we are delighted by the leadership Mr Rudd has shown around this issue, as we believe, it is the first of many steps towards reconciliation – and as a business we have campaigned and championed this issue of human rights for many years." - Polly Caldow, CEO - The Body Shop

"We all want reconciliation and we stand in support." - Carlo Santone, Blue King Brown

"If I want to continue to call myself an Australian I have to find something to take pride in," - Alex Michaela of Brunswick

"Sorry it's taken so long to say sorry." SMS from 'Coll' - Crowd member watching at Fed Square

"I can already feel the healing process has begun." - Yorta Yorta woman Deborah Cheetham, from Newport.

"It [the apology] should be from the Howard government: after all, it persisted with those failed policies for much of its time in office as a political holding strategy because it was afraid, until its last year or so, to really do something." - David Moore, Ex-chief of staff to then Aboriginal Affairs Minister Mal Brough.

Thanks to Megan from Imaginif for finding this great post from Aussie Blogger The Cerebral Mum...

"So this was me in the 90s, wearing my reconciliation armband; the armband which sold out within a day of appearing on the shelves at The Body Shop because I was not alone in my sentiments.

I cried today when that symbolic act took place. I cried to hear, finally, an official apology which was unequivocal and made no excuses. I cried to see someone stand up and speak the truth on behalf of all of us who have wanted it spoken for so long. Not because it expatiates our history’s wrongs, not because it absolves us of our guilt, but simply because, as Cathy Freeman said, It is the right thing to do.”


Adam Valvasori - Values Manager

Showing My Hand

I'm sorry that when I was growing up, I didn't always treat Indigenous Australians with the respect they deserved.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is expected to make a full apology to Aboriginal people when Federal Parliament sits next month.

The Body Shop gives kudos to this, a critical step on the journey towards Reconciliation. It's the right thing to do. We also salute Labor's promises to make Indigenous health and education a top priority for the the new Government. Saying 'Sorry' is so simple but so essential to moving on.

The Body Shop has been campaigning for indigenous rights since 1998 when we collected over 100,000 thumb prints in our stores for Reconciliation Week.

Since then we've been involved in a range of practical initiatives with Indigenous communities around Australia, designed to foster greater economic independence. These include setup, maintenance and or the facilitation of the:

• Enterprise Development Workshop,
  
• First Australians Business
  
• Indigenous Enterprise Programme.
• National Indigenous Youth Leadership Group

Back to the present: It's great the Government is doing the right thing... but we also have a responsibility on a personal level to step up. What have our prejudices and behaviour towards Aborigines been in the past. Can we be kinder, more respectful? We can learn more about our rich indigenous culture and history. We can do more to stand up for their human rights for better health and education.

To start, why not say 'sorry' yourself? Australians for Native Title & Reconciliation (ANTaR) has a fantastic, creative way for you to commit to justice for Indigenous Australians, it's called the Sea Of Hands Online. It also gives you the option to sign up to their newsletter! Once you've completed your hand you can check out other peoples! See my hand above or go fish for it online.

Here are some other great websites you should check out:

• ANTaR
  
• The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)
• The ABC's Message Stick
  
• Reconcile
• The Australian Museum's Stories from the Dreamtime
  

Watch Missy Higgin's views on saying sorry and Reconciliation below:



Adam Valvasori - Values Manager

Us Taken-Away Kids

Us Taken-Away Kids, a magazine commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the ‘Bringing them home’ report. The magazine represents artwork and stories from members of the ‘Stolen Generations’ throughout Australia, and serves as a testament to the resilience of Aboriginal people and their ability to triumph in the face of despair.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma said: “While there has been some improvements since the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission’s (HREOC) ‘Bringing them home’ report was released in 1997, including the Indigenous child placement principle in child protection, greater funding for organisations supporting ‘Stolen Generations’ members and a national Sorry Day, we still need to do so much more.”

The below are great examples of some of the inspiring work inside the magazine:

Artist: Beverley Grant
Title: ‘Leaving the Mission’, 2007
Symbolism: Browns, reds, yellows and black represent the people, land, sun and the mission. White represents the spiritual connection between the people and the land.
Story: Leaving the missionaries and the Mission, to find family and to commence nursing in mainstream in 1967- the year of the referendum for Aboriginal recognition and citizenship. Footprints signify return to family, people and homeland.


Excerpt from ‘Us taken-away kids’, by Alec Kruger and Gerard Waterford, Alone on the soaks, IAD Press, 2007...

"As a child I had no mother’s arms to hold me. No father to lead me into the world. Us taken- away kids only had each other. All of us damaged and too young to know what to do. We had strangers standing over us. Some were nice and did the best they could. But many were just cruel nasty types. We were flogged often. We learnt to shut up and keep our eyes to the ground, for fear of being singled out and punished. We lived in dread of being sent away again where we could be even worse off. Many of us grew up hard and tough. Others were explosive and angry. A lot grew up just struggling to cope at all. They found their peace in other institutions or alcohol. Most of us learnt how to occupy a small space and avoid anything that looked like trouble. We had few ideas about relationships. No one showed us how to be lovers or parents. How to feel safe loving someone when that risked them being taken away and leaving us alone again. Everyone and everything we loved was taken away from us kids."

The ‘Us Taken-Away Kids’ magazine is available online or can be ordered from the HREOC publications officer on 02 9284 9600 or here.

The Body Shop Australia has been campaigning for reconciliation since 1998.


Adam Valvasori - Values Manager