AustLit

'On 19 September 2006 Justice Wilcox of the Federal Court declared that the Noongar people of south-west Western Australia held native title over Perth. It was a stunning decision. For the first time, the enduring connection of an Indigenous group to a metropolitan area was recognised in a Court proceeding. It seemed that the myth of cultural destruction in the settled south was finally upended. The euphoric claimants shed tears of joy.' (Introduction)

'Doreen Kartinyeri, with the assistance of Sue Anderson, tells her story with such a strong presence of personal voice it almost seems like you are sitting with her — not reading her words but hearing them. It is that human voice and the very personal relating of the direct effect on Ngarrindjeri lives, of Australian politics and policies most Australians only know about from sensationalist headlines that draws the reader into Kartinyeri’s story. This story covers every experience a Ngarrindjeri woman can go through living on a mission under ‘The Act’,1 from her removal from family into an institution, to the recent Machiavellian drama that was the Hindmarsh Island bridge issue.' (Introduction)

'Freedom by John Maynard adds an extra and long overdue dimension to our historical knowledge of Aboriginal activism and politics. The 1960s have long been upheld as a watershed in the modern Aboriginal rights movement. Charles Perkins’ 1965 Freedom Ride through New South Wales, the 1966 Gurrindji walk-off at Wave Hill and the campaign to support the 1967 Referendum have all taken their place in the history of Aboriginal activism. Maynard, however, shows through the life of his grandfather, Fred Maynard, that Aboriginal activism had deeper roots than is commonly known.' (Introduction)