AUSTRALIA DAY - A REASON FOR CELEBRATION?
Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 8:35 am
As an Australian I too celebrate Australia day but a coin has two sides and here is the other one.
AUSTRALIA DAY – A REASON FOR CELEBRATION?
http://www.pool.org.au/audio/mahalia/au ... elebration
Dat old man Cook...he bloody crook....he help steal our land away.
He come in boat, dem things dat float, landed at Botany Bay.
We came to greet – but dem not meet – dem just see paint and spear.
Dem folks go back and tell old King big lie – say no one's here.
Dem more boats come, filled with white scum – many in bright red coats
Some men in chains – we hear dat pain – the groans deep in dem throats.
At Stingray Bay. dem raised a flag and cheered an served sweet rum
we cried out “ Warra! Warra !” –( Go away) – but still dem fella's come.
Then squatters came and took more land, no fee was paid to us
No beads, no cloth, no knives changed hands - sheer theft was what it was.
They drove our people from their lands and from their hunting grounds
and still today the fight goes on – legalities abound.
We were massacred in hundreds and our land they stole away.
You wonder why we don't celebrate Australia Day.
Invasion Day more to the point, for we were overthrown
and for justice still today fight on, for land we once did own.
Not owned with title deeds as such, for in those days there were none
but we were the keepers of the stones, happy beneath the sun.
Squatters they came with sheep and cattle, fenced the land with wire.
Showed no respect for sacred sites. Greed drove their desire.
But we are the land, the land is us , it is part of our dreaming.
We care and nurture Mother Earth, her heart we are not stealing.
We never stayed in one place long, we'd hunt and then move on.
To let animals and earth replenish ....we always knew her song.
But white man he don't know that, he builds cities big and tall.
He cuts down trees, pollutes the streams, runs rampant over all.
No kangaroos or wallabies to hunt, no fish to spear
and he thinks he's the smarter bloke, but what I see I fear.
For Mother Earth is crying out, her people heed her call.
For centuries we nurtured her, her heart is in us all..
Our stories tell how Rainbow serpent made the rivers run,
created rocks, and stones – provided food for everyone.
But now she shows her rage. We have flood and fire and drought.
The days are getting hotter, and dust storms block sunlight out.
Green grass swallowed by concrete, tall trees replaced by towers
clean creeks and waterholes dried up, and weeds replace the flowers.
Australia Day is not for her. You celebrate the thieves
who stole the land from us and now bring her to her knees.
In years to come, when kangaroo and wallaby are no more.
Will you celebrate Australia Day on fouled polluted shores?
Maureen Clifford © 01/10
AUSTRALIA DAY – A REASON FOR CELEBRATION?
http://www.pool.org.au/audio/mahalia/au ... elebration
Dat old man Cook...he bloody crook....he help steal our land away.
He come in boat, dem things dat float, landed at Botany Bay.
We came to greet – but dem not meet – dem just see paint and spear.
Dem folks go back and tell old King big lie – say no one's here.
Dem more boats come, filled with white scum – many in bright red coats
Some men in chains – we hear dat pain – the groans deep in dem throats.
At Stingray Bay. dem raised a flag and cheered an served sweet rum
we cried out “ Warra! Warra !” –( Go away) – but still dem fella's come.
Then squatters came and took more land, no fee was paid to us
No beads, no cloth, no knives changed hands - sheer theft was what it was.
They drove our people from their lands and from their hunting grounds
and still today the fight goes on – legalities abound.
We were massacred in hundreds and our land they stole away.
You wonder why we don't celebrate Australia Day.
Invasion Day more to the point, for we were overthrown
and for justice still today fight on, for land we once did own.
Not owned with title deeds as such, for in those days there were none
but we were the keepers of the stones, happy beneath the sun.
Squatters they came with sheep and cattle, fenced the land with wire.
Showed no respect for sacred sites. Greed drove their desire.
But we are the land, the land is us , it is part of our dreaming.
We care and nurture Mother Earth, her heart we are not stealing.
We never stayed in one place long, we'd hunt and then move on.
To let animals and earth replenish ....we always knew her song.
But white man he don't know that, he builds cities big and tall.
He cuts down trees, pollutes the streams, runs rampant over all.
No kangaroos or wallabies to hunt, no fish to spear
and he thinks he's the smarter bloke, but what I see I fear.
For Mother Earth is crying out, her people heed her call.
For centuries we nurtured her, her heart is in us all..
Our stories tell how Rainbow serpent made the rivers run,
created rocks, and stones – provided food for everyone.
But now she shows her rage. We have flood and fire and drought.
The days are getting hotter, and dust storms block sunlight out.
Green grass swallowed by concrete, tall trees replaced by towers
clean creeks and waterholes dried up, and weeds replace the flowers.
Australia Day is not for her. You celebrate the thieves
who stole the land from us and now bring her to her knees.
In years to come, when kangaroo and wallaby are no more.
Will you celebrate Australia Day on fouled polluted shores?
Maureen Clifford © 01/10