Some 10 months after a stinging rejection to recognize Indigenous Australians in the Constitution, the wounds still run deep. So does the desire to move forward.
Traditional owners of the land want action. That was the message to the country’s premier Indigenous gathering involving 2,000-plus First Nations leaders, politicians, academics and business people who met this month on an escarpment overlooking the Gulf of Carpentaria in northeast Arnhem Land, a remote part of the Northern Territory. The theme of the 2024 Garma Festival was "Fire. Strength. Renewal.”
It’s not easy. The challenge for Australia’s Indigenous communities that dot a harsh, sprawling landmass is how to mesh 60,000 years of cultural traditions that guide everyday life with today’s economic realities. How do you move some of the world’s most disadvantaged and secluded communities off welfare to become economically empowered? How do you take their unique knowledge and develop policies based on mainstream economics?