Ever since the railway circle went in, Redfern has been our
people’s main watering hole. That’s why, when Sydney builds its indigenous cultural centre,
it should be in Redfern. Not The Rocks. Not Darling
Harbour. No blackfellas
down there! Redfern is Blackfella Gathering Ground Number One. It’s where Sydney’s past and future
connects.
The way I see it the cultural centre should be a living,
breathing symbol of reconciliation. Yes, it should be a museum and school and
art gallery and research centre and library and performance space too, but most
of all, it’s got to tell the stories of Sydney’s people – from the very
beginning right up to now.
Thing is, how can they expect Aboriginals to recognise
anybody else in Australia
when Australia
itself doesn’t recognise that we’re the first indigenous people of this land?
That was a breakdown in Rudd’s apology. We need that recognition for
reconciliation to come to reality.
This centre has got to help people from Australia and overseas understand who the
Aboriginal people of Sydney
are. It’s got to look history in the eye – the invasion of our country, the
slaughtering of our people, the stealing of our children – but then it’s got to
move people along. What’s past is past. Let’s not dwell on it. Reconciliation
is the future.
It’s about people more than politics. Paul Keating made a
great speech at Redfern
Park in 1992 but he
didn’t carry it on. Now Kevin Rudd has taken the first step and apologised to
the nation in a really passionate way, the Aboriginal people got to accept that
apology, face reality and move on.
And that’s the most important thing about the apology, I
reckon. It’s a time for us to come together. Blackfellas. Whitefellas. We’ve
both got to learn from mistakes and start fresh. Whitefellas got to wash the
blood off their hands. Blackfellas got to forgive, stand up for themselves and
say enough is enough.
What all of us gotta ask ourselves now is: how we gonna walk
on together, hand in hand?
The way I see it, it starts here in Redfern. For too long
our community has been a no-go, our streets just a fast track to the airport
rather than somewhere to stop and learn. For too long our residents have been
stuck in a vicious cycle of drugs, alcohol, violence. Mate, I’m sick of The
Block being called The Blockage.
Now we got new hope. I was at a Chamber of Commerce meeting
last night and we had residents, politicians, councillors, architects business
people excited about Redfern. We’ve got the Pemulwuy Project [named after the
first Aboriginal freedom fighter], and we’ve got big plans for this area. It’s
up to us elders to pave the way.
We’re gonna fix Aboriginal housing, open up Gadigal Apartments as a residential area, make a Red
Square to go with Green Square down the road – Rabbitoh tribal colours! We want
to demolish The Block and put in 62 houses – same number of Aboriginal families
as were in the Gadigal clan on this
land when the First Fleet arrived.
One thing I’ll be cranky about is if the rainbow serpent
marks the path of this indigenous culture trail – it’s a desert totem and got
no place in Sydney.
Snakes represent evil and the negative side of our culture – even Adam and Eve
knew that!
At Redfern station there used to be a rainbow serpent
painted on the wall, fangs bared, bringing bad karma on us for 45 years. It
took me years but I cut his head off eventually, painted that bad karma away.
See, the truth is, the Gadigal
and us are water people. Our totems are whales and dolphins – they’re warmer,
more human creatures, better for kids and more connected with home. These are
animals that represent flowing water and cleansing properties. Why aren’t they
painted on the ground of children’s playgrounds instead of that bloody rainbow
serpent?
Mick Mundine is the CEO of the Aboriginal Housing Commission
Photo: Mundine and his mob are fighting for a past, present
and future Sydney
can be proud of
Source:
www.timeoutsydney.com.au/aroundtown/thebridge/reporter/mick-mundine.aspx