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Life Onboard |
LAST UPDATE
January 13, 2008
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| December 31, 2007 |
Healing the Indigenous People and Land of Australia – Environmentalist and Activist Steven Ross |
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| Steven Ross joined Peace Boat to discuss a range of issues related to the environment and indigenous rights in Australia |
Steven Ross, an environmentalist and Aboriginal rights activist joined Peace Boat from Aotearoa (New Zealand) to his homeland of Australia. While onboard, he discussed a range of issues concerning the struggle of Aboriginals to reclaim their rights and the restoration of their environment. He works for the Murray Lower Darling Rivers – Indigenous Nations (MLDR-IN), a non-government organization that is trying to restore the biggest river in Australia back to a healthy, sustainable condition and recently worked with former vice president of the United States Al Gore on global warming issues. As part of the Aboriginal Wamba Wamba people, Mr Ross was raised to respect the environment as his people believe that human health and environmental health are one. ‘I came to this kind of work just by who I am because indigenous people have a connection to water and land, so I’ve grown up with environmental awareness,’ he told participants. Although there are some 500 indigenous nations (or tribes) of Aboriginals throughout Australia which have different cultures, customs, languages and religions, one continuity exhibited by all of them is the deep respect they share for the environment which has ensured their survival in Australia’s harsh climate for 60,000 years. |
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A poster advertising Mr Ross’ lectures featuring the Aboriginal flag: black symbolizes the people, red for the earth, and yellow for sun, the giver of life. It was designed in 1975 by Harold Thomas and is recognized as a state flag |
Unfortunately, Australian Aboriginals also have the shared experience of their communities and cultures being ravished by colonialism which began in the seventeenth century when European explorers set foot on the country. Since then, the Aboriginal population sharply declined due to displacement, warfare, massacres and diseases introduced by the settlers. Until the 1960s, they were also moved onto missions and reserves which were owned by the government and church in an attempt to assimilate them into European society. From the 1930s, however, an aboriginal rights movement was born. Through various referendums and laws, Aboriginal people were slowly redressed for the injustices they had suffered. Despite the gains made from the 1930s to 1990s, however, the conservative rule of John Howard, who served as prime minister from 1996 to 2007, unstitched much of that work. According to Mr Ross, ‘In his 11 year reign, he undid a lot of work of previous governments such as abolishing the Aboriginal Commission.’ |
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Although he gave many lectures focused on Australia, Mr Ross was also interested in learning about environmental issues affecting Japan |
Howard’s anti-Aboriginal stance sparked the grass roots Reconciliation Movement in which 300,000 Aboriginal and white people came together and marched across the Sydney Harbor Bridge in the year 2000 demanding that the Australian government take responsibility for its abhorrent behavior in the past. Just last month, a new government was elected and the center-left Labor Party led by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd holds hope for the 517,000 indigenous Australians who even today experience a host of socio-economic and health problems stemming from colonization. Despite the injustices they have suffered in the past, Mr Ross is optimistic about the future. ‘More of us are going to high school and university. We have a vibrant cultural and arts movement, and many nations are starting to relearn their traditional language,’ he said. |
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Mr Ross joined the Peace and Green Scholars from South Korea to discuss the complexities of environmental issues impacting the world |
Saving the Kidneys of Australia – the Murray Darling River Basin
Mr Ross also brought to participants’ attention the decline of the Australia’s largest river system, the Murray Darling River which sits on the east coast. It produces 40 percent of the nation’s food and is home to 50 percent of Australia’s biodiversity. ‘The white people see the river as a plumbing system, with a lot of dams and locks, and they use these to keep water levels high so it doesn’t flood or dry out like it’s supposed to,’ explained Mr Ross. Because of this regulation, water is running out and salt levels have dramatically increased and are now seven times more saline than the ocean. In 1992, the mouth of the river closed for the first time and now the government has to spend AUSD7 million per year digging out the mouth to keep it open. The river’s decline has had devastating consequences for the 30 autonomous indigenous nations living near the river which has been a traditional source of food and water for tens of thousands of years. ‘Now we have a degraded river system with poor quality and quantity. There is a poor stock of native fish and all the salt and lack of water is killing our native crops,’ said Mr Ross. |
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Mr Ross’ onboard helpers and communication coordinators (CCs) came together for a group picture at the completion of his lecture series |
According to Mr Ross, ‘We have a government that never talks or consults with aboriginal people when they want to do something with the river, so in 1998 my people set up Murray Lower Darling Rivers – Indigenous Nations. We are a collective voice for our people and our land.’ Through this partnership with the government, Mr Ross’ organization has been able to voice their concerns and the government has had to consider the validity of indigenous science and their way of seeing the world. ‘We believe that we have things to teach white people about looking after the land and the water because when we looked after it, it was never in the state it is in now,’ concluded Mr Ross. |
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