Yirrkala bark petitions

The Yolngu Bark Petition (English: bark = bark ), also called Yirrkala Bark Petition, was the first petition, which was handed over in 1963 to a painted tree bark and typewritten text on paper in the Australian Parliament. She was painted in traditional form with ocher and decorated with text in both English and in Gumatj, an indigenous language. This petition was of great importance for the inclusion of human rights of indigenous peoples in the Constitution of Australia, moreover, it is considered a historical document of democracy and the starting point of the land rights movement of the Aborigines.

Signed the petition had 13 leading representatives of the Aboriginal clans of the Yolngu in the field of Gove Peninsula, is located in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory.

Occasion

In February 1963, the Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies announced that his government has approved the reduction of a large bauxite deposits on the Gove Peninsula, there were protests from the Aborigines living there. They feared that their land rights violated and their sacred sites could be destroyed. The liberal conservative -led government responded that it had received a mining permit of the local population. It was later learned that she had merely consulted representatives of the Methodist Overseas Mission, who led the Aboriginal mission station at Yirrkala. No leader of the Aborigines had been asked. Representatives of the government opposition visited in July 1963, the Yolngu and advised them to submit a petition. The petition Yolgnu Bark became known petition was delivered on 14 August 1963 as well as later, two more petitions on tree bark. Since the concerns of Aboriginal people was not met, these lawsuits filed a court, which were rejected.

Nevertheless, the former mining company Nabalco offered a compensation payment so that recognized the land rights of Aboriginal and declared that they would respect the sacred places of the Aborigines. In 2007, Rio Tinto Gove bauxite mine and the Rirratjingu, Gumatj and Galpu Traditional Owners, the Northern Land Council and Rio Tinto signed in 2011 a contract for the operation of the Gove bauxite mine over a period of 42 years up to the year 2053rd

Importance

The petition of 1963 was the only one that was issued at Parliament House in Canberra, in the Magna Carta and the Australian Constitution be shown. Due to the special form of this petition generated national and international attention. It is also understood in Australia as an example of a bridge between the legal and cultural conceptions of Aboriginal and whites. In the struggle of Aboriginal people for their equality in Australian society the Yolgnu Bark petition made ​​an important contribution.

Before the Yolngu Bark Petition, there were already petitions of Aborigines who had an impact on Australian law that were either Queen Victoria or British colonial governments passed. Significant for the development of land rights of Aborigines before the Yolngu Bark Petitions were the Batman's Treaty ( 1835), the Wybalenna petition (1847 ) and Coranderrk petition (1882). Other petitions on tree bark, which were of great importance, followed by the Yolngu Bark Petition in the years 1968, 1988, 1998 and 2008.

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