In her poem, ‘Ngurambang yali - Country Speaks’, Wiradjuri writer Jeanine Leane gives a voice to the land:
‘Balandha—dhuraay Bumal-ayi-nya Wumbay abuny (yaboing)’
— History does not have the first claim. Nor the last word.
Nghindhi yarra dhalanbul ngiyanhi gin.gu
- ‘You can speak us now!’
Since colonization, the spurious voice of the white man has attempted to define the history of Australia. In politics, education, the sciences and almost all realms of public discourse, stories have been told about the land and its First Peoples – claims that have often been as violent as the genocide that enabled the founding of the Australian nation. It is well beyond time for other voices to speak and be heard.
There is no single story of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who are the original occupants of the continent and who never ceded sovereignty. They form one of the oldest civilizations on earth, of some 250 nations and 800 dialects. The countless stories there are are not for the colonizer to tell. The articles in this Big Story are instead an incomplete attempt to let some of them tell themselves. Most of all, they are an invitation to readers: a fleeting glimpse into ideas, realities and histories, many of which may be unfamiliar, and a call to continue listening.
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Zoe Holman for the New Internationalist co-operative.
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Gunditjmara, Waddawurrung & Arrernte man Jordan Edwards in the state Legislative Council Chamber, Melbourne, during the first sitting of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria in July 2023.
Photo: Tamati Smith/Getty Images
This is not your land. After the defeat of a 2023 referendum on the inclusion of a First Nations Voice in parliament, Zoe Holman traces the claims to self-determination made by Indigenous peoples in Australia, culminating in today’s rallying call for Treaty.
From the First Fleet’s arrival to today’s fight for recognition, we trace the turbulent history of Aboriginal Australians—a journey of dispossession, resistance, and resilience.
Senator Lidia Thorpe talks to Zoe Holman about power, Treaty and Australia’s identity crisis.
Veteran activist, academic and actor Gary Foley talks to Zoe Holman about the past and future of Aboriginal resistance.
State and corporate interests across Northern Australia are steamrolling the rights and aspirations of Indigenous peoples in pursuit of economic largesse, Ben Abbatangelo writes.
Alexis Wright gives an epic account of the life and work of a man who took the campaign for Aboriginal rights to the highest levels in her award-winning biography of renowned activist, Tracker Tilmouth.
Dario Vacirca examines efforts to prosecute ongoing crimes against Australia’s First Nations.
After the celebrated fall of the Assad regime, questions remain over Syria’s future. As Turkey increases violence in the country’s Kurdish-majority north, Matt Broomfield reports on people’s hopes and fears.
As Norway’s isolated islands leave coal mining behind, Huw Paige asks if it is realistic for them to become a green exemplar for the Arctic.
Once at the forefront of the 2018 revolution, Sudan’s social movements are now providing vital humanitarian aid throughout a devastating civil war. How have they kept their pro-democracy politics alive and adapted to a changing landscape? Eiad Husham reports.
Without a reckoning over their support for Israeli genocide, the US Democrats are doomed to fail, argues Decca Muldowney.
Communities in Nigeria’s Niger Delta are rising up against Big Oil’s retreat, as decades of environmental devastation and government neglect leave them exposed. Obiora Ikoku reports.
Framed by a deadly act of retribution against corporate greed, Nick Dowson examines how a Trump presidency and fringe healthcare policies could upend both US and global health systems.
Seventy-five years after efforts to suppress coca chewing, Mattha Busby examines how a landmark WHO review could redefine a sacred Andean tradition and challenge decades of anti-drug stigma.
As Syria reels from the fall of Assad, Israel’s half-century-first incursion into the Golan Heights has plunged local communities into siege and uncertainty. John McAulay reports.
At India’s largest Hindu festival, transgender spiritual leaders step into the spotlight for the first time, but Shivalika Puri reveals that their journey for equality is far from over.
Egypt’s new law puts asylum-seekers at risk as Sisi’s regime clamps down on dissent. Lara Gibson investigates.
From global terrorist to de facto leader, Richard Swift explores Ahmed al-Sharaa’s tumultuous transformation and the uncertain future he now charts for Syria.
Yoon Can’t Hide; Wiki Wars; Ceasefire Now?; Parental Justice; Rights Rollback.
In the first letter of a new series, Maya Misikir writes about the loss of her citys soul to a new development project thats ripping communities apart.
Polyp tells the story of the movement that shook up civil rights in Britain – and refused the limitations of respectable politics.
Highlighting the work of artists and photographers from the Majority World.
‘People are very angry’. Canadian climate activist Jacob Pirro meets Paula Lacey to discuss being locked up for taking direct action, and what motivates him.
The L.A. fires have nothing to do with climate change, illustrated by Kate Evans.
Struggling with an ethical dilemma? New Internationalist’s Agony Uncle can help you find answers in our troubled political times.
In Defence of Barbarism; Disaster Nationalism; The Parlour Wife; Pink Witch.
Could the iron road lead the way to climate justice? By Monisha Rajesh.