On the use of names and images of the deceased.
Posted in: FMG, Yindjibarndi News | Comments (0)
It is not the usual protocol to speak of the dead and when we are referring to some one of our family member who may share the same name as a lost one then we refer to that persona as Jugari, and we still do. The modern times as brought into our world the amazing technology of photography and many of the indigenous nations view the display of images of lost ones to be also a sign of disrespect.
We totally respect the peoples wishes of not viewing images or displaying after losing a family member but every family has a different opinion. I personally have the view if a young member passes away due to other then living their life to the full, then I would have major problems showing photos of them, but when it comes to elders I feel we should and must showcase them so people do don’t lose sight of them as leaders and as shining symbols of our identity, and its to remind them to raise to their expectations.
Michael Woodley, Yindjibarndi CEO
Images of deceased people will remain on this site and we wish to alert those visiting here to whom this may cause offence.
admin @ April 23, 2012
Despite loss we are strong.
Posted in: Yindjibarndi News | Comments (1)
Dear all,
As friends and colleagues of the Yindjibarndi Nation.
I bring to you today sad news of the passing of our Yindjibarndi Elder Mr. Ned Cheedy. As most of you know, Mr. Cheedy was 105 years old and lived a remarkable life.
On behalf of his family I want to thank you all for participating one way or another in this man’s journey protecting Yindjibarndi.
Michael Woodley.
Yindjibarndi CEO Michael Woodley released this statement on the 1st April, 2012.
On Saturday, 21st April, our beloved elder was laid to rest in the New Roebourne Cemetery, reunited with his wife who pre-deceased him by five years. The service was attended by his friends and family and there were over 500 around the grave side.
He passed away peacefully on a Saturday morning at his daughter’s house. His last request was that the curtains be opened so he could see the sun rise. He lived long enough to see the divisions tearing his beloved people and country apart begin to be healed. This was his final gift to us and we shall treasure it as long as the land endures.
admin @ April 23, 2012
Penillion of the Iron Ore Eaters
Posted in: Jawi Jalurra – Songs Dances | Comments (1)
For the Yindjibarndi People and all other peoples who are or have been or will be driven from their land by the rapacious miners of the Pilbara.
It’s an eating
And a shitting
Analogy?
A synergy
Of compulsion
And revulsion?
Feeding nation/
nation feeding.
Those billionaires
Work the figures:
Divide, conquer/
Coffins, coffers.
Red ore engorged,
Flowers blooded,
Wild contusion
Styled transfusion;
The vast ‘donor’
Left hollow or
Gasping for breath:
Smelters are stealth
Out where the sky
Is primary.
The bands, the seams,
Layers of dreams:
Laws of plosion
Exploration,
Peg-claim: purvey
voyeurs’ surveys
A deletion,
Or extinction
A tenement
As testament?
Miners’ terror:
Stygofauna.
But not the ‘law’
They can pay for.
They eat bodies.
They shit corpses.
Acacias.
Budgerigars.
by John Kinsella
First published in The Sydney Morning Herald on February 18, 2012
admin @ February 18, 2012
On Radio
Posted in: Outside media | Comments (0)
Interviewed by Michelle Lovegrove for SBS radio.
Interview with Stanley Warrie SBS Radio Living Black 21-12-11
Interview with Thomas Jacob SBS Radio Living Black 21-12-11
Interview with Phil Davies SBS Radio Living Black 21-12-11
Stanley Warrie, Thomas Jacob and Phil Davies
admin @ December 21, 2011
PRIMARY DOCUMENTS MINISTER COLLIER’S BACK FLIP
Posted in: FMG, Press releases, Yindjibarndi News | Comments (0)
SUMMARY:
Minister for Looking after his Mates
LINK Original conditions
For as long as these conditions remained FMG could not commence mining activity on the land without first carrying out such cultural heritage surveys.
FMG did not want to comply with these conditions and so applied to the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) seeking an order to have some conditions amended and others deleted.
LINK FMG Application for Amendment of s18 Conditions
On 13 December 2011, Minister Collier complied with FMG’s request to delete three crucial conditions that obliged FMG to:
• “Avoid all sites that contain Aboriginal human remains”,
• “clarify the status of heritage places on the Land and identify all heritage values associated with places on the Land”, and
• “provide the Registrar with information on the location and archaeological and ethnographic assessments of all rockshelters and caves located on the Land.”
COMPARATIVE TABLE
A comparative Table that clearly shows the ‘before’ and ‘after’ consequences of Minister Collier’s decision is available here:
LINK To Table comparing Original and Amended Conditions
admin @ December 21, 2011
Clan fury as MP clears hurdle for friend Andrew Forrest
Posted in: FMG, Outside media, Yindjibarndi News | Comments (0)
West Australian Indigenous Affairs Minister Peter Collier has substantially freed the company chaired by his friend Andrew Forrest from having to comply with the state’s heritage law for its expanded mining operations in the Pilbara, says an Aboriginal group.
The Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, which represents indigenous people affected by Fortescue Metal Group’s mining, says the decision clears the way for “wholesale destruction of rare and ancient Yindjibarndi heritage”.
FMG has won the removal of three key conditions that dealt with protection of indigenous heritage while other conditions were amended.
Earlier this year, Mr Collier said in a radio interview he regarded Mr Forrest as a personal friend and took “guidance and great advice from his wisdom”.
…
Read more of this article by Paul Cleary in “The Australian”
admin @ December 20, 2011
State back flips on FMG Conditions
Posted in: FMG, Press releases, Yindjibarndi News | Comments (2)
WAY NOW CLEAR FOR FINAL OBLITERATION OF YINDJIBARNDI HERITAGE
Peter Collier, Minister for looking after mates.
SUMMARY:
Last Tuesday, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Peter Collier, reneged on an earlier commitment to hold Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) accountable for identification and protection of Yindjibarndi heritage in the path of its Solomon Project mine. After FMG demanded that critical conditions of his consent be deleted, Minister Collier complied, clearing the way for wholesale destruction of rare and ancient Yindjibarndi heritage.
Yindjibarndi CEO, Michael Woodley, said “This is a Christmas from hell for us. It is a weak and morally wrong decision from Mr Collier. The Minister had a choice – to ensure Yindjibarndi people could properly record their sites before FMG wipes them off the face of the earth, and use this knowledge to make safe and fair decisions; or kick us in the guts and cheer on FMG’s destruction of our culture places before anyone has the chance to understand, care or know they ever existed. Mr Collier took the second option. So while FMG mining grinds on round the clock over Christmas, there will be no peace for Yindjibarndi.”
[…]
In the last two months FMG has repeatedly obstructed Yindjibarndi people from going onto their country to record their heritage and perform ceremonies. This is in breach of a condition of their mining lease that states access to and use of the land by Yindjibarndi people “is not to be restricted” by FMG, except in relation to any parts that are being used for mining operations, or for safety or security reasons relating to those operations.
FMG has fraudulently cited this “safety and security” stipulation by declaring areas YAC needs access to as ‘controlled areas’. FMG’s invocation of “safety and security” is false because no mining operations were being conducted on the land where the YAC sought to undertake surveys at the time of YAC’s visit, nor could there be for as long as the Minister’s section 18 conditions for comprehensive surveys remained unfulfilled.
[…]
The grave consequence of this obstruction for Yindjibarndi, and the advantage sought by FMG, is that after FMG mining operations have razed the country and destroyed physical evidence of Yindjibarndi heritage, there will be no certified and authentic documentary record upon which the prosecution of FMG can be based.
[…]
Mr Woodley said, “We are deeply angered that fundamental human rights standards spelled out in United Nations covenants are being blatantly violated in this state. The Minister’s decision steals from our people what is at the centre of our world, the cultural heritage that lies at the heart of our identity, our confidence, our right to exist as Yindjibarndi.”
Link to high resolution photographs (large 19m zip)
admin @ December 19, 2011
Thanks to our supporters
Posted in: Yindjibarndi News | Comments (0)
We would like to thank you for donating to the Yindjibarndi Fighting Fund with a promise.
Read
admin @ December 16, 2011
FMG accused of ‘Apartheid-Style’ Tatics
Posted in: FMG, Outside media, Yindjibarndi News | Comments (0)
The ongoing dispute between Fortescue Mining Group and the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation continues…
The YAC says FMG is now demanding that Yindjibarndi people stay out of their traditional country and apply to FMG ‘managers’ for permission in writing to enter.
This comes after the mining giant acquired a limited right to mine in Yindjibarndi country.
It’s a throwback to another troubled era, CEO of the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation Michael Woodley joined Joe Cassidy on Morning Magazine.
Listen to this interview
admin @ December 15, 2011
Yindjibarndi Donation Appeal
Posted in: FMG, Press releases, Yindjibarndi News | Comments (2)
Dear Friends, Wanthiwa – hello.
Please take time to read our Yindjibarndi Donation Appeal.
On behalf of the Yindjibarndi People and most senior Elder and leader, Mr Ned Cheedy, we ask for your help.
Some of you have already donated to our Yindjibarndi Fighting Fund. Your donations are very important votes of conscience that have made us stronger and lifted our spirits to challenge the tyranny of FMG.
WE ARE NOW LAUNCHING INTO A MORE PROACTIVE AND CHALLENGING PHASE OF OUR CAMPAIGN, FOR WHICH WE NEED YOUR HELP EVEN MORE URGENTLY.
Our most vital task in the months ahead is to travel to the country FMG has not yet destroyed, to record all the knowledge of Yindjibarndi ceremony and tradition, the sacred and archaeological sites, Law and language that make up our heritage and inheritance. These journeys of ceremony and cultural recording will be the last opportunity for Yindjibarndi elders to make a full record which, after FMG’s right to mine ends and they have moved on, can be used by future generations of Yindjibarndi to restore and revive connections with their homelands. Our use of digital video to capture the landscapes, and the songs, stories, ceremonies and the testimonies of the Elders will be at the heart of this work.
Please travel beside us defending and fortifying Yindjibarndi culture for our kids and the world. Please help by donating to our Fighting Fund, which will be used to provision cultural recording field trips of Yindjibarndi people and professional heritage volunteers from around Australia (vehicles, equipment, flights, food), and to maintain communications and defend hostile legal attacks.
admin @ December 11, 2011
