Canberra: Aboriginal embassy offers peace to Anglican church
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - 13 SEPTEMBER 2015
Members of Canberra's Indigenous community offered a message of peace to Dr Philip Freier, head of the Anglican church in Australia, during the Anglicare Australia national conference on September 13, 2015.
Freier, the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne and spiritual leader of the local church, joined other conference attendees in being welcomed by members of Canberra's Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Barton.
Minjerribah elder Dennis Walker offered Freier a message stick, while Uncle Patrick Lock led a smoking ceremony and spoke of the community's wish to begin a new friendship with the church, despite its connection to Australia's colonial past.
"We are offering you our friendship and a chance to make reparations for past atrocities," Lock said.
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Speech for Anglican Church Ceremony
09/09/2015
Somebody somewhere has got to start forgiving. We are all living here together on this Earth and we, the Original people wish to exist in peace.
We ask that our cultural values be respected and that cultural heritage be honored with the dignity deserved by our people for keeping 100,000 years of peace.
We present this message stick to your church as a gesture of that peace that we kept here in this land since the beginning of time in an act of friendship so that you may learn from us and make good the atrocities committed in the past against our people in a meaningful and constructive manner.
We are offering you our friendship and a chance to make reparations for past atrocities. The murder of our Elders, Lore People, Warriors, Women and Children by those who lusted for our land.
The genocide, committed against us occurred right across this country during the crusade of invaders , driven by the desire for our country which we have been custodians of since time began.
Despite what has happened in the past, Our people are still strong in our culture and our respect and custodianship for this land is unwavering.
The healing that needs to occur within our community today stems from the stolen generations who were abused in churches, removed from their families, homes and culture to be assimilated into a foreign culture. The deep wound within the Aboriginal community today also has roots in the memory of the merciless slaughter of our ancestors during the invasion of our home lands.
"you need to understand that you went the way of Cain and we went the way of Abel.
Now by way of treaty what I'm saying is that in order to fulfill God's law you have to come out of your property law of Cain, which gives the perception of other, so that you can commit genocide and change from that property law and come into our custodial law so we can look after people and country properly by way of our four estates. The four estates of the invader and occupier and genocider are Queen, Parliament, Judiciary and the Media is the fourth of state. Our estates are elders, men's business, women's business, law, initiation and bloodline back to country."
Dennis Walkers, Loreman from Minjerribah
I call on urgent action to be taken to address the issues of rampant incarceration rates of our people, the continued stealing of our children from their families, the continued cultural genocide by way of destroying our language, culture, lore & land aswell as the destruction of our sacred sites where we have worshipped since time began.
We are here to offer you a chance to join our circle in peace and friendship, black and white, young and old together in unity, with the spirit of this land, which our people have honored since the beginning of time.
To begin to develop a common respect and understanding among our people you must listen and learn from us, the original people of this country and holders of the true lore of this land in order that the future in this country will be one of peace and respect that will spread throughout the people of this Earth .
I am from the Ngunnawal tribe, the traditional custodians of the land of Canberra and it is symbolic that it begins here, a place of meeting and neutral ground for people to discuss business, conduct ceremony and share knowledge.
This is what happened in the land of Canberra since time began.
May country look after you, as you look after country.
In the spirit of peace,
Patrick Lock
Son of a Ngunnawal woman
