NAIDOC week

Looking back, I am also struggling to get things in order. NAIDOC Week is usually in July (I think) - standing for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. I went to an event at the university which (to me) just felt awkward and embarrassing; both partronising and only at the level of appearances. It was a raising of the Aborginal flag - a weird device in itself, since based on a particular notion of nation, land and identity that historically doesn't seem to have much to do with First Nations people anywhere in the world. Then it turned out that nobody had checked whether the flagpole worked - again just felt like an indication of how half-heartedly the university was doing this.

So - someone had the idea to drape the flag across some attendant indigenous children, and use this as a photo-opportunity with the vice-chancellor (sweet children! friendly white man! pretty flag!) and then we were served cup-cakes, flavoured with indigenous plants (aboriginal! cupcakes!) and then an 'authentic' aboriginal man played and sang, and all the white people smiled.