Maori – Aboriginal Solidarity

Mana (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 5, 1 September 1977, Page 2

Maori - Aboriginal Solidarity

Auckland Maori activist Titewhai Harawira recently returned from a month’s visit to Australia.

The main purpose of.her visit was to attend activities staged on Bth July each year to celebrate National Aboriginie’s Day and to show fraternal solidarity to Aborigines in the common problems we share. Titewhai was also returning the visit made by two Australian blacks, Gary Foley

and Gary Williams, who joined Land Marchers camped on Parliament Grounds in 1975, and she brought them up to date on ancient Maori struggles such as Bastion Point and NgatiHine.

She took part in activities organised by the Black Community in Sydney on National Aboriginie’s Day. These included demonstrations at cultural exhibitions, discussion groups, seminars and social activities.

The whole idea of the day is to assert pride in being Black, to highlight their grievances and to educate people on the need for united political action to gain social justice.

Titewhai Harawira also visited Melbourne, Brisbane and other parts of Queensland during her stay. She was the guest of Aboriginal groups for the whole of her stay, and was particularly interested in and involved with the Aboriginal Legal Services, Aboriginal Medical Services and the Aboriginal Black Theatre Group.

She found that the Aboriginal Legal Service has had some remarkable successes since it was set up. In the Redfern Office, which was the first such centre to be established, Blacks run

the legal centre for the benefit of their people. They have successfully brought about changes in legislation; they have won cases against hotels which have refused to serve Blacks; they have taken cases against the police to stop police harrassment of Blacks in hotels that they frequent, and they have provided the best possible legal representation for Blacks in both criminal and civil cases. Even more importantly, the activities of the legal service have given people more confidence in fighting the oppression they have faced all their lives.

She was impressed by the work being done by the Aboriginal Medical Services. This service is also run by Blacks for their own benefit. They employ their own doctors; many of whom are working for much lower wages than they could get in private practice.

Malnutrition is the major problem Aboriginies are faced with. On the Reserves, programmes have been set up to advise people on the best foods to buy to ove come this problem, but they just do not have the resourcss to buy them. Inevitably, most of the money for these programmes goes on the white administrators.

The Aboriginal Black Theatre and Arts and Culture Centre is also run by Blacks , trains Black Actors, produces its own plays and makes films. The Centre has its own bands, singers, poets and artists, and ruffs exhibitions of both modern and traditional art.

The Black Theatre Group takes kids off the streets, and teaches them acting, writing plays, directing and production skills. A conscious effort is made to- pass on the skills they have learned. A major problem in all these programmes is that they are funded by the Government, then the Department of Aboriginal Affairs. As soon as they start to achieve or to work outside the areas the Department considers they should be working in their

funds are turned off. While she was in Sydney, the Aboriginal Medical Services had their funds stopped , and staff worked for nothing for a week. Titewhai Harawira believes that exchange visits of this kind between Maoris and Aboriginals are absolutely necessary. She considers that there should be regular contact between the two peoples to strengthen the links which have been established. She was proud to be associated with Black people with Black souls, Black people who were proud to be Black. We have, she considers, much to learn from them.