Injustice – The History of the Gulf Country

"For tens of thousands of years our old people lived in, and cared for, the Country. They kept the songs, the ceremonies and the sacred places safe. They worked together under our Law to care for all these important places while looking after all the country and passing on the songs, ceremonies and the Law through hundreds of generations of our people.

In the 1870s, things changed in a cruel, violent and bloody way. Our Country was invaded when settled, prospectors and others entered our lands with their guns and violence. As soon as they arrived, they started shooting our people. The settlers and Native Police hunted our old people down and jammed them up in the hills and rocky country. The settlers then brought in their cattle and took over our lands and waters. They pushed us off our Country and started yardin' us up, like cattle.

It was a terrifying time.

The invasion for us has never ended, even after winning some of our land rights. Today, we got miners and frackers coming into our country They are doing what the settlers did when they first came here with their cattle. They are pushing us aside, they are not recognising our Law and our sacred places. Miners and frackers don't value the land, the water and all the animals and the spirits who live in the country. They don't value us. They work with the government to undermine our Law, erode our songs and connections to places. They dig up our rivers and sacred sites and contaminate our land a poison our waters.

This hurts us deeply.

The idea that the British Crown, represented by the men with the guns, could just walk into our Country, rich in ceremony and Law, and hold up a bit of paper claiming it as theirs needs to be seen for what is, an absurdity. The whole history of the Gulf Country is built on an injustice and this needs to be fixed so we can live our lives as Aboriginal people and protect our sacred places, our songs and ceremonies and keep our Country safe so we can pass all these things on to the next generations." (artist statement)

Jack Green (b. 1953, Garrwa people), Nancy McDinny (b. 1958, Yunyuwa/Garrwa peoples), and Stewart Hoosan (b. 1951, Garrwa people) are well-established artists from Waralungku Arts in Borroloola, NT. They have previously exhibited their works together and are known for painting social histories about their Country.

"I want to show people what is happening to our country and to Aboriginal people. No one is listening to us. What we want. How we want to live. What we want in the future for our children. It's for these reasons that I started to paint. I want government to listen to Aboriginal people. I want people in the cities to know what's happenning to us and our country. I want the government and mining companies to know that we are still here. We aren't going anywhere. We aren't dead yet. We are still here, feeling the country." (Jack Green)

This work was a finalist in the 2022 Telstra National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards (NATSIAA).

This information was supplied by the artists and Waralungku Arts.