Wiradjuri elder Diyan Coe used Cowra’s Australia Day service today as an opportunity to call for positive change, respect for the land and its children and for a change of date for Australia Day.
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Ms Coe was called to give the Welcome to Country at Cowra’s service on behalf of the Wiradjuri people.
After giving the Welcome to Country Ms Coe went on to deliver an address which she said she hoped would “open eyes to the atrocities which continue to occur in this country, in the hope of bringing positive change for the sake of all life on earth”.
“I do not expect you to remember everything I have said here today but I do hope you remember these last things I say,” Ms Coe said before pointing out “our sovereignty never ceded”.
“Everything is connected.
“Water is life.
“Children are sacred.
“Black lives matter.
“Change the date.
“Pay the rent.
“Who are you”? Ms Coe said.
Earlier she pointed out to a packed Cowra Civic centre that ‘Wiradjuri culture never died, it has always been alive within us and it continues to grow stronger each and everyday.”
“I am a proud Wiradjuri woman and this is the core essence of me.
“The lore states if you are born on this country you are responsible for this country,” she said calling on all Australians to show more respect for earth that the Wiradjuri call Nandyiina Tya.
“She is the mother of all, if she doesn’t exist neither do we.
“So can someone explain to me why certain humans continue to think it is okay to take from her, rape her, use her, abuse her and not give back.
“Humans greed her for money, an object that we cannot eat nor drink.
“Tell me, how do you sleep at night, how will you explain to your children that you were part of these atrocities, these ongoing crimes that have been committed. These inhumane acts of injustice.
“You may ask why I say this, you’re probably thinking, ‘I haven’t done anything wrong’.
“No one is asking you to apologise for your ancestors,” she added pointing out that so many Australians continue to “sit back and continue to do and say nothing about” systems of repression that exist in Australia.
“How does this behaviour close the gap?” Ms Coe asked.
“The gap (between Indigenous and white Australians) has continued to widen dramatically.
“Our creator, who you might call God, has put us here as keepers of the land.
“We belong to the land.
“When will humans learn that everything is connected and has its purpose. Will it be too late?
“I wish to point out that 231 years ago this country was invaded, genocide was unleashed and still no remorse for lives lost by greedy people who considered themselves superior to the people of this country.
“The keepers of the land and the land itself have suffered from the hands of these people ever since.
“The theft and death of our children continues at a very alarming rate,” Ms Coe said.
She went on to call on mainstream media to highlight the high incidence of suicide among aboriginal youth.
“How would you feel, how would you act if they were your children,” she said.
“Wiradjuri lore states that children are sacred, they need to be safe and nurtured by everyone and treated with kindness and in the highest regard.”
Ms Coe added that the trauma experienced by aboriginal people was not confined to those who experienced it first hand.
“It’s inter-generational,” she said “passed down from one generation to the next”.
“You have no idea what we go through every day and the things we have to put up with.
“The law of this country has no jurisdiction over me, I may be arrested when I walk out the door but who cares.
“The government is selling the land which was stolen and invaded by foreigners who hold no lore or respect for this country.
“I am who I am, I will never apologise for being me,” Ms Coe said.
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