A Nyoongar Tent Embassy was established on Perth’s Heirisson Island this month in response to a Billion dollar proposal by the Western Australia government that would force the Nyoongar to surrender their land title, permanently.
For elders like Uncle Richard Wilkes, surrendering his custodianship of land is unthinkable, as the proposed deal, he says, won’t provide all the supposed benefits that the government promises.
Many of those involved in the Embassy are local Indigenous activists who just finished commemorating the 40th anniversary of the iconic Aboriginal Tent Embassy in front of the Old Parliament House in Canberra.
Prominent Indigenous organizer Marianne Mackay said from the embassy last week: “We don’t agree with the SWALSC negotiations with the Barnett government. We don’t want money. We want our land, for our future. We are the custodians [of the land] and we have an obligation to protect it.”
The embassy is rejecting any kind of deal with the government that involves ceding land rights.
“Elders, activists and local Nyoongar people have camped at the site every night” since February 12, explains Green Left Weekly; “The island is an important traditional meeting place.”
Indigenous Activist Iva Hayward-Jackson speaking about the meaning and goals of the Nyoongar Tent Embassy established on February 12, 2012.
The City of Perth, however, considers the Nyoongar Tent Embassy to be illegal. On at least three separate occasions they have tried to shut it down.
On February 16, some council officers arrived with eviction notices; but they quickly left after being told that they weren’t welcome. The following day, City of Perth CEO Frank Edwards approached the Embassy on his own–and then tossed the eviction notices on the ground.
Speaking to AAP, Tent Embassy spokesperson Robert Eggington responded: “My message to the Perth City Council is move on yourself… This is not a camping ground. This is us practising our culture and our ceremonies on our traditional land of our ancestors.”
Eggington added that the police had no right to take the Tent Embassy down. “They’ll probably have to arrest the babies and the elders,” he said. “They’ll probably have to arrest every single person.”
“The jails are already chock-a-block full of Aboriginal people, so where are they going to fit us all?”
On February 19, more than 50 police officers arrived to carry out the eviction, leading to a false impression that the Tent Embassy was officially a thing of the past; however, as the Green Left Weekly noted two days later, that just wasn’t the case.
On February 23, the police arrived once again–this time, with a group of rangers to do the dirty work.
“When the protesters refused to dismantle their tents,” reports Adelaide Now, “rangers moved in to take them down as dozens of police officers stood by to prevent them being hindered.”
“The tents were packed onto a flat-bed truck and as it was driven off under police escort. Protesters chanted “shame, shame” and accused officers of being racist.
“An angry confrontation occurred when rangers next moved in to extinguish the main campfire as 30 police officers stood around them.
“Protesters jostled with police and shouted abuse as the rangers finished their job.
“Officers on horseback then moved in to escort the rangers and officers from the site.”
Despite the dismissal of the Nyoongar Tent Embassy, the Nyoongar have no intention of giving up.
John Ahniwanika Schertow is an indigenous rights activist of Mohawk (Kanienkehaka) and mixed-European descent. For the past 8 years, he has served as the e... 
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way to go nyoongar soveriegn’s, keep up the good work, it’s about time, them whities ( wajala’s ? ) may not be around after 12/21/12 anyway, australia is doomed if they do not heed your intention’s,
good luck to a successful endeavor, hope to visit my nyoongar family and friend’s again some day
a friend always
chuck ( red cliff band of lake superior ojibwa indian’s ), on the shore’s of the mighty gitchee gummee, all the water spirit’s are in support of you beautiful powerful and super intelligent people and your effort’s, i wish you well and i will commune with the great Spirit and seek assistance for your self determined success
Chuck and Ahni, thank you both for your support. I read this out to some of the people here and they were so touched.
Ever since the camp was set up, native birds have come to camp, many varieties and it made us feel so good, that we are doing the right thing because mother earth is supporting us. The past two mornings we have been blessed with the presence of dolphins
we hope they keep visiting us.
We hope to provide support for our stance in the next few days. There is more to this story thante government is telling and finding the paperwork is hard.
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To you Beautiful Sovereign Nyoongar People, Mother Earth, the Native Birds and the Dolphins coming to your Nyoongar Tent Embassy: ALL THE POWER AND STRENGHT TO YOU!
In support and solidarity
Brigitte
Moss Vale, NSW
I’ve just arrived home in WA and found out about this. I can’t believe this deal was even proposed. No wonder you’re protesting. It’s ridiculous! Sending solidarity from one of your European-blooded, Australian sisters. Blessings to the birds of the sky, the creatures of the earth and the traditional custodians of the land (when will people learn that you can’t own land but that we all have a responsibility to protect it?)
The police came in again on Thursday. They terrorised us, intimidated us, brutalised us.
We walked away from our camp, letting them tear down our tents. We walked to the other end of the island to stand under the statue and protection of our great warrior, Yagan. The police followed us there, and there the assaults against us began. By the time the police came in there, through the gates, most of the media had already walked away, back to film the destruction of our camp.
I was assaulted by two cops. While they were arresting one man, some of us yelled they had no jurisdiction. I noticed one of the cops had NO NAME BADGE. They are required to wear a name badge, and to provide badge numbers upon request. I asked and demanded repeatedly, all the while filming with my phone, “where is your name badge?” and “Can I get your badge number” He ignored me, continuing with his arrest. Two other cops standing either side pushed me away, without reason, other than I was making a valid point and filming. I didn’t hinder their arrest, despite them having no jurisdiction. I never touched those cops, not even after they touched me. No, because they were trying to provoke a violent response from me. I didn’t give them one.
On that day, I witnessed and experience GENOCIDE IN ACTION! Those police, they hated us. They tore down our traditional houses, mia mias, even killing a tree when a mia mia refused to fall. They extinguished our sacred fire. In all my years of human rights activism, I have never experienced anything like what I experienced on Thursday. The absolute hatred for a race of people. It’s not just that it’s my race they were trying to erase from the planet that day. I can’t fathom having so much hatred and malice toward a single person, let alone an entire race. This is not the sort of thing people expect to find in Australia in 2012. This is the stuff of 200 years ago, or so you’d think. But no, genocide is alive and well in Australia.
I hope I never have to witness anything like it ever again in my life.
Videos:
http://youtu.be/a-sDY6AT_34
http://youtu.be/qLtKTtwPlv0
http://youtu.be/tnazLjog_vE
http://youtu.be/sjW72TRZ7i0
The said thing is, it was just another day for those cops. They were just there to do a job, and they put no more thought into it than the would turning a door knob. But even so, they knew what they were doing was wrong. That’s why he took his badge off. It’s happening all over the world now: villages are being razed, children are being shot, women are being brutalized for saying “no”.
Despite the cold, hard, brutal hand of colonized society, we still know of a better life. We will never stop working to defend it, to rebuild what has been taken from us. and in the process, to teach the ‘youngest brother’ who has long since forgotten what it truly means to be free.