Aborigines receive capital recognition

Tue., Feb. 12, 2008

Associated Press The Spokesman-Review

CANBERRA, Australia – Aborigines in white body paint danced and sang traditional songs in Australia’s national Parliament today in a historic ceremony many hoped would mark a new era of race relations in the country.

The ceremony was the government’s symbolic recognition, for the first time, that the land on which Australia’s capital was built was once owned by Aborigines, and was taken away without compensation by European settlers.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will offer a formal apology to thousands of Aborigines who were taken from their families as children under now discredited assimilation policies abolished in 1970 – an act many view as a vital step toward reconciling black and white Australians.

Former Prime Minister John Howard had steadfastly refused to make an apology, arguing that today’s generation should not be made to feel guilty for mistakes of the past.

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Aborigines receive capital recognition

Jesse Tinsley

Jim Meehan

Molly Quinn

Rob Curley

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