Australian International Academy

Kellyville Campus

Assessment Task Cover Sheet

2016

Unit Name:

Oodgeroo Noonuccal

Title: my analysis
Name: Makeen Partoredjo
Year Level:

Date: 26/6/2016

Subject: English
Word Count: 1862

English assignment
Biography of Oodgeroo Noonuccal
Oodgeroo Noonuccal
Oodgeroo Noonuccal was a notable aboriginal Australian
woman who was born on 3 November 1920 in
Stradbroke Island, Queensland. She was a woman of
many talents and interests such as poetry, art and writing. She
was also an activist that fought for the rights of the
aboriginal Australians. Oodgeroo Noonuccal was a well
known and much respected aboriginal Australian that
was loved not only by aboriginal Australians but also by
non aboriginal Australians. Her poems were very
effective when there was a point to be made. Some of
the key messages that she makes in some of her poems
are the: unjust treatment of aborigines, the
brainwashing (or more like culture washing) that they
did to their kin, the kidnapping of their children (who
became what we now know as the 'stolen generations)
and many more. Oodgeroo has won many awards such
as the Mary Gilmore Medal, The Jessie Litchfield Award
and the Fellowship of Australian Writers Award.
Oodgeroo Noonuccal has composed many that have
been recognized by Australians who are passionate about
learning the story of the Aborigines. Most of them cover
the mistreatment of the aborigines .
Oodgeroo Noonuccal was the first aboriginal Australian
to publish a book to be sold in stores. She died on the
16 September 1993 leaving a great legacy behind. That
is the brilliant pieces of poetry, writing, artworks and
many more. She made an impact upon the aboriginal
Australian community by showing them they have a
voice and encouraging them to use it and not let it fade
away.

The poem that I have selected

Intolerance Oodgeroo Noonuccal

When the white glug contemptuously
Says nigger it is plain to me
He is of lower grade than me
When the dark stockman used to hate
Is not accepted as a mate
Democracy is empty prate
When we hear from the white elite
We wont have abos in our street
their Christianitys a cheat
when blacks are banned as we know well
from city caf and hotel
the stink of little rock we smell
dark children coming home in tears
hurt and bewildered by their jeers
I think Christ weeps with you my dears
People who say by bias driven
That colour must not be forgiven
Would snub the carpenter in heaven?

Subject-matter

Purpose
(Theme)

Emotion
(Mood)

The poem describes how the aborigines

were treated by the white man. The white
people saw the aborigines as savages and
uncivilized and needed to be taught the
English language, about Christianity, how
to work and how to good morals. It implies
that the aboriginal people do not have
morals, belief in good, sense in work and
since of civilization and because they
thought that the needed to teach them. The
author is trying to give a picture of how
mighty and powerful the white man were
and how low and un civilized the blacks
were perceived to be. For the second part
of this poem she is speaking as a leader
and a powerful woman as she says
i strongly feel that the purpose and theme
of this poeml was to show the presence of
racial abuse towards the Indigenous
Australians from the white Anglo Saxon
(Australians). I strongly believe that she
made this poem to stand up against the
abuse and make it become aware to the
whole community.

The mood that I got from the poem was

very sad because it shows that the white
australians were really making life hard for
them with constant put downs to the point
dark children coming home in tears hurt
and bewildered by their jeers. This
sentence from intolerance just justifies
what i was trying to say. You can clearly see
in this poem is states what the white
australians would say to the aborigines

such as We won't have abos in our street

and when blacks are banned as we know
well from city caf and hotel is just two
their sentences where there is clearly racial
discrimination.
x
The structure of this poem is that all
three stanzas in each paragraph
rhymes with each other. I think that
more than half of this poem was
talking about what the whites were
saying about them and that the rest of
the poem was talking about the effect
it had on the aboriginal people for
example
when blacks are banned as we know
well
from city caf and hotel
the stink of little rock we smell
This is what the white australians
would be saying to the aborigines
dark children coming home in tears
hurt and bewildered by their jeers
And this is what would be the effect of what the
white Australians would say

The type of language that was used in

this poem was very rough and harsh
(ie.derogatory, put downs, and insults)
, the type of words to spread her
message loudly and clearly. The point
that she was stressing on was about all
the abuse towards the aborigines. In

this poem she shows examples of the

usual names the aborigines were called
such as abo nigger and blacks.
You can also sense that some of the
language shows sarcasm like
Democracy is empty prate and their
Christianitys a cheat. Here the poem
demonstrates the hypocrisy of the ways
and morals of the white settlers. For
example, democratic equality and
Christian compassion are far from what
Aborigines experienced.
By showing the common use of
insulting, derogatory and abusive insults
against the aborigines really gives a clear
picture of the oppressive situation
they lived through. Today using these
kinds of words has become totally
unacceptable, and to think it was typical and
commonplace language is a shock.
Also the image of a Christ siding with
Aborigines, that is when Noonuccal
says i think Christ weeps with you my
dears, gives a powerful picture about
how the White settlers own God,
Christ, would see through the injustice
and racism dished out against
aborigines and sympathies with them
instead.

The four regular beats to each stanza gives a driving movement throughout
this poem.

The rhythm and rhyme of this poem makes it

very suited to be expressed through
spoken word, rap and song.

Summary

Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker) is a true

word smith but with a very strong message
to tell and does it very well. She has really
opened my head and heart to deepening
and feeling my understanding of the
indigenous aborigines of Australia.

Other 5 poems about aboriginals

White Australia Oodgeroo Noonuccal
Since gods good world began
Not god but godless man
Made barrier and ban
And reared each frontier wall
brothers when shall we see
selfless democracy
life is for liberty and earth was made for all
let little Kiplings rant
narrow and arrogant
their chauvinistic cant
that white is nobler birth
the best of every race

should here find welcome place

the colour of his face
is no mans test of worth
just another drunk black colleen kitchener
Just another drunk black is what u said,
When u came n 'helped' him today,
Your eyes were filled with a look of disgust,
As you came and took him away.
Who the hell are you to judge him, I ask,
Do you think ur shit really don't stink?
Just because he has dark skin,
Doesn't mean he always drinks.
Guess what hero, he wasn't drunk,
He had a fit and was really unwell,
U can take ur prejudice Ambo driver,
And stick it up ur butt and go to hell.
People like you make me sick,
And you have the hide to hold ur head up high,
It's nice to know with people like u around,
Prejudice will never die

I am Different Michele Mickey Hetherington

Nothing fits me, and its not about my clothes.
Nothing fits me, and no one even knows.
I am different, though its not about my hair.
I am different, and I want someone to care.
I feel lonely that nobody can see that Im lonely because I am me.
I cant just change into something that will fit,
I am different and thats all there is to it.
I hope that one day you will see, just how sad being different can be,
I wonder, will there ever be a place for me.

Tribal Lines by Dan Davis

Don't cross the Tribal Lines, don't disrespect what we hold near.
You've been taking away our culture, for so many years.
You're allowed to have your religion, your cults and beliefs
. Don't cross the Tribal Lines, you are always causing grief.
Our Tribal Lines were crossed, the day, you dropped your anchor.
And set your foot on our sand, it was then our spirits felt poor.
We lost all the richness we felt as free human beings.
Killing of everything that was ours, without even seeing.
Crossing the Tribal Lines, you put a curse on yourselves.
The land that you call heaven, you've turned into hell.
We only have a few left who know our rightful words.
But nowadays only your language can be heard.
Tribal Lines, Tribal Lines, what does this mean to me?
I wish I could cross back over, then a part of me will be free.
I wanna know more of my culture, talk like my grandfathers did.
But at least knowing who I am, I can be proud of it.
Those Tribal Lines, are hard to cross back, once you've been taught another tongue.
The Tribal Lines aren't just for me, they're for all who hold their culture, for everyone.
Who are We? by Richard G Kennedy
Where in the world do we feel free,
When born into life as an Aborigine?
Our lives changed forever when the white man came.
An idyllic lifestyle never to be the same.
A oneness with nature since the beginning of time.
Now reduced to poverty, no identity, crime.
They conquered our paradise and tore it apart.
Now our mother is bleeding minus her heart.
Nature is screaming and crying in pain
At the loss of her children, the tears fall like rain.
We would like you to listen and pay heed to our words.
But as a minority our voices aren't heard.
As children of the land and make no mistake.
Know that a vengeful spirit will surely awake.
The earth will be cleansed and we must agree
That this will soon happen, for its man's destiny.

Referencing
Creative Spirits. 2016. Aboriginal poems - Creative Spirits. [ONLINE]
Available
at:http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/arts/aboriginalpoems#toc1. [Accessed 19 May 2016].
The Dawn Is At Hand - Oodgeroo Noonuccal - Poems by book - Australian
Poetry Library . 2016. The Dawn Is At Hand - Oodgeroo Noonuccal - Poems
by book - Australian Poetry Library . [ONLINE] Available
at: http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poems-book/the-dawn-is-at-hand0719000. [Accessed 19 May 2016].
Collaborating for Indigenous Rights 1957-1973. 2016. Collaborating for
Indigenous Rights 1957-1973. [ONLINE] Available
at: http://indigenousrights.net.au/people/pagination/kath_walker.
[Accessed 24 May 2016].

Wikipedia. 2016. Oodgeroo Noonuccal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

[ONLINE] Available at:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oodgeroo_Noonuccal.
[Accessed 24 May 2016].