Past Programs
Indigenous - Land Rights - 2008
Chicka Dixon and the Tent Embassy
18/10/2008
Charles 'Chicka' Dixon is one of the most influential figures in contemporary Aboriginal Australia.
He grew up at Wallaga Lake and Wreck Bay on the New South Wales south coast. At 14, he worked as a labourer on the waterfront at Port Kembla, where his involvement in strike action sparked an interest in politics. He then moved to Sydney, where he became active in trade union circles and took a leading role in the campaign for the 1967 Referendum.
Chicka Dixon was both an instigator and an organiser of the 1972 Aboriginal Tent Embassy. As one of the few experienced campaigners, he acted as a mentor for a firebrand group of young activists who sought to bring Aboriginal rights issues into the mainstream. His influence helped the tent embassy activists gain direct access to senior government figures and was instrumental in encouraging the media to question the living conditions of Aboriginal Australians.
In 1984 Chicka Dixon was nominated for Aboriginal of the Year in recognition of his contributions to Aboriginal health, community development and culture. He continues to travel the country, lecturing and sharing his wisdom.
Also, a profile of Carly Wallace, a young Aboriginal woman from the Atherton Tablelands, who is set to one day be a leader in Indigenous media.
'Our spirit becomes one'
05/07/2008
In the first program in our 15th anniversary season, we revisit the handback of Uluru Kata-Tjuta National Park to its traditional owners. In a special ceremony at Uluru in October 1985, the then Governor-General Sir Ninian Stephen and the Aboriginal Affairs Minister presented the title deeds to the traditional owners despite the opposition of the Northern Territory government. 'Our Spirit Becomes One' was produced by Ursula Raymond for the tenth anniversary of the handback and won the Louis St John Johnson award for best radio journalism.
Produced by Ursula Raymond
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander listeners are advised that this program includes the voices of people who have passed away.
[first broadcast 21 October 1995]
Big heart: a tribute to Dr Marika
28/06/2008
The senior Rirratjingu clanswoman who died suddenly and prematurely last month has been remembered as a protector of Yolngu culture and a tenacious fighter for the right of Yolngu to speak their own language in tandem with English, a way of thinking known as 'both-ways' education. We pay special tribute to this great Yolngu educator, linguist, translator and public intellectual.
Awaye! has obtained permission to broadcast excerpts from the memorial service to Dr Marika held recently in her community of Yirrkala.
Also in this program, we sit down in Darwin with the new chief executive of the Northern Land Council, Kim Hill. He has a big job ahead of him trying to act in the best interests of traditional owners across northern Australia. But the former ATSIC Commissioner says he has no magic potion.
And the artist Vernon Ah Kee talks about Aboriginal beauty in his portraiture.
