From Little Things Big Things Grow

What is Meant by 200 Years of History?

It was 1787 when Captain Arthur Phillip led over 1500 British men, women and children from Portsmouth in England to Botany Bay in Sydney. After three months on board, the First Fleet arrived at Botany Bay on the 24th of January 1788, where lived the Aboriginal People who had lived in isolation over the past 40,000 years. The lyrics in Little Things refers to the time when the Europeans began to spread their settlement. The colonisation of the Europeans changed the Aboriginal People's lifestyles early as colonisers had already begun to fish, cut trees and shoot animal life. Though the relationship had been steady between the Europeans and Aboriginal People, as the number of settlers and land being occupied grew, conflicts over land and culture began to take place. The Aboriginal resistance meant that the Europeans soon began to send out expeditions of soldiers to punish any groups who threatened their farms or settlers. By 1800, rather than resolve conflict, it became the European Government's policy to 'keep the native Australians out'.

It was around 200 years ago when children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent were removed from their families. Of what we know as the Stolen Generation, had a major impact on families and children's lives. Children were taken by Australian federal and state government agencies and church missions, through acts of their respective parliaments. The policy was based off of a misguided assumption that the lives of the First Nations people would be improved if they became a part of the white society in which they focused on assimilating children into the white community. Children would be taken forcefully from their families, were taught to reject their heritage, changed their names and were often exposed to abuse and neglect. The impacts of the European Settlement was devastating including the disruption of passing on the First Nations cultures and a loss of their traditional lives.

It has been over the past 200 years that these events have taken place and the Aboriginal People have resisted the genocide of their community.

When Ziggy says ‘200 years of history falsified’ he means that the truth of the last 200 years of Aboriginal people were hidden from the public. In the last 200+ years Aboriginal people have been mistreated, enslaved and have also faced genocide. Until 1965 Aboriginal people had been considered flora and fauna and white settlers had no regard for their lives. Instead of telling the truth it has just been blatantly ignored and when asked people would’ve said that they are animals.

Give 3 Examples of British Invaders we Remember as Heroes

James Cook was a British naval Captain, navigator and explorer who is known to have mapped out the east coast of Australia, paving the way for the spread of the British settlement. His mission in 1770 was to travel the Tahiti to observe Venus moving across the face of the Sun. Once he arrived, he received orders to take possession of the new land in the name of the king of Great Britain. James Cook apparently didn't receive any consent from the Aboriginal People and was known to raise the British flag on August 22nd, 1770 beginning the British colonisation.

Captain Arthur Phillip was the commander of the First Fleet who was a British hero known to lead the first permanent European colony on the Australian continent. In the first interactions between tl1e Aboriginal People and the settlers, Phillip believed that there would be no problems between them and thought he would be able negotiate peace. Though through curiosity, Phillip hoped to learn the local language, gain information about food and water sources and understand their culture by kidnapping some Aboriginal men.

Christopher Columbus was not British but was an Italian explorer and navigator known to open the way for the widespread European exploration. He is seen as a hero and so called 'discoverer' of the New World. Columbus Introduced the Europeans to America, sending many nations exploring for new lands. The impact of his voyages to the Americas included the death of many indigenous people due to murder and disease. This also lead to the displacement and
enslavement of many Aboriginal people.

Captain James Cook was a British explorer and he was the first European to navigate and make detailed maps of Australia or ‘Newfoundland’ (what it was called then). In the process he and his crew killed many Aboriginal people and also did not mention any humans inhabited on the island.

Admiral Arthur Phillip and his fleet of 11 ships arrived in Botany Bay from England on January 26th, 1787 and he raised the United Kingdom flag and claimed Australia as their own. After doing this he and his colony built a European society and disregarded Aboriginal people and the land/animals. Aboriginal people were often killed and imprisoned just because of their culture and race.

John McDouall Stuart did not invade Australia as a whole but he did invade Aboriginals peoples’ land and on his journey from northern Australia to Southend, he killed many Aboriginal groups from all over the nation(s).

What Happened in 1493? Who did this Benefit?

In 1493, the Doctrine of Discovery was issued after Christopher Columbus arrived on the shores of North America. The Doctrine of Discovery was a legal justification for colonisation and seizure of land that was not inhabited by Christians. It was this doctrine that worked as the framework to justify explorers claims on vacant land (terra nullius), of which the Europeans allegedly discovered. This also promoted Christian domination and was applied in Africa, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the Americas. The doctrine was Issued by Pope Alexander Vl on May 4th, 1493 and had a large role in the Spanish conquest. This document also ensured Spain had rights to the lands discovered by Christopher Columbus the year before.

This benefited the European Christians as they were allowed to take possession of land that wasn't really theirs. This impact of this doctrine on Aboriginal people meant that when the Europeans arrived in Botany Bay, they had given themselves authority to colonise the land. The doctrine was a built law for the Europeans that was truly an invasion of nations.

In 1493 Pope Alexander VI made the Doctrine of Discovery. This allowed European Christians to explore and conquer land that is not inhabited by Christians. This benefited Christians by allowing them to take land with all of Europe on their aid. This was practiced in Australia and many countries around the world. Aboriginal and native people across the globe are still affected to this day.

Who was Columbus and what did he do similar to cook?

Christopher Columbus was an Italian navigator and explore who was responsible for the white colonisation of the Americas, and the genocide of native Americans. Captain James cook was also an explorer and navigator. He was responsible for the colonisation of Australia.

What is meant by terra nullius?

Terra nullius is Latin for nobody’s land. It is a doctrine used by the British government that was used to justify the settlement of Australia.

Terra nullius means nobody’s land. In this song it they’re showing that Australia is now nobody’s land as it was taken from them. The British colonies were not recognising that is was their land and making it their own. Now they had acknowledged that it is not their land, but they didn’t call it the First People’s land, making it nobody’s land.

What is the ‘irony’ in this context?

The definition of irony that would best suit this context would be ‘a state of affair or event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects an sometimes so much so that it creates amusement.’ However, in this case Ziggy is talking about war and there the amusing or humorous attitude towards this topic is very sparse.

In the case of this song, the irony that Ziggy is referring to is how everyone fought for Britain during World War 2, However, nobody seemed to care that aborigines were also facing a lot of unfairness and were being unjustly killed.

What is ‘allies’ in this context?

During the song, Ziggy says ‘We were allies against a terrible genocide’. This was the genocide of the Jewish people. He says that we were allies against this so we were in the right. In this case we were working with the allied powers including Britain. However, he says that it is also contradictory that we spur our own genocides of original people and there is no fighting against that.

What does Ziggy mean by “Move on, move on to what?”

The original phrase move on was first mentioned by Tony Abbott. The context of this event has a longer background and history. The event that this is linked to first started when a bunch of indigenous Australian young adult started a protest for their land by sitting and camping outside of Parliament House.

By doing this, they accidentally found a loophole in Australian law as there was no rule against staying in such a place. Over the course of many years, the camping area and tradition has become popular among indigenous people as well as people that would like the aborigines to receive the land they deserve. When Abbott was asked about the tent embassy his reply was, ‘… The Tent Embassy all those years back ought not to be as intense today and that's why I said it was time to move on,’
This spurred somewhat of an outrage among many people as they believed the tent was a very historical and important thing to them and it seemed as if Abbott disliked it and possibly even wanted it removed.
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The phrase ‘move on to what’ represents that the indigenous people don’t really have anywhere to ‘move on’ to without their land and rights.

What is genocide? Give examples of genocide in history.

Genocide is when someone intentionally kills masses of people from the same ethnicity. This is done with the intent to obliterate that group of people. One of the most well-known genocides in history was in WW2 when Hitler as the leader of the Nazi party wanted to kill all of the Jews. This is an example of genocide because Hitler intentionally wanted to kill Jewish people so that they would all be dead. A more local and just as bad genocide occurred in the 18th century when European settlers in Australia didn’t think that the Indigenous Australians were worthy enough to live in Australia and they wanted Australia to be purely white-coloured people. And so began a genocide with the intent of killing the Aborigines in order to wipe out their race.

Genocide is the deliberate killing of a large amount of people with a nation or ethnic differences. Some examples of genocide is the killing of the Jewish people in WWII and the white invasion on Australia in the late 18th Century.

The definition for genocide is ‘the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with aim of destroying that nation or group’. The lyrics ‘I just call it how I see it, and I see genocide’ means that in the past, lots of Aboriginal people were killed and that it still present today and many people remember it.

Who are the stolen generation and what happened/why did it happen?

The stolen generation was a period in Australia’s history when Aboriginal children were taken from their families and their homes. They were taken to non-aboriginal foster families and treated abysmally, being abused physically and verbally. The aim of the stolen generation was to take the Aboriginal children away from their families so they could be educated by ‘white’ culture and the Aboriginal culture would disappear.

What is mass incarceration?

Incarceration is the act of being put in prison. Mass incarceration therefore means that masses of people were incarcerated. This happened and still happens to Indigenous Australians. Multitudes of Aborigines are being incarcerated, some for no or very little reason. Aborigines are also treated very poorly in prison with many of them dying each year. Aborigines take up three percent of our population but take up 29 percent of the population in our prisons. These statistics are alarming and are absolutely horrific. Even though the views of Indigenous Australians have changed since the first European settlers in Australia in the 18th century, we still have a long way to go, and Aborigines are still fighting for their rights.

Mass Incarceration is a way of saying a big part of the population in jail. Aboriginals were subject to mass incarceration as they were not like the British and went against their beliefs. Now Aboriginals make up 3% of our population but 23% of the population in jail.

What is the current count of deaths in custody? How has this changed throughout history?

To understand what it means to die in custody, we must understand the significance of it and what it defines itself as.  From the moment the British set foot on land, us Australians didn’t even think twice on how we need to respect the elders of this sacred land.

From 1991, there has been over 441 total deaths concerning indigenous Australians, 45+ of which located here in South Australia. Even this patronising number doesn’t compare to what ‘death in custody’ used to look like. Throughout history, there has been a number of instances concerning the care of Aboriginal people. One example is relating to the slavery towards them. Between the 1860’s and the 1950’s, Aboriginal people of all ages were taken from their homes and enlisted to work on cattle properties, kitchens, homesteads, and sheds all across Australia. Basically, imprisoned to a family, the Aboriginal people commonly experienced abuse and mistreatment, which lead to thousands of Aboriginal deaths.

Why do deaths in custody occur and what is being done to end this problem?

Through generations, the well-being of Aboriginal people and their clans has been severely abused and unmentioned. Among other human rights abuses, studies show that most aboriginal deaths (in custody) are due to inadequate medical care, lack of attention (from the government) and self-harm. To add, “The Guardian” database exclaims how indigenous people are 3x less likely to receive medical care than others. Therefore, increasing the overall death rate in imprisonment for the Aboriginal people. Even though much is not taken under consideration concerning this problem, many foundations, such as the AIC, work (in the future) to improve care by police and corrective services.

What is meant by “Sovereignty was never ceded”?

From human nature, I think it’s safe to say that giving up a key element (in our lives) is terribly difficult. I bet the Indigenous guardians could say the same. Australia is considered their gemstone and their life. They respect every feature of it, so “giving” it up just wouldn’t be an option.  When the British set foot on land, they presented the indigenous people with the ‘doctrine of discovery’. With this paper, it meant that that the British could take over any land they desired. Without permission, the British kept taking and taking. Taking without agreement. “Sovereignty was never ceded” means that the Aboriginal people still have right to this land; it was their land from the beginning. It means that they never gave up ownership over the land, sea and air. To this day they have the right to have supreme authority over the land and in the future, they have the right to always rule over it. Despite the mass killings in the 1800’s, this never defined how the indigenous guardians gave up ownership.

Who was Columbus?

It was said that Cristopher Columbus had discovered the New World of the Americas. Although he thought that he was the first one there, there were many indigenous people before him. Just like Captain Cook when he thought he could just take over the land. He used them as slaves and tortured them. It isn’t talked about as much that there were people before him in North America.

That’s the destruction of five hundred nations

This line explains that the five hundred nations of the Aboriginal people were ruined, by the early British settlers that invaded their land. Violence soon broke out across the land, and the invaders, the British, being better equipped with weapons killed 24,000 to 41,000 Aboriginal people. Foreign diseases such as measles, smallpox, influenza, and even sexually transmitted diseases were brought into their land, and the indigenous people had never needed to treat these diseases, because they were unknown to them, which killed around 60% of people.

500 nations is used to show the different colonies of Australia. Australia was filled with many colonies all with different cultures and beliefs. In this song they mention the destruction of 500 nations. They have been here long before the British colonies came. They have been living peacefully until Captain Cook came and tore it all up.  This is showing how every single colony has been destroyed and effected by the British Colonies.

Which wars is Ziggy referring to?

The war Ziggy is referring to is the black war. The Black War was the period of violent conflict between British colonists and Aboriginal Australians in Tasmania from the mid-1820s to 1832. The conflict, fought largely as a guerrilla war by both sides, claimed the lives of 600 to 900 Aboriginal people and more than 200 European colonists, nearly annihilating the island's indigenous population.

What is the contradiction referred to?

The contradiction is referring to how the British in 1787 had taken over Australia, and how they got treated. It describes the struggles and horrors the Aboriginal people had to go through as they fought for their country.

How many indigenous people fought in 1945? Which battle is he referring to?

The war that he is referring to is the second world war. More than 3,000 Aboriginals and 850 Torres Strait Islanders fought in this war and over 27,000 Australians were killed and 23,000 wounded in action during World War II. In addition, hundreds more servicemen and women were killed and injured in accidents during the war.

Captain cook boarded a fleet, and was armed by the doctrine of discovery.

The Doctrine of discovery is a Christian rule, which meant that if you were the only Christian on land the land will be yours.  The same tactic was used by Columbus for invading most of America. It's how today Australia owns the no man land (Terra Nullius). The pope does write that you are human if you have only been saves by Christ and the land you stumble in if your god given right.

Is that your law, cause that’s your invasion

Indigenous people thought to believe that Captain James Cook and the British people are invaders. “Is that your law” is the indigenous people asking the people if that’s how other nations act.

Doctrine of discovery

The doctrine of discovery stated that when they “discovered” a country they would be able to claim it if none of the inhabitants were Christian. This in turn allows them to claim most places such.

Who was Pope Alexander the 6th?

They invoked (brought into effect) the doctrine of discovery allowing it to then be used on countries such as Australia.

Without this good Christian, our story don’t exist

Pope Alexander the 6th is the person who invoked the doctrine of the discovery they wouldn’t be able to take over lands that weren’t theirs.

Two years of history that’s falsified

What he means by this is that what the government, education system and other influential groups show us is what they want us to see, and it doesn’t always show the whole story. Like how we are taught that captain cook came and started building a society without any objections from the Aborigines.

British invaders that we remember as heroes
When captain cook came to Australia him and his men committed many atrocities, but we just pretended that everything he did was good because it made our society what it is today.

You don't want the truth and you don't want to listen, but how can you stomach Australia's contradiction

The first line of this verse show that even though the first landing of captain cook happened a long time ago, that doesn't mean the effects of this event have stopped. The moment the English landed on the coast of Australia, the genocide started, and captain cook was the captain of the first fleet. There is still not complete equality, and that people are still fighting for the complete equality.

This line explains how people have been taught and told the good side of the invasion, they haven't been told about the genocide or invasion of people’s country.

‘Cause we went to war in 1945

In 1945, World War Two affected the world in such a way that is hasn’t been the same since. Aboriginal forces joined arms with Australian troops and they fought side by side for the years that the war raged on. About 3000 aboriginal people and 850 Torres Straight Islanders fought in World War Two, serving for the Australian side.

I know it’s uncomfortable

This is true because our current nation hasn’t really been taught the truth. It would be uncomfortable to know that the country you live in killed hundreds of peaceful people for their own ‘new’ land.

You fought for them but you didn’t fight for me

This line tells the audience about the cold shoulder that the Aboriginal community got from the whitefella living in their country after the war. The Aboriginal troops were welcomed into the war for extra forces, but after the war, more complications arose. The Aboriginal community were ignored, mistreated, and overlooked over and over again when they raised their voice about their rights.

At least 475 aboriginal people have died in custody since the end of 1991. Indigenous Australians are still dying in police custody. Not as many deaths but still more likely to be put in prison to begin with, compared to non-indigenous prisoners. As of September 2019, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners repressed 28% of the total adult prisoner population, while accounting for 3.3% of the general population.

Is that your law? Cause that’s invasion

This line is talking about how it was justified that the British came to Australia and colonised the indigenous peoples land, with the Doctrine of Discovery, meaning that any people that are in the Christian religion can go into any land and invade as long as it isn’t already claimed by Christian land.

The genocide of entire populations

This line describes that entire populations across the community of the indigenous people were wiped out by the invasion. 110 of the 500 tribes were completely wiped out, or under critical threat of being wiped out.

Which planted the seeds for the stolen generation

This line means that all of the massacres and violence began a movement known as the stolen generation.  The Stolen Generations alludes to a period in Australia's history where Native children were evacuated from their families through government approaches. The children were denied all get to to their culture, they were not permitted to talk their dialect and they were rebuffed in the event that they did.

And grew into my people’s mass incarceration

The word incarceration means imprisonment, defining how the indigenous people would have felt being taken from their homes and used for slavery.

Now we pass trauma through many generations

This line tells us, that as much as we say sorry, or try to make up for things, the abuse that the indigenous people had to put up with, and still put up with to this day has had an irreversible impact on them, which is passed down through many generations, through stories.

But the lord can’t discover what already existed

Lord Vestey was in Charge of this movement and claimed that he “found Australia” but “you can’t discover what already existed” means that the British people can’t claimed that they founded Australia, because it was already inhabited.

For two hundred years, my people have resisted

Two hundred years ago, the first fleet arrived in Australia, and ever since then, indigenous people have been fighting for their rights.

Genocide

The definition for genocide is ‘the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with aim of destroying that nation or group’. The lyrics ‘I just call it how I see it, and I see genocide’ means that in the past, lots of Aboriginal people were killed and that it still present today and many people remember it.

The Gurindji are an Australian Aboriginal people of the northern Australia about 460km south-west if Kathrine which is in the Northern Territory’s Victoria River Region. Vincent Lingiari was an Aboriginal Rights activist. He started working at Wave Hill Station where the Aboriginal people were paid with rations, tobacco and clothing. In 1996 Lingiari was elected to become the leader of worker.

First line says that “We should move on” which means that they kind of want to go past that phase in time but it’s really hard to skip that past of the history. I am assuming that when Vincent Lingiari said that others are rising, he means that there are other Gurindji people rising. In the next line Gurindji inspired us to keep on fighting it’s saying that they all worked together as if to motivate each other to bring down British Lord Vesty.

Two hundred years of history that’s falsified

What he means by this is that what the government, education system and other influential groups show us is what they want us to see and it doesn’t always show the whole story. Like how we are taught that captain cook came and started building a society without any objections from the Aborigines.

British invaders that we remember as heroes

When captain cook came to Australia him and his men committed many atrocities, but we just pretended that everything he did was good because it made our society what it is today.

The wars continued since Captain James Cook

The first line of this verse show that even though the first landing of captain cook happened a long time ago, that doesn't mean the effects of this event have stopped. The moment the English landed on the coast of Australia, the genocide started, and captain cook was the captain of the first fleet. There is still not complete equality, and that people are still fighting for the complete equality.

And this side of history, you don't write in your books

This line explains how people have been taught and told the good side of the invasion, they haven't been told about the genocide or invasion of people’s country, and how that has effected generation of Aboriginal people to come.

You don't want the truth and you don't want to listen

I believe line 3 is talking about how people are scared to believe what happened is true, so they write it off as nothing happened, making the situation worse. People should embrace the fact that the genocide did truly happen, and that these people should educate themselves on the real history of the country the live in.

But how can you stomach Australia's contradiction

The way I have interpreted this line is that the way this invasion is known as colonization and how it is said that nothing bad actually happened, totally contradicts what actually happened. The definition of contradiction is "a combination of statements, ideas, or features which are opposed to one another". How can people live knowing that the real story of Australia's history is not known, and the story that is known is the complete opposite of what happened.

What is the Doctrine of Discovery?

The Doctrine of discovery was used by European and British monarchies, where it provided legal framework for Christian explorers to claim lands and territories that hadn’t yet been inhabited by Christians. It legally allowed the British and European monarchies to conquer and claim lands, by either killing or converting the native and indigenous inhabitants of those lands. The Doctrine asserted that anything and anyone non-Christian were not human and therefore made any land “empty.” Which in other terms, is called terra nullius.

The Doctrine of Discovery impacted indigenous peoples all over the world, where explorers claimed ownership of land in Spain, Canada, Africa, Asia New Zealand, America, Australia and many more. This policy gave authorisation for tragic events in history, like enslavement and genocides.

Who was Pope Alexander VI?

Pope Alexander VI was one of the most infamous Popes in history, who’s birth name was actually Rodrigo Borgia. Pope Alexander was known for being extremely corrupted and it was rumoured for generations that he only succeeded in gaining the role of a Pope, by bribing other Cardinals to vote for him.
Pope Alexander VI used the Doctrine of Discovery. He used this new policy to authorise Spain and Portugal to conquer/colonise the Americas and its native peoples. Pope Alexander VI used this Doctrine of Discovery to justify the killing of the natives and enslavement of Africans.

Who was Captain James Cook and how did he use the Doctrine?

Captain James Cook was a British explorer, who used The Doctrine of Discovery to colonise Australia. When captain Cook arrived in Australia, under King George III, the 750,000 aboriginals who had already been living there for over 65,000 years were seen as “non-humans” (as they were not Christian) and Captain Cook declared the land Terra Nullius (empty) and claimed Australia. After claiming Australian land for Britain, he used the land to expand the British Empire and to alleviate the overcrowding British prisons.

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What is genocide? Give examples of genocide in history.

Genocide is the deliberate killing of a large amount of people with a nation or ethnic differences. Some examples of genocide is the killing of the Jewish people in WWII and the white invasion on Australia in the late 18th Century.

Who are the stolen generation and what happened/why did it happen?
The Stolen Generation is a period in history where Aboriginal children were taken away from their families by the British Government. They were taken as they were going to school and placed in institutions or adopted by non-aboriginals and were subject to abuse. They were denied their right to speak their own language and got punished if they did. It happened because the British Government didn’t want natives and wanted to live in a white society.

Comparison of two songs

Similarities

• The chorus message was the same “from little things big things grow”
• Both songs are about aboriginal rights.

Differences

• Paul Kelly’s lyrics are about a specific event - Vincent Lingari’s fight for land rights.
• Ziggy Ramo is reflecting back on the past from an aboriginal perspective of the European invasion of Australia. He highlights it was a genocide and that his people have struggled ever since.

While both songs both share the same chorus and depict Australian history through an Aboriginal person’s point of view, Ziggy Ramo and Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody tell different stories in their unique versions of ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’.

Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody’s version tells the story of Vincent Lingari’s journey to earning land rights for himself and his fellow Aboriginal people. Through the lyrics of ‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’, we learn about how Lingari was treated unfairly and how he was brave enough to stand for what was right and fight to gain land right.

Ziggy Ramo’s version of the song, however, tells a more modernised version of Aboriginal rights and reminds us of how far we still have to go to make things right. Ziggy talks about how unfair society is towards Aboriginal people and, while singing live with Paul Kelly, got quite emotional so it is obviously very personal and raw for him.  He reminds us that no one can forget what happened in the past and we shouldn’t ‘move on’ because that means forgetting the horrible circumstances Aboriginal people had to, and still do, face.

Both songs were really moving to listen to and opened my eyes to another person’s view of Australia.