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It’s going to be a significant year. In 2023, the Federal Government is going to put a referendum question to the Australian people. It will be a question — vaguely worded and without specific detail — about formal recognition of Aboriginal Australia and the establishment of a so-called ‘Voice’ to parliament.

So, let’s be upfront about some history… my ancestors were invaders! They crossed the sea and took a land from the aboriginal people who were already living there. Sometimes they negotiated and paid a fair price for the land; most times, they simply took by force what they wanted. It was cruel and it was unjust.

Of course, this all happened a long time ago.  My father was Scottish and my mother was English. About 3,000 years ago, my Scottish ancestors — Celtic tribes known as Goidels — crossed from Europe into the British Isles and dispossessed the peoples already there.

Then, about 2,400 years ago, my English ancestors — Celtic tribes known as Brythons — made the same crossing, taking the land from the Goidels and pushing them to the north into what is now called Scotland.

In the following centuries, the Brythons were invaded by a succession of Romans, Saxons, Vikings, and Normans, each of whom left their mark on the tribes and cultures of the British Isles.

Not the First Nations

A study of the history of any nation will reveal a series of invasions and conquests. Even amongst the Australian Aboriginal peoples — who are mistakenly labelled as one ‘race’ — there is a history of invasion and dispossession.

It seems that the earliest peoples here in this land were ‘invaded’ and driven to the south by other tribes coming in behind them. These tribes were in turn ‘invaded’ and dispossessed by other tribes following in their footsteps and crossing the land bridge from South-East Asia.

The first peoples were eventually pushed south into what we call Tasmania, as those other tribal groups moved in behind them. This was just as cruel and unjust as what my ancestors did, and what they had done to them by subsequent conquerors.

Lasting Peace

Today we cannot change the past, nor answer for the deeds of past generations. We can only be responsible for our own actions. If we are to discover reconciliation and harmony, then people of all ‘races’ need to acknowledge their wrongdoings and turn to a God who is able to forgive us and to enable us to forgive one another.  After all, that’s what reconciliation and ‘truth-telling’ is really about — acknowledging wrongdoing, giving and receiving forgiveness, and then moving forward together.

And we need to realise that a person’s true identity is not to be found in connecting to the spirits of a place, but in relationship with the true God. Jesus Christ is more interested in peoples’ hearts than peoples’ land.

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Photo: Wikimedia Commons