by Marta Fisch
Clarrie Isaacs proclaims: "I want black rule in my
lifetime!" He does not live in South Africa, but
rather in Perth, West Australia. He is an Australian
Aborigine, the traditional "owners" of that vast and
ancient continent. Clarrie was born in 1948, but wasn't
legally recognized as an Australian citizen until
he turned nineteen, when Aborigines were recognized
by the white Australian government as human beings
and granted equal rights in 1967. One of seven children,
Clarrie grew up in West Australia in an extended family
of 27.
Clarrie is working on several land and human rights issues,
one of which is protecting a contested traditional women's
sacred site on the banks of the Swan River, in Perth, West
Australia. A brewery, now abandoned, occupied the site for
several decades until recently.
Being a temporary resident in Perth, I was keen to learn
more about local politics. The brewery issue was in the
headlines, so I decided to try and "sus it out," as the
Australians put it. Clarrie is an erudite defender of the
sacred site. As he spoke, I found myself as intrigued with
the speaker as I was with his subject.
Most people introduced to Clarrie echo my own first
impression of him: an immediate receptivity to his gentle
and sincere manner. He speaks with conviction and clarity,
which remind me of his name.Clarrie speaks from the heart.
Soft brown eyes beckon from a handsome face. He tells a
story carefully, patiently, from beginning to end, just, I
imagine, as in the oral tradition of his forebears.
But underneath the gentleness flows a strong and steady
current of commitment to justice. Everyday he is championing
justice for the Aborigine. What is the fount of this
conviction? So many Aborigines have given up in despair,
their only belief being in the deceit of the white man,
searching for solace in a bottle of grog. Clarrie holds up
his mother as his model. She has worked all of her life
feeding the hungry and setting up legal aid societies for
her people.
Just as I was leaving Perth, the city council had just
approved development of the Swan Brewery site into shops
and hotels. The majority of Perthans had hoped it would be
converted into a riverside park. Members of the
construction workers union had been on strike in sympathy
with the protesting Aboriginal community, but were forced
to return to work by the city council.
The Fringedwellers Association, formed in the 1960's, is
spearheading the Brewery protest. The name aptly describes
both the social and housing conditions of many of Perth
Aborigines. Current Fringedwellers or their parents shifted
to the city when pastoral work died out in the countryside.
Unlike Aborigines who come from remote Australia, they no
longer have links to a traditional land. Tragically, most
of their culture has been wrenched from them by the white
man. They are left with no anchors with which to hold their
children in the Aboriginal ways.
The Fringedwellers are offering a lesson many white
Australians don't want to learn: to feel a sense of
responsibility and obligation toward the people whose land
and culture they have stolen. Friends in Perth told me that
this was a common sentiment, but I didn't really believe it
until I met a fellow bicyclist named Bruce, and chatted
with him while locking up our bikes outside the post
office. Bruce began by telling me that New Zealanders are
the force behind the Australian economy because Australians
have become lazy and dependent on the dole.
I asked Bruce his views on the Brewery issue. He said he
believed that it would be dangerous to give Aborigines land
because they would eventually want it all, the entire continent.
Bruce became impassioned while telling me of his opposition
to Aboriginal history education in the schools. He bloated
himself with authority stating that he's a third generation
Australian.(New evidence now dates Aboriginal inhabitation
of Australia at 40,000 years!).
"Why should we be learning about Aborigines?" Bruce gestured
emphatically. "My ancestors are from the British Isles and
I need to know more about their culture; that's my
culture!" He didn't seem to appreciate the fact that his
forbears not only emigrated to a foreign land, but overtook
it. Today, Australia is not only home to Aboriginal people,
but also to millions of immigrants and refugees from every
corner of the world. "Why," I asked, "should everyone else
learn about British culture, especially when that has
monopolized history education in Australia for over a
hundred years?"
Poor Bruce, his face showed dismay that he wasn't
convincing this American. He continued: "People come to
this country and don't try to assimilate! The Greeks and
the Croats have cultural clubs, and the Vietnamese aren't
even trying to learn English! You walk down the street and
half the people are speaking Chinese."
I started wondering how I was going to politely end this
conversation. Bruce seemed determined that I see things his
way. Such blatant racism was hard to take, and it wasn't
even directed at me. So much ignorance, fear, and hatred
made me sad, and angry. As I was resolutely pulling my bike
into the stream of people, I asked Bruce,"Why should others
give up their culture when you don't intend to? Why should
the Aborigines and other immigrants learn about British
culture when they lived in Aboriginal land?" I didn't wait
to hear his reply.
The following day I visited the Brewery Site. The
Fringedwellers have made an encampment there and claim it
as sacred. The Perth City Council agreed that it is sacred,
but to the business community, not the Aboriginal community.
Those who hold power in Perth regard commerce as sacred.
Commercial development, they hope, will generate revenue,
which they hold as sacred.
What is sacred in today's power configuration is decided
by those who already have money. But the tables are turning.
News abounds of indigenous groups regaining ownership of
traditionally owned lands. Meeting Clarrie renewed my faith.
I don't believe that justice will always be served, but
that it's still worthwhile to keep trying. Beauty comes to
the life seeking justice, and as well springs from it.
Thanks, Clarrie.
Marta Fisch
(submitted by Jungle Payne)
You can reach Clarrie in Australia, to learn more about his
latest efforts working with U.S. tribal elders, and his trip to
Rio for the Earth Summit:
Clarrie Isaacs, AKA Yaluritja, Mahommed Is-haq
Box 177, W. Perth 6005 Australia (09) 342-5394