Sorry!

So.......we were both up early again this morning and leaving Dulcie asleep in bed headed off, at 6.30 am, to the Arboretum at Sherwood for the 'Sorry Day' Ceremony.

Not a sight I often see.......dawn!

I did not know much about it but my good friend Wiki Pedia has helped me learn a bit more about it.The National 'Sorry Day' has been held on May 26 th since 1998 to remember and commemorate the mistreatment of the continent's indigenous population and with particular reference to the 'Stolen Generations.'These 'Stolen Generations' were the children of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent who were removed from their families, often forcibly, by the Federal and State Governments and Church Missions. These removals took place between 1909 and 1969 although in some areas children were still being taken in the early 1970's.It was done in the interest of turning them into white Australians but other rationales include child protection, the fear that given the catastrophic population decline after white contact that Aboriginal people would die out and a fear of miscegenation, the mixing of racial groups.It could be argued that it was born of the best of intentions but evidence indicates that a large number were brutally and forcibly removed and often from caring and able parents.Here is one account:I was at the post office with my Mum and Auntie [and cousin]. They put us in the police ute and said they were taking us to Broome. They put the mums in there as well. But when we'd gone [about ten miles (16 km)] they stopped, and threw the mothers out of the car. We jumped on our mothers' backs, crying, trying not to be left behind. But the policemen pulled us off and threw us back in the car. They pushed the mothers away and drove off, while our mothers were chasing the car, running and crying after us. We were screaming in the back of that car. When we got to Broome they put me and my cousin in the Broome lock-up. We were only ten years old. We were in the lock-up for two days waiting for the boat to Perth.On the other hand here are other indigenous accounts:I guess the government didn't mean it as something bad but our mothers weren't treated as people having feelings…Who can imagine what a mother went through? But you have to learn to forgive.I was put in a mission dormitory when I was eight, nine. I cried for two nights, then I was right with the rest of those kids. We weren't stolen; our family was there. It was a good system. Or a better system than now. At least my generation learnt to read and write properly.An inquiry into this separation of children from their parents began in May 1995 and the final report 'Bringing Them Home' was tabled in the Federal Parliament on 26 th May 1997.The report made many recommendations, including that:Funding be made available to Indigenous agencies to allow Indigenous people affected by the forcible removal policies to record their history.Reparations be made to people forcibly removed from their families, and that the Van Boven principles guide reparation measures.Australian Parliaments offer official apologies and acknowledge the responsibility of their predecessors for the laws, policies, and practices of forcible removal.Before the report was finalised the Prime Minister at the time, John Howard, was quoted as saying: "Australians of this generation should not be required to accept guilt and blame for past actions and policies."Wiki Pedia says:As a result of the report, formal apologies were tabled and passed in the state parliaments of Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales, and also in the parliament of the Northern Territory. On 26 May 1998 the first "National Sorry Day" was held, and reconciliation events were held nationally, and attended by over a million people. As public pressure continued to increase, Howard drafted a motion of "deep and sincere regret over the removal of Aboriginal children from their parents" which was passed by the federal parliament in August 1999. Howard went on to say that the Stolen Generation represented "...the most blemished chapter in the history of this country."The Australian Federal Parliament finally apologised on 13 th February 2008. The Prime Minister of the time, Kevin Rudd presented the apology:I move:That today we honour the Indigenous peoples of this land, the oldest continuing cultures in human history.We reflect on their past mistreatment.We reflect in particular on the mistreatment of those who were Stolen Generations—this blemished chapter in our nation's history.The time has now come for the nation to turn a new page in Australia's history by righting the wrongs of the past and so moving forward with confidence to the future.We apologise for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians.We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.For the pain, suffering, and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry.To the mothers and the fathers, the brothers and the sisters, for the breaking up of families and communities, we say sorry.And for the indignity and degradation thus inflicted on a proud people and a proud culture, we say sorry.We the Parliament of Australia respectfully request that this apology be received in the spirit in which it is offered as part of the healing of the nation.For the future we take heart; resolving that this new page in the history of our great continent can now be written.We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians.A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again.A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement, and economic opportunity.A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed.A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve and mutual responsibility.A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.To this day however many of the recommendations of the 'Bringing Them Home' Report remain unfulfilled.The ceremony today began with the sound of a didgeridoo as the people gathered around the 'Journey Home Plaque' at Sherwood Arboretum.A  choir group sang timidly as local school children paraded in carrying the Aboriginal Flag, the Torres Islander Flag and the Australian Flag...ironically it was this latter flag that caused most problems as it kept coming unhooked from the flagpole and spent much of the ceremony trailing on the floor.Uncle Des Sandy, an Aboriginal Elder spoke and performed the 'Welcome to Country' speech in his usual off the cuff, easy, amusing and meandering manner before we learned a bit about why we were there.....(as above).Then we all read The Journey of Healing:We who have come from every land give thanks for Australia; This earth that feeds us; the shores that bind us; the skies that envelop us in freedom.We stand together, grateful for our gifts; nourished by our diversity. Yet we turn to the original owners of our land and see, too, what we have taken.We weep for their loss of freedom, of country, of children even of their very lives.We stand in awe at their survival and in debt for their land. We have shadows in our history which if unfaced diminish us; We have taken without asking; our nation has taken without asking; Lives are wounded. We see the pain, feel the sorrow and seek forgiveness.A representative of the Sherwood Girl Guides read:In order to be truthful, we must do more than speak the truth. We must also hear the truth. We must also receive the truth. We must also act upon truth. We must also search for truth, the difficult truth, within and around us. We must devote ourselves to truth otherwise we are dishonest and our lives are mistaken. May we have the strength and courage to be truthful.The floor was opened for general reflection and after some silence one woman shared the story of her Aunt who had been saved from being taken as a child by hiding in a cave.The elders who were present then placed flowers by the 'Journey Home Plaque' and then everyone else was invited to place flowers. Even at this point, I felt a bit detached from it all, as if I had nothing to be sorry for, not being Australian, but thinking about it decided that I didn't have to be Australian to be sorry and that I was sorry and so I went up with Will and we placed flowers by the plaque together.Next Gaja Kerry Charlton, another elder spoke about the symbolic tree planting she was about to do. She was also the auntie of the guy who played the didgeridoo. She spoke of the experiences of her family members who were taken away to different islands. The timid and sometimes out of tune choir sang out again as the tree was planted and then we all said the closing blessing:Let us look back with courage; see the truth and speak it. Let us look around with compassion; see the cost and share it. Let us look forward with hope; see what can be done and create it. Give us the courage to face the truth, compassion to share the burden, strength to play our part in the healing and hope to walk forward to a place of justice. With courage, compassion, strength and hope we will walk together on the journey of healing.It was over.I was so glad I went.