‘Where
now?' we might ask, more than two years after the Prime Minister's Apology to
the Stolen Generations. Can we still
remember what he said on behalf of the nation at that time? Do we still have that feeling about what he
said? What difference has the Apology made in our lives since then?
For
Christian people, a true and sincere apology can never be taken lightly. It
indicates a change of heart, a recognition that something needs to be
different. We are saying that we want to turn around. We want to make a
commitment to a new future. Apologies are always more than words. They involve
the heart, courage and being prepared to take a risk. The fruit of an apology
is seen in a new attitude, in new behaviour and the desire to walk on a new
path. It is about wanting to live in a new relationship with God and one
another.
To
help us think more the Prime Minister's Apology and what each of us has done
since then, we offer the following piece of art to help us reflect on the
occasion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday this year. The
painting is by George Lee Tjungurrayi, who lives in the Wirrimanu community in
the Kimberley of Western Australia. George's father was taken away as a young
boy. He was removed from his family in central Australia. He was taken a long
way north to live in a very different environment, with other Aboriginal
people, at Garden Point on Melville Island. Later, as a young adult, he was
able to return home to his family and people, but he could not speak their
language. He had missed those important years growing up as a young man
listening to the old people, learning their songs and receiving their love. His
father was one of the Stolen Generations.
Now,
decades later, George is an adult. He feels strongly and is sad about what
happened to his father, but wants to support reconciliation and make a better
future for the young people in his family and community. In this painting he describes the life of
young Aboriginal men and women today and how many of them struggle with the
daily choices that confront them. He says: ‘Young people are caught everyday in
making good and healthy decisions. They are trying to balance two cultures, two
ways of thinking and behaving. They can
find it hard and sometimes they give up. They feel themselves being pulled two
ways, and sometimes the pressure to change comes too fast as they try to balance
Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal culture'.
George's
painting reveals areas of tension for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people as they seek to balance the various forces in their lives. They want to find balance between what their
culture tells them is important and what Australian society also tells them.
Sometimes for them, and sometimes for those who want to walk with them across
the bridge of reconciliation, the journey is not always easy.
The
painting also reveals energy. Flowing into and out of each of the tensions are
life and the possibility of finding new life, even within the tension. It is a
reminder that when the Prime Minister apologised, he released an energy that
enables all Australians to listen to the tensions, the pain and the hurt that
many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to carry. For us as
Christians, the Holy Spirit encourages us to listen. It reminds us that
apologies are opportunities of grace. It gives us the courage to respond.
‘We today take this first step by acknowledging the past
and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians ... 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.'
As
Christians we belong to a religious tradition that allows us to listen, to
share in an apology and allow its healing and grace to make us a better people
and nation. This challenge is up to us
as individuals, but also up to us as families, communities, at home, school and
in our work. As Pope John Paul II invited us in 2006: let us become the Church
Jesus calls us to be.
By Fr Brian McCoy SJ