The Australian's Story
Australia is the biggest island in the world. Situated in the South Pacific, Australia was conquered by the Europeans. 150 millions years ago, the tectonic plate created giant mountains. Its surface was 7 682 300 km2. Australia was created when the Gondwana pulled apart creating India, Africa, South America and Antarctic too. It is the oldest and the most isolated continent. Cook was the first European to land on Australia, in 1770, he arrived in a bay he later called Botanic Bay. Then he discovered what he called Sydney Cove. In 1851, The Gold Rush began. Australia was regrouped in a federation, after a confrontation between Melbourne and Sydney. After this, Canberra became the capital of the Federal State of Australia.
About the Sea of Hands
Over 300,000 Australians
have signed their names on one of 120,000 plastic hands that make up the Sea of Hands, to show their support for Native Title and Reconciliation.
The Sea of Hands was created in 1997 as a powerful, physical representation of the Citizen's Statement on Native Title.
The Citizen's Statement was a petition circulated by ANTaR to mobilise non-Indigenous support for native title and reconciliation, at a time when native title rights were under serious threat from the Howard Government's proposed changes to the Native Title Act 1993. Plastic hands in the colours of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, each one carrying one signature from the Citizen's Statement, were installed in front of Parliament House in Canberra in October 1997, in what was then the largest public art installation in Australia.
The Sea of Hands has become a symbol of the People's Movement for reconciliation - and a tangible recognition of the failure of the Howard Government to lead Australia in the reconciliation process.
Australia is the biggest island in the world. Situated in the South Pacific, Australia was conquered by the Europeans. 150 millions years ago, the tectonic plate created giant mountains. Its surface was 7 682 300 km2. Australia was created when the Gondwana pulled apart creating India, Africa, South America and Antarctic too. It is the oldest and the most isolated continent. Cook was the first European to land on Australia, in 1770, he arrived in a bay he later called Botanic Bay. Then he discovered what he called Sydney Cove. In 1851, The Gold Rush began. Australia was regrouped in a federation, after a confrontation between Melbourne and Sydney. After this, Canberra became the capital of the Federal State of Australia.About the Sea of Hands
Over 300,000 Australians
have signed their names on one of 120,000 plastic hands that make up the Sea of Hands, to show their support for Native Title and Reconciliation.The Sea of Hands was created in 1997 as a powerful, physical representation of the Citizen's Statement on Native Title.
The Citizen's Statement was a petition circulated by ANTaR to mobilise non-Indigenous support for native title and reconciliation, at a time when native title rights were under serious threat from the Howard Government's proposed changes to the Native Title Act 1993. Plastic hands in the colours of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags, each one carrying one signature from the Citizen's Statement, were installed in front of Parliament House in Canberra in October 1997, in what was then the largest public art installation in Australia.
The Sea of Hands has become a symbol of the People's Movement for reconciliation - and a tangible recognition of the failure of the Howard Government to lead Australia in the reconciliation process.
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands, and these peoples' descendants. Indigenous Australians are distinguished as either Aboriginal people or Torres Strait Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.6% of Australia's population.The Torres Strait Islanders are indigenous to the Torrest Strait Islands which are at the northern-most tip of Queensland near Papua New Guinea. The term "Aboriginal" has traditionally been applied to indigenous inhabitants of mainland Australia, Tasmania, and some of the other Adjacent Islands. The use of the term is becoming less common, with names preferred by the various groups becoming more common.The earliest definite human remains found to date are that of Mungo Men which have been dated at about 40,000 years old, but the time of arrival of the ancestors of Indigenous Australians is a matter of debate among researchers, with estimates ranging as high as 125,000 years ago.There is great diversity among different Indigenous communities and societies in Australia, each with its own unique mixture of cultures, customs and languages. In present day Australia these groups are further divided into local communities.
Origins Of The Aboriginal Flag
The aboriginal flag is made up of 3 colours. black represents the colour of the skin of the Aborigines. red stands for the colour of the earth in the Outback and yellow colour is for the sun. This flag was designed in 1971 by Harold Thomas, an aboriginal artist from the centre of Australia. It was initially used as symbol by the aborigines to claim rights on their ancestral lands. It was officially proclaimed "flag of Australia" by the Australian government on July 14, 1995.
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