Snapshot Biography 1

Maria Alessi



Indigenous Education and Perspectives


Assessment 1


Snapshot Biography



By Maria Alessi

5849152




Snapshot Biography 2

Maria Alessi


My research has led me to two different Indigenous males, whom have both worked
tirelessly to ensure Indigenous Australians are treated respectfully and provided with real
opportunities in life. Michael Long is a famous football player who used his fame and
exposure to fight racism, and demand the Australian government prioritise Indigenous issues.
On the other hand, Dr Yunupingu was a famous singer and educator who highlighted the
Indigenous Australian land rights issue, with a captivating song. He was also instrumental in
changes to education in Indigenous communities. Both men have experienced their own
personal pain through either the Stolen Generation or racism, but continued to persevere in
their fight for fairness in Indigenous communities.
Michael Long is a well-respected sportsman who played for the Essendon Football
Club in the Australian Football League for twelve years. He achieved exceptional success in
his career by playing in two premiership sides and was awarded the Norm Smith Medal in
1993 (Michael Long, n.d.).Not only was Michael a successful football player he was also the
first football player to make a stand against racial abuse on the field, which led to the
Australian Football League introducing the Racial Abuse Code in 1990s (Gardner, 1997). His
motivation could be attributed to his parents experience of racial abuse throughout their life,
as they were part of the Stolen Generation (Price, 2012), and were removed from their homes
at an early age (Michael Long, n.d.).When Michael retired from professional football he
continued to be a spokesperson for Indigenous Australians and in 2004 he walked from
Melbourne to Canberra to meet with the Prime Minister, John Howard to highlight how bad
things really are in Indigenous Australia (Gordon, 2004, para 3).Many people joined
Michael in the Long Walk and it helped raise awareness of the many issues Indigenous
Australians are faced with such as poverty, poor health and wellbeing. Michaels continued
efforts against racism is helping to stamp out historic and unjust thoughts of Indigenous
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Australians as was seen in the early 1700s when the British labelled the native blacks as the
ugliest race I ever beheld(Banner, 2005, p.106).
Not only did Michael Long achieve his goal in becoming a professional football
player he has also proved that anyone can achieve their dream regardless of race or colour.
Indigenous children are encouraged to strive for greatness and feel they can become
successful football players like Michael Long and many young children are following in his
footsteps. The Australian Football League now has more than 50 Aborigines and Torres
Strait islanders participating in the AFL in the last five seasons (Halliman and Judd 2009, p
2), and these players are being treated as equals. This is a far cry from the early 1900s when
Aboriginal people were not even allowed to walk into a public bar (creative spirits, 2011) let
alone play football. It is also astonishing to see how one mans efforts and determination for
better living conditions, general health and wellbeing for Indigenous Australians created
such interest in the community and how many people joined Michael Long in the Long Walk.
The governments acceptance of the stolen Generation, after so many years of denial, is
another moment in history that Michael Long can proudly say he was part of, by never giving
up and fighting for what he believes in. These traits are what make Michael Long such a
well-respected and honourable part of our Aboriginal Australian community.
Dr Djarrtjuntjun Yunupingu was a talented singer and educator who shot to fame with
his hit, Treaty. The lyrics to this song were based on Indigenous Australian land rights, as the
Australian Government was ignoring the issue by refusing to sign the Barunga Statement,
which would recognise the rights of Indigenous land owners(Yothu Yindi Music ,1996,
para 2). By becoming a worldwide hit the message was heard by many and Aboriginal land
right issues were placed in the spotlight. This effectively started to place some pressure on the
Australian government who later introduced legislation such as Mabo (Harrison, 2011). Dr
Yunupingu was also extremely involved in childrens education and became the first
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Indigenous Australian school principal in 1990 (Munro, 2013). He introduced bothways
education, which incorporates both Yolngu knowledge and western knowledge (Gosford
2013), as Dr Yunupingu questioned the suitability of the current education system. He was
named 1992 Australian of the Year (Honour Role, n.d.) for his work in building good
relationships with Indigenous and Non Indigenous Australians and for trying to eliminate
racism. Although Dr Yunupingu has now passed on, his legacy will not be forgotten for all
the changes he instigated for Indigenous Australians.
Dr Yunupingu was working towards the same goals as Michael Long by trying to
stamp out racial tension between both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, but his
work was done via song and education. By highlighting the land rights issue worldwide, it
emphasised the injustices that Indigenous Australians had faced in the hands of the British,
when they had first landed in Australia in 1700s, and taken the land away from them (Banner,
2005). Indigenous Australians were still being ignored and their way of life and culture was
not accepted, but Dr Yunupingu continued to work tirelessly with governments and
communities to force change. His work with children and education was also instrumental in
achieving changes to how Aboriginal children were being educated. By introducing a mix
between both Indigenous and Western methods helped encourage Indigenous children and
families to embrace schooling and actually attend school. Statistics compiled from the 2006
Census highlighted only 21% of Indigenous children were attending primary school
(Indigenous statistics for school, 2010). Understanding the differences and attempting to
make a change, to what some may have thought an impossible task, is one of the reasons why
I respect the work of Dr Yunupingu. He never gave up and his hard work and determination
has helped shape the futures of many young Indigenous children.
Although Michael Long was a sportsman and Dr Yunupingu was a musician and
educator, they are both great ambassadors for Indigenous Australians. Whether they are
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striving for better education or acceptance of land rights or elimination of racism, their work
is equally important in providing a fairer and better country for our Indigenous Australians.
The Australian community as a whole is a better place because of the likes of two determined
and hardworking men that have proven that colour and race should not affect your life and
stop you from achieving your goals.















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REFERENCES
Australian Bureau of Statistics. Indigenous statistics for schools. Retrieved on November, 18,
2013 from
http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/cashome.nsf/4a256353001af3ed4b2562bb0012156
4/be2634628102566bca25758b00116c3d!OpenDocument
Australian Government Department of Education and Workplace Relations (n.d.) Michael
Long. Retrieved November 16, 2013 from
http://www.civicsandcitizenship.edu.au/cce/long_michael,15305.html
Australian of the Year Awards. Honour Roll (n. d) Retrieved 15 November 2013 from
http://www.australianoftheyear.org.au/honour-roll/?view=fullView&recipientID=96
Banner, S. (2005). Why Terra Nullius? Anthropology and Property Law in Early Australia.
Law and History Review 23(1), p106
Creative Spirits. (2011). Australian Aboriginal Culture. Retrieved November 18, 2013 from
http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture
Gardner, G (1997) Racial Abuse and Football: The Australian Football Leagues Racial.
Vilification Rule in Review. Sporting Traditions. Vol 4
(http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/SportingTraditions/1997/st1401/st1401d.pdf)
Gordon, M (2004). Give Us Some Hope. para 3 Retrieved November 18, 2013
http://www.kooriweb.org/foley/news/age4dec04.html
Gosford, B (2013) Yalmay Yunupingu. Today we celebrate a true Yolngu Maralitja Gumatj
man, Dr Djarrtjuntjun Yunupingu Retrieved 15 November from
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http://blogs.crikey.com.au/northern/2013/07/02/yalmay-yunupingu-today-we-
celebrate-a-true-yolngu-maralitja-gumatj-man-dr-djarrtjuntjun-yunupingu/
Hallinan, C & Judd B, (2009).Changes In Assumptions about Australian Indigenous
Footballers: From Exclusion to Enlightenment. The International Journey of the
History of Sport Vol 26. No 16. P 2 Routledge. Melbourne. Australia
Harrison, N. (2011). Teaching and learning in Aboriginal education. South Melbourne,
Victoria: Oxford University Press.
Michael Long. (n.d.) The Long Walk. Retrieved on 16 November 2013 from
http://www.thelongwalk.com.au/About/Our-Story
Munro, C (2013) Dr Yunupingu, a great Australian. Retrieved on 15 November 2013 from
http://tracker.org.au/2013/06/mandawuy-yunupingu-a-great-australian/
Price, K. (2012). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education: An introduction for the
teaching profession. (pp. 21-33). Port Melbourne, Victoria: Cambridge University
Press
Yothu Yindi music. (1996) Retrieved on 17 November 2013 from
http://www.yothuyindi.com/music/treaty.html