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  • They Give Jacky Rights

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    Suba 2810
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    This poem criticizes the way Aboriginal Australians like Jacky have been given rights by the dominant white Australian culture. It claims the rights granted are empty gestures that do not prevent the destruction of Aboriginal sacred lands by mining. Jacky watches helplessly as his sacred places are destroyed and turned into holes in the ground, dying a part of his culture and spirit, while being given only trivial compensation like cheap wine that forces his woman into prostitution. The poem suggests the spirits of Jacky's dreaming traditions are the only thing keeping him going in the face of this injustice.

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    This poem criticizes the way Aboriginal Australians like Jacky have been given rights by the dominant white Australian culture. It claims the rights granted are empty gestures that do not prevent the destruction of Aboriginal sacred lands by mining. Jacky watches helplessly as his sacred places are destroyed and turned into holes in the ground, dying a part of his culture and spirit, while being given only trivial compensation like cheap wine that forces his woman into prostitution. The poem suggests the spirits of Jacky's dreaming traditions are the only thing keeping him going in the face of this injustice.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    200 views1 page

    They Give Jacky Rights

    Uploaded by

    Suba 2810
    This poem criticizes the way Aboriginal Australians like Jacky have been given rights by the dominant white Australian culture. It claims the rights granted are empty gestures that do not prevent the destruction of Aboriginal sacred lands by mining. Jacky watches helplessly as his sacred places are destroyed and turned into holes in the ground, dying a part of his culture and spirit, while being given only trivial compensation like cheap wine that forces his woman into prostitution. The poem suggests the spirits of Jacky's dreaming traditions are the only thing keeping him going in the face of this injustice.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    of 1

    They Give Jacky Rights – Mudrooroo Narogin (Colin Johnson) Dr. K.

    Kaviarasu

    THEY GIVE JACKY RIGHTS


    Mudrooroo Narogin (Colin Johnson)

    They give Jacky rights,


    Like the tiger snake gives rights to its prey;
    They give Jacky rights,
    Like the rifle sights on its victims.
    They give Jacky rights,
    Like they give rights to the unborn baby,
    Ripped from the womb by its uncaring mother.

    They give Jacky rights to die,


    The right to consent to mining on his land.
    They give Jacky rights to watch
    His sacred dreaming place become a hole -
    His soul dies, his ancestor cry;
    His soul dies, his ancestor cry;
    They give Jacky his rights –
    A hole in the ground!

    Justice for all, Jacky kneels and prays;


    Justice for all, they dig holes in his earth;
    Justice for all, They give him his rights—
    A fiagon of cheap wine to dull his pain,
    And his woman has to sell herself for that.
    Justice for all, they give him his rights –
    A hole in the ground to hide his mistrust and fear.
    What can Jacky do, but struggle on and on:
    The spirits of his Dreaming keep him strong!

    © http://seas3.elte.hu/coursematerial/GallCecilia/Aboriginal_Poetry.pdf kketexts.blogspot.in

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