Shane Malone - Eureka Street

fOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE
Disarray, the American way
Frank Brennan, Australian advocate for indigenous rights, went off
the beaten track in the United States and found that
American perspectives on race, religion and rights are more
complex and more unresolved than he expected.
M v FIRST PORT OF CALL was the con sciou ness except as the the justices at either end of the bench.
St Mary's ncar the mouth of the proprietors of casinos in states which They handed the notes to each
Yukon River in Alaska. have traditionally tried to restrict other-an uncommon practice to say
Out on the river one afternoon, I gambling. Over the last decade the the least. Only Clarence Thomas
was marvelling at the sun reflecting tribes have been exploiting an showed any emotion. I took his
off the golden onion dome of the opportunity opened up for them elation to be confirmation that race
Russian Orthodox church in the when the Suprem e Court confirmed had played no role in the processes of
centre of the village, when around their sovereign right to conduct gam- the law. It was to be another hour
the riverbend came a Yupik family bling on their lands free from State until the court finished its business
proudly flying the stars and stripes control. Congress left the oppor- for the day and I learned the verdict
from their craft. tunity open for tribes to conduct was 'Not Guilty'. Walking away from
These indigenous people h ave any sort of ga mbling which a State the Capitol I was taunted by two
survived many outside influences. permitted, if only for a local charity African-American men walking be-
They have been Russian and Ameri- once a year. hind me proclaiming that the vercan,
but always Yupik. Their war As I settled into Washington, diet would be a lesson to all whites.
veterans enjoy a special place, with its marble monuments, big I wanted to turn and explain that I
including preference with new doors and choices, to ponder the was not an American but a visitor.
housing and employment. operation of the US Bill of Rights, Intheweeksthatfollowedlfound
Next clay one of the locals took the urban airwaves were jammed that, even among lawyers, the chief
me on tour around the village. We with the 0. J. Simpson trial. In salu- determinant of views about the
started-strangely, itseemed-atthe brious Georgetown, one of my hosts verdict was the person's race. One
cemetery. But her explanation of the jested, 'Welcome to Johannesburg African-American law professor
deaths of those who had been by the Potomac.' remarked that, 'If the victims were
recently buried filled out the picture The streets arc numbered and not white, you would have heard
of contemporary Yupik life: family, lettered in ordcrfrom very little aboutthis case.
community,landandsea,withtheir theCapitol.Muchof It would not have
attendantjoysand strengths,butalso the south-east quar- been nationally
demands and strains, including ter is regarded by T televised.'
alcoholisn1, unemployment and whites a a 'no go'
violence. area. The north-west H E CAME the Nation
A week later, I was on the quarter is largel y of Islam's Million Man
Swi nomish reservation north of white. There the Af- . March. Hundreds of
Seattle. This tribe has a successful riean-Americans thousands of Africancasino,
preferential salmon fishing work as domestic American men descended
rights and a well-organised tribal helpers and labourers on Washington to hear a
government which has negotiated or join the squads of message of hope like the
compacts of understanding with all homeless begging for one they heard from
the levels of government that affect a quarter. For an A us- Martin Luther King Jr on
them from outside. tralian, the surprises the steps of the Lincoln
One night, the fire was lit, prayers arc the number of Memorial in 1963, the
were offered to the ancestors and I poor and homeless in the streets and centenary of Gettysburg. Instead,
was invited into the sweat lodge. the constant references to race and Louis Farrakhan, speaking from the
During the ceremony, which lasted to demarcation according to race. other end of the Mall, treated the
for three hours, the latest US war- When the jury in Los Angeles crowd to two hours of rambling
planesoutofScattlc,homeofBoeing, announced itsverdictintheSimpson antics spiced with theological
flew overhead, practising their turns case at l pm (eastern time) I was geometry.
at speed. Modern America is a land sitting in the marbled Supreme Earlier in the ra ll y, I stood in the
of contrasts. Court, which had resumed promptly Lincoln Memorial and saw many
Then to the bi g cities, where after the luncheon adjournment. But first-time black visitors to Washing-
American Indians feature little in at 1. I Opm notes were handed up to ton posing for photos with their
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EUREKA STREET • APRIL 1996