aboriginal land rights issueas recorded in oodgeroo noonuccal's ...

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159telah pula merekan kepedihan dan keterpinggiran mereka dalamkarya sastra yangmnerekahasilkan.Kata Kunci: Aborigin, Oodgeroo Noonuccal.WeAre GoingA. IntroductionRecently the Aboriginal Land Rights issue seems to have beenpolitically prominent in Australia. Aboriginal activists have alwaysprotested over the dispossessionof their land by white people and foughtto regain their land. When Australia organized the WorldExpo in 1988inBrisbane, Aboriginal people brought about a demonstration in MusgravePark, which is near the expo location. It was a clever undertaking as theworld would give their attention to them. They also make use of art as ameans of manifesting their struggle for their land rights. In 1988 inSidney, for example, they performed a drama called The Struggle ofNaga Tribe. It is about the Naga tribe's struggle to protect their landsfrom the government which wants to sell them because they have richminerals. It was originally written by one of the most outstandingIndonesian playwrights, W. S. Rendra, which was then translated intoEnglish by Max Lane. In fact, they adapted the story to meet Aboriginalconditions.This paper explores how the lands are traditionally andeconomically essential to Aborigines. It also points out that Aboriginalpeople and the white people aredifferentin their perception ofland.B. Aboriginal LiteratureAboriginal literature is seen to bear peculiarity. A reflection ofthe oppressed and marginalized life-experiences of these indigenouspeople can be explored in their literary production. Moore (1971: 4)highlights such a relationship by stating that literature "is ultimatelyautobiographical, spun with thread drawn, like a spider's web, from theAboriginal Land Rights Issue (Sugi Iswalono)- ---
- - - -160body of the writer's perception and thoughts, dreams and desires andmemories". Johnston, as quoted by Colmer (1989: 32), endorses thisnotion by stating that "any serious work of fiction ... must beautobiographical in a lesser or greater degree, since the author's mostreliable touchstone and yardstick to experience and emotion mustalways be himself'. This unique position of literature is furthermoreargued by Spender (in Colmer, 1989: 32) who states that "in literature,the autobiographical is transformed. It is no longer the writer'sexperience: it becomes everyone's". In fact, regardless of the genre ofexpression, "Aboriginal history is present in almost all Black Australianliterature" (Shoemaker, 1992: 128),which may relate personal or tribalaccounts.It is a fact that previously Aborigines had no form of writing;written tradition belongs to the white people. They became literate afterthe white settlement. This may serve as a reason why a picture ofAboriginal life is mostly provided in their literary pieces. Macartney (inSemmler, 1967:56) puts forward his idea that "the distinctive life of theAborigines is generally treated in imaginative literature". In line withMacartney, Narogin (1990: 1) underlines that, different from othernational literatures, Aboriginal literaturehas its own definite readership;Black Australian writers direct their writings towards a white Australianreadership. Furthermore, Narogin states that "Aboriginal literaturebegins as a cry from the heart directed at the white man ... forjustice and... a better deal, ... understanding and an asking to be understood". If artis a social act, any individual writings of these people may, then, beregarded as a representation of the whole Aboriginal people. In otherwords, any protests of Aboriginal people may also be accommodated insuch akind of writings.c. Aboriginal People and Their LandsAboriginal religious belief cannot be separated from their landswhich were, in line with this belief, created in the Dreamtime, whichDIKSI Vo/.JJ,No.1, Januari 2004
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Page 11: ---168Tiffin, C. 1985. "Look to the

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