When I asked my family members what they knew about the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, the response was mostly the same. “I don’t really know much about it,”. While I myself knew it existed growing up, I was never taught the story of how it was formed or the role it had in advancing Indigenous Affairs. It was simply there, and that fact was meant to be enough to stop me asking questions. It was not until I reached tertiary level that it was taught as a part of my university education. Harris & Waterford (2012), Gilbert (2002), Vernon (2002) and many others have all written about the importance of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, whether it be historical, political or symbolic. My question is, if it is such an important structure, why is it that so little people know about it? Is it simply a victim to a biased settler history, or is there more to the loss of this narrative than simply the ever-changing tides of history?
The Aboriginal Tent Embassy exists as an important structure for Indigenous Affairs and Australia’s history, in 1996 it became a heritage listed site of Canberra. However, despite this taking place and the history being written about it, it is very seldom taught. Both my older brother and younger cousin took Aboriginal Studies during high school. Yet neither were taught about the Aboriginal Tent Embassy or its story. That is possibly due to the syllabus outline for the class, as stated by the New South Wales Board of Studies (2003). The way the document sets up the class is through various content options which are to be selected by the teacher. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as there is room to teach about the Aboriginal Tent Embassy under these options. Yet, there lies an issue in that the resources provided may not be enough, and if the teacher does not know about the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, then teaching it would require extra research on their part. One of my Aunties, who works for the Board of Education in NSW, made a sensible comment, “A teacher can’t teach if they don’t know themselves.”. Structuring a class to suit the youth of today is already difficult enough without doing extra work on top of this. As a result, the narrative of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy has been left out in favour of more important historical events. As my cousin stated, “The only thing they teach us about is the invasion, and what happened after.”
Another point to make on the teaching of the story of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, is that it has not varied much over time. I asked my parents and two of my aunties whether they remember being taught anything about it during their time at school or even at home, their answer was a resounding no. All three of them went through high school in Orange, NSW during the late eighties and finished in the early nineties. During this time there was a lot of protest and turbulence surrounding the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, with there being quite a bit of negatively geared press at the time also. My father made an important point during our discussion about this, “it just wasn’t relevant to us growing up, Pop was working on the railroads and Nan would pick up work wherever she could. They were too busy looking after kids to be concerned with that.”. In relation of the research I have done, this kind of attitude was the norm for most of the population at the time. Unless you had any keen interest in politics and protest movements, the story of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy simply was not spoken of. With that in mind, it can be easier to see why very little is known about it today. If people weren’t willing to know anything about it when it was happening, why would they be interested now?
The final point I make comes from a comment my mother made, “I think technology and the internet have made information so easily accessible, that people almost expect this kind of stuff to fall into their lap. A lot of a story is missed out on when you’re trying to keep others interested.” There is evidence that the Aboriginal Tent Embassy is aware of how little people are interested in their story and their cause in today’s society. During my research, I stumbled upon the Aboriginal Tent Embassy Facebook page. While there wasn’t much about how they were established aside for the dates provided, the page gave insight into what the Aboriginal Tent Embassy continue to represent and stand for. It is much the same for the Aboriginal Tent Embassy Twitter feed. On both sites there is multiple references to contemporary events that have either occurred at the Tent Embassy or are supported by them. By providing this information, it is possible that it could generate enough interest in an individual to seek out the story of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on their own. However,this story is not on either the Facebook page or the Twitter feed, only part of it is. This creates a problem when we go back to the initial comment made about ease of access and the need for instant gratification.
The fact remains that the Aboriginal Tent Embassy has stood the test of time, and continues to play a role in Indigenous Affairs. While it is no longer right on the doorstep of the seated Parliament, the Embassy continues to be a gathering place for those who wish to protest Indigenous Affairs. My Aunty, who works for the Aboriginal Medical Service in Orange, spoke about how my grandparents attended the Aboriginal Tent Embassy two years ago. “That’s where they went to discuss the water rights for our Native Title you know? They met there before they met up with the Water Minister,” What interests me about this comment made by my Aunt, was that there is also very little told about the continuing story of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. The only time I am able to recall the Tent Embassy being reported on in the mainstream media today occurs during Invasion Day protests or in regards to certain conservative politicians. Even with all my research, I was unaware that there were members of government that still met with the Embassy. As talked about in the paragraph above, we only talk about the story of the Tent Embassy in part; assuming it is talked about at all.
Altogether, I believe there is still a large majority of Australians that know about the existence of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy. It is simply the story that they are unaware of, which is not always through their own actions. During my own tertiary education, many of my fellow students have been intrigued by the history behind the Tent Embassy. With that in mind, it is not a case of the story being lost to the tides of history and its colonial influences, which unfortunately does play a part in this. But rather a case of it remaining untold or recounted insufficiently. If this issue is overcome and the story is told properly, in detail and unbiased, then the story can be regained and retold anew.
