Aboriginal people are key because they have a different sense of where we belong and how we interact with nature. — David Suzuki
As Aboriginal people we have always retained our resilience, our humour and our cultural integrity - we will always retain our dreams and a vision for the future for our people. — Ken Wyatt
If Australia is The Lucky Country, the Aborigines must be the unluckiest people in the world. — Frank Hardy
Here in Australia, we’re fortunate enough to have one of the richest and oldest continuing cultures in the world. This is something we should all be proud of and celebrate. — Aboriginal proverbs
We are moving toward recognition of the first Australians in the Australian constitution. — Kevin Rudd
Australia's treatment of her Aboriginal people will be the thing on which the world will judge Australia and Australians - Not just now, but in the greater perspective of history. — Gough Whitlam
Present governments are encouraging separatism in Australia by providing opportunities, land, moneys and facilities available only to Aboriginals. — Pauline Hanson
The majority of Aboriginals do not want handouts because they realise that welfare is killing them. — Pauline Hanson
Indigenous people believe that Man belongs to the World; civilized people believe that the World belongs to Man. — Daniel Quinn
Australian is British people that weren't doin good. — Theo Von
Australia without the Irish would be unthinkable... unimaginable... unspeakable. — Paul Keating
When asked by an anthropologist what the Indians called America before the white men came, an Indian said simply "Ours. — Vine Deloria Jr.
To me, being Australian is about looking after your mates, taking care of the less fortunate, supporting the underdog and enhancing the spirit that makes all Australians unique. — Steve Waugh
We’re not Indians and we’re not Native Americans. We’re older than both concepts. We’re the people, we’re the human beings. — John Trudell
There is a direct connection between violence against the Earth and violence against women. — Lee Maracle
The more you know the less you talk. — A. R. Rahman
Let no-one say the past is dead, the past is all about us and within. — Oodgeroo Noonuccal
The coast of British Columbia was one of the three chief centers of aboriginal America. — Ellsworth Huntington
Genius . . . arises in the natural, aboriginal concern for the conscious unity of all phenomena. — Mary Hunter Austin
The more you know the less you understand. — Lao Tzu
Aboriginal people have much to celebrate in this country's British heritage — Tony Abbott
If the Aborigine drafted an I.Q. test, all of Western civilization would presumably flunk it. — Stanley Marion Garn
Wherever the European has trod, death seems to pursue the aboriginal. — Charles Darwin
The more you know, the less you need. — Yvon Chouinard
Aboriginal Image Quotes
Indigenous People Quotes
We are not myths of the past, ruins in the jungle, or zoos. We are people and we want to be respected, not to be victims of intolerance and racism. — Rigoberta Menchu
I am against the fact that a settler minority should impose an entire system of values on an indigenous people. — Steven Biko
To annihilate indigenous populations eventually paves the way to our own annihilation. They are the only people who practice sustainable living. We think they are relics of the past, but they may be the gatekeepers to our future. — Arundhati Roy
We must respect each other's right to choose a collective destiny, and the opportunity to develop the legal and political rights for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples so that we may enjoy the right to maintain our culture, our heritage and our land, as a united Australia. — Jackie Huggins
Although we are in different boats you in your boat and we in our canoe we share the same river of life. — Oren Lyons
We have our eye on the same destination – a sustainable future where Indigenous people are recognized for their wisdom and honored for their culture – there is no problem taking a different path to reach that place. — Aboriginal proverbs
Through consciousness, our minds have the power to change our planet and ourselves. It is time we heed the wisdom of the ancient indigenous people and channel our consciousness and spirit to tend the garden and not destroy it. — Bruce H. Lipton
Baldness that appears to be normal is a disease in Europe, almost all of them are bald, and that is because of the things they eat; while among the indigenous peoples there are no bald people, because we eat other things. — Evo Morales
As it has for America's other indigenous peoples, I believe the United States must fulfill its responsibility to Native Hawaiians. — Daniel Akaka
As it has for America's other indigenous peoples, I believe the United States must fulfill its responsibility to Native Hawaiians. — Daniel Kahikina Akaka
Indigenous Quotes
If the society that we're talking about is a society that starts wars all over the world, degrades indigenous cultures, is misogynistic in itself, if that's the society we're talking about, then it's not a bad thing if hip-hop did degrade that society. — KRS-One
All of this got me thinking about the history of the westward expansion, and got me to wondering how the exploration of the Solar System would be changed if there were an indigenous presence out there. — Sarah Zettel
To reach your heart, as every indigenous tribe I know has told me, you must first remember your Divine Mother... Your Mother is alive and very much conscious... Earth is not a rock, she has a name and a personality in the cosmos. And believe me, she knows your name. — Drunvalo Melchizedek
My stiffest earthly assignment is ended and my major life's work is done. My country is now free and I have been honoured to be its first indigenous head of state. What more could one desire in life? — Nnamdi Azikiwe
Thousands of years ago, civilizations flourished in Africa which suffer not at all by comparison with those of other continents. In those centuries, Africans were politically free and economically independent. Their social patterns were their own and their cultures truly indigenous. — Haile Selassie
We live in an age that's repeating itself endlessly. We're getting closer again to the techno-chic world we saw in Atlantis that occurs in countless planes. It's indigenous to enlightenment. — Frederick Lenz
I believe very firmly that indigenous populations had a really good, intuitive understanding of why we're here. And we're trying to gain that same understanding through psychology and intellect in modern civilization. — Serj Tankian
Dear Iranian nation, your children have placed the first indigenous satellite into orbit. — Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
Then, I realized that there is an indigenous presence in the Solar System. It's us. So, then, I got to wondering what would happen if a more technologically advanced society moved next door to us, the way we moved next door to the American Indians. — Sarah Zettel
In more recent years, I've become more and more fascinated with the indigenous folklore of this land, Native American folklore, and also Hispanic folklore now that I live in the Southwest. — Terri Windling
Indigenous Culture Quotes
An indigenous feminism has been present in every culture in the world and in every period of history since the suppression of women began. — Robin Morgan
We focus on bringing back Indigenous languages, ceremonies, cultures, traditions - all that was lost over the past 150 years. This is how we'll generate hope - for all Canadian people. — Perry Bellegarde
We need to return to learning about the land by being on the land, or better, by being in the thick of it. That is the best way we can stay in touch with the fates of its creatures, its indigenous cultures, its earthbound wisdom. That is the best way we can be in touch with ourselves. — Gary Paul Nabhan
I started studying indigenous cultures and I was really inspired by their life styles and the way that they lived. Part of that was knowing how to survive in the wild and knowing how to heal themselves from the plants that grew around them. — Shailene Woodley
We are members of the most destructive culture ever to exist. Our assault on the natural world, on indigenous and other cultures, on women, on children, on all of us through the possibility of nuclear suicide and other means--all these are unprecedented in their magnitude and ferocity. — Derrick Jensen
Shamanism is a kind of universal spiritual practice with indigenous cultures around the world, and one important element of it is taking care of spirits. — Daniel Pinchbeck
The thing we often forget to talk about, or perhaps we take for granted, is our country’s dazzling beauty. Our natural environment is so much a part of Australia’s art, writing, music and culture, both indigenous and non indigenous. — Quentin Bryce
Indigenous people have discovered that Christianity is not inherently Western but universal - 'translatable' into any cultural idiom. — Nancy Pearcey
If people lose their land, they have nothing. You lose your land - you lose your culture, you lose self. — Richard Gere
If people can't acknowledge the wisdom of indigenous cultures, then that's their loss. — Jay Griffiths
Historically speaking, we went from being Indians to pagans to savages to hostiles to militants to activists to Native Americans. Its five hundred years later and they still cant see us. We are still invisible. — John Trudell
The Pilgrim Fathers landed on the shores of America and fell on their knees; then they fell upon the aborigines. — American Proverbs
It's a very Aboriginal thing to do, to give younger people greater responsibilities within the community as they become able to take those responsibilities on. It is a culturally appropriate transfer of roles that involves respect in both directions.. from the younger to the older and the older to the younger. — Jackie Huggins
My art speaks and will continue to speak, transcending barriers of nationality, language and other forces that may be divisive, fortifying the greatness of the spirit that has always been the foundation of the Ojibwa people. — Norval Morrisseau
If you have come to help me, you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is tied up with mine, then let us work together. — Lilla Watson
We ourselves are part of a guild of species that lie within and without our bodies. Aboriginal peoples and the Ayurvedic practitioners of ancient India have names for such guilds, or beings made up (as we are) of two or more species forming one organism. Most of nature is composed of groups of species working interdependently. — Bill Mollison
I wasn't aware of the impact that I had made on the lives of Aboriginal people until I did a bit of travelling and visited various communities throughout Victoria. To see the way that my people looked at me and to know that I made a difference to them was an honour. — Lionel Rose
I'm going to win it for my country. I'm the first Aboriginal to win this. Isn't that something? I wish my Dad was alive to see it. He'd be as proud as I am. — Lionel Rose
Even today, when an Aboriginal mother notices the first stirrings of speech in her child, she lets it handle the "things" of that particular country: leaves, fruit, insects and so forth. "We give our children guns and computer games," Wendy said. "They gave their children the land." — Bruce Chatwin
Prayers never bring anything... They may bring solace to the sap, the bigot, the ignorant, the aboriginal, and the lazy - but to the enlightened it is the same as asking Santa Claus to bring you something for Xmas — W. C. Fields
The spirit of man is nomad, his blood bedouin, and love is the aboriginal tracker on the faded desert spoor of his lost self; and so I came to live my life not by conscious plan or prearranged design but as someone following the flight of a bird. — Laurens van der Post
For Aboriginal leaders, the social and moral obligation that comes with community leadership is life-long. Those who lead, who have authority, must care for and look after those who come behind. — Patrick Dodson
It's something I've always wanted - to be known as an Australian. When I was younger I was always referred to as an Aboriginal tennis player. Now I think the award means that I have been recognised as an entertainer and that makes me happy... It's given me probably as big a kick as winning Wimbledon. — Evonne Goolagong Cawley
Unfortunately for many Aboriginal people, of course, they've been in the situation of being herded on government reserves. Their own responsibility's been assumed by Protectors of Aborigines and by government officials and if you become part of that system, it's always difficult to break out of it. — Lowitja O'Donoghue
My dad taught me from my youngest childhood memories through these connections with Aboriginal and tribal people that you must always protect people's sacred status, regardless of the pest. — Steve Irwin
Most Australians live in the cities on the east coast, where contact between black and white occurred as much as 200 years earlier than on the west coast - and where 95 percent of Australians are able to live 95 percent of their lives without ever seeing an Aboriginal face. — Phillip Noyce
The adoration of the sun was one of the earliest and most natural forms of religious expression. Complex modern theologies are merely involvements and amplifications of this simple aboriginal belief. — Manly Hall
The children, each of those kids is in touch with nature and traditional aboriginal culture so a very important part of getting performances from them was just letting them be and trying to capture the unique spirituality that was in each of them. — Phillip Noyce
We have copped a lot of ignorant abuse in the past, but it makes you wonder when a former state coroner openly attacks Aboriginal families who have been through hell. — Arthur Murray
My reluctance to enter any relationship with men has been affected by the fact that many Aboriginal men are very wounded and are not able to be in a healthy relationship due to historical damage and with non-Native men because I no longer want to educate them about Indigenous Issues. I'm tired of being the educator or nurse. — Marilyn Dumont
What is important is that I have been able to demonstrate to other women and also to Aboriginal people generally that Aboriginal people are capable of doing these things and women are capable of doing these things and Aboriginal women are capable of doing these things. — Pat O'Shane
The concepts of community and community life, have since the Dreaming, always held special significance for Aboriginal people because both provided the physical, cultural, spiritual and social environments, which supported children, young people, families and the aged. — Ken Wyatt
Culture has lead us to betray our own aboriginal spirit and wholeness, into an ever-worsening realm of synthetic, isolating, impoverishing estrangement. Which is not to say that there are no more everyday pleasures, without which we would loose our humanness. But as our plight deepens, we glimpse how much must be erased for our redemption. — John Zerzan
I won the seat of Oxley largely on an issue that has resulted in me being called a racist. That issue related to my comment that Aboriginals received more benefits than non-Aboriginals. — Pauline Hanson
I find it difficult to say I'm black first and a woman second or vice versa. I can't make that kind of distinction. Amongst Aboriginal women I do my best to raise their consciousness both as women and as Aboriginals. — Pat O'Shane
If you are sitting on the title of any block of land in New South Wales you can bet an Aboriginal person at some stage was dispossessed of it. — Paul Keating
The largely hidden key to the symbolic world is time; indeed it is at the origin of human symbolic activity. Time thus occasions the first alienation, the route away from aboriginal richness and wholeness. — John Zerzan
The families of Aboriginals who have died in custody in NSW will suffer again because of these white lies. — Arthur Murray
So what is the Dreaming? I would say the Dreaming is a non-indigenous term used in its broadest sense to describe the stories of our ancestors and how they shaped the land and how they are still part of the land... Across Aboriginal Australia there are as many different terms for Dreaming as there are language groups — Hetti Perkins
It's an old Aboriginal word meaning 'Let's get together and have fun'. They gave us the word because they had no further need for it. — Barry Humphries
Not one great country can be named, from the polar regions in the north to New Zealand in the south, in which the aborigines do not tattoo themselves. — Charles Darwin
In Conclusion
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