[Editor: This poem, which is critical of what the author views as the overly-soft treatment of Aborigines in the Northern Territory, was published in The Northern Standard (Darwin, NT), 16 June 1931.]
When the Niggers Own the Land
Rejoice, rejoice, my coloured brothers
For the time is coming fast
When you’ll hunt no more for tucker
As you’ve hunted in the past.
No need for you to chase goannas
Kangaroos or bandicoots;
No need to dive in chilly waters,
After water lily roots.
No more need to freeze in winter
On the deserts and the plains;
You won’t have to sleep in summer
In the driving tropic rains.
For you there will be full and plenty —
No more you’ll feel the hunger pangs;
So throw away your nulla nullas,
Woomeras, spears, and boomerangs.
No doubt you have some grand supporters:
The best I think is Doctor Cook —
Reverend Jarvis without doubt will
On your future write a book.
And the white men’s high officials
Build sea-worthy ships for you,
While they give their white-skinned brothers
Just a worn out, frail canoe.
When misfortunes seas are smashing
All the weaker vessels down,
You will safely ride at anchor
While the white men sink and drown.
And you ask me how I know that
You are on the road to wealth?
If you read the Darwin “Standard”
You will see it for yourself.
Just cast your optics down the columns
Of the “Government Gazettes,”
And you’ll see in half a minute
What every abo. drover gets.
Three quid a week for droving cattle
It’s the wonder of the age
And they will not give the white man
A chance to earn the basic wage.
True this is but a step to fortune,
But the rest is sure to come:
When you’ll swig free beer and whisky
And your nightly tot of rum.
And the day is not far distant
When an ordinance will pass
And you’ll own the cattle stations
And everything that nibbles grass.
Yes! Your lamp of hope is burning —
They keep the wicks both neat and trim —
Daily it is growing brighter,
While the white man’s light grows dim.
Even though white folks are starving
Here’s the news that some one brings
Niggers get free belly lining
At a place called Alice Springs.
If a white man asks for tucker
He gets a hard and bitter look
While they kindly feed the nigger,
In time they’ll even have a cook.
I hear the Pine Creek institution
Known as the old man’s rest,
Is given to our half-bred brothers
Half castes of the very best.
I see that in the rosy future
There’ll be no cause for you to grieve
But we’ll see white children fighting
Over scraps that abos. leave.
And now before I have concluded
Here’s advice I freely give
Starve the white men’s little children
Let the black child thrive and live.
And when at last you own Canberra,
And in your stately mansions dwell,
Give your brainy white skinned leaders
Power to send real whites to hell.
Use mission folks and high officials
Make Doctor Cook Almighty King
And you’ll own earth, hell and heaven
And the pleasures that they bring.
Maranboy. “Binghi.”
Source:
The Northern Standard (Darwin, NT), 16 June 1931, p. 6
Editor’s notes:
In earlier days, the word “nigger” did not have the same stigma as is attached to it in modern times, as it was often used in a context that was not derogatory towards black people (see various early publications that use the word in a non-derogatory context), although it is being used in a negative context in this instance.
abo. = (considered to be derogatory term) an abbreviation of “aboriginal” or “aborigine” (commonly capitalised: “Abo”, meaning “Aboriginal” or “Aborigine”)
Alice Springs = a town in the central-south of the Northern Territory
See: “Alice Springs”, Wikipedia
brainy = clever, intelligent, smart; intellectual
Canberra = the capital city of Australia, located in the Australian Capital Territory; the seat of the Australian federal government; in vernacular usage, the place name “Canberra” can be used to refer to the Australian federal government
See: “Canberra”, Wikipedia
Doctor Cook = Dr. Cecil Evelyn Aufrere (Mick) Cook (1897-1985), medical doctor and public service administrator; he was Chief Medical Officer and Chief Protector of Aborigines in the Northern Territory (1927-1939), and also served in senior medical roles in the public service in Western Australia and Canberra; he was born in Bexhill (Sussex, England) in 1897, came to Australia in 1898, and died in Wahroonga (Sydney, NSW) in 1985
See: 1) Tim Rowse, “Cecil Evelyn (Mick) Cook (1897–1985)”, Australian Dictionary of Biography
2) “Life Summary: Cecil Evelyn Cook”, Australian Dictionary of Biography
3) “Director of health ends long service”, The Canberra Times (Canberra, ACT), 26 September 1962, p. 2
half-bred = (considered to be derogatory term) regarding people of mixed race parentage; the similar term “half-breed” (considered to be derogatory term) is a phrase which refers to people of a mixed race parentage
half caste = (considered to be derogatory term) someone whose parents are of different racial backgrounds; someone of mixed racial descent
mission = (in the context of the early Australia) an Aboriginal mission (an establishment, institution, or settlement, usually run by a church, religious organisation, or government body, which is dedicated to the well-being of Aboriginal people); an establishment run by religious missionaries
nigger = a black person; someone of black African racial background; in an historical Australian context, “nigger” could refer to 1) an Australian Aborigine, 2) a Pacific Islander, also known as a kanaka, 3) someone of black African racial origin, also known as a negro, or 4) someone of black Central Asian racial origin, such as people from India (“nigger” is usually regarded as a derogatory term, except that it was often used as a neutral term in historical practice, and except when used by or between people of a black racial background)
nulla nulla = a wooden club used by Australian Aborigines (also spelt “nullah nullah”; sometimes hyphenated, “nulla-nulla”)
quid = a pound or a dollar; originally “quid” referred to a pound, a unit of British-style currency used in Australia (until it was replaced by the dollar in 1966, when decimal currency was introduced); after the decimalisation of Australia’s currency, it referred to a dollar
Reverend Jarvis = the Rev. Herbert Stanley Jarvis (known as Stanley), a minister of the Methodist Church; he was born in Camberwell (Surrey, England) in 1876, came to Australia as a young man (approximately 19 years old), and died in Kooringa (Burra, SA) in 1933
See: 1) “Tragic accident: Sad death of Rev. Jarvis”, The Burra Record (Kooringa, SA), 22 February 1933, p. 3
2) “Obituary”, The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA), 24 February 1933, p. 20
3) “Minister killed at Burra: Trying to make old shaft safe: Town in gloom”, The Mail (Adelaide, SA), 18 February 1933, p. 2 (Midnight Edition)
4) “Deaths”, The West Australian (Perth, WA), 20 February 1933, p. 1
5) “Burra, South Australia”, Wikipedia
6) “H Stanley Jarvis”, Illuminate (Camden Theological Library, Uniting Church)
Standard = The Northern Standard (Darwin, NT), a newspaper run by the North Australian Workers’ Union
swig = to drink, especially regarding an alcoholic drink (often with the implication of a lot of drink being imbibed in a greedy, hearty, or unrefined manner; to chug, guzzle, or quaff a large amount of drink); to have “a swig” can refer to having a single gulp, large swallow, or mouthful of a drink
tot = a small amount, glass, or measure of a strong alcoholic drink, e.g. of brandy, rum, or whisky (especially rum); a small amount, portion, or quantity of something
tucker = food
woomera = a spear-throwing device used by Australian Aborigines to increase the propulsion of spears, enabling an increased speed and distance for the spears propelled by using the device; Woomera is also the name of a military facility located in South Australia
See: 1) “Woomera (spear-thrower)”, Wikipedia
2) “Woomera, South Australia”, Wikipedia
[Editor: Added a line break before “Maranboy”.]
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