Did British use Cromwell model in Australia? 111 1 11 1 1 1111 1111 1 I , ' I 1 II HAI 01 What does it mean tn h Iriqh AiitrIin2 share similar cultural characteristics Yorta Yorta elder and and traits that spring from their com- parative connections with the land and their shared experiences of colonisa- Guinness descendant tion. Perhaps the most significant of these is the ability to be able to stand outside of oneself in trying times and to take a trip to Ireland be able to make a joke about one's A recent trip to Ireland by Dr Wayne sound more like a folk tale than a nar- predicament whatever it may be. A Atkinson, one of the principal rative about a relationship that would good old hearty laugh and a capacity to claimants in the historic Yorta Yorta have a lasting impact on my future see the funny side of things that other- Native Title case, and his partner, directions in life. wise may seem rather obscure to those Cathy Guinness, a descendant of People may ask how come a young outside the circle are characteristics the founder of the legendry Koori became soul mates with two Irish that are the essence of an Indigenous- fellas whose names and lineages are Irish connection. Guinness brewery, has opened up Whether these are natural attributes new angles on Irish-Indigenous more commonly associated with, coun- ties Wicklow, Wexford, Dublin and or have evolved from a common expe- relations. rience is academic, but on the whole Wayne Atkinson is an elder of the Down in Ireland, rather than with a town nestled on the banks of the Murray they are undeniably common and Yorta Yorta people and lecturer in and Campaspe rivers. indeed formidable traits. A mistrust of political science at the University of officialdom, a suspicion of govern- Melbourne. From March to May this Growing up with ment-driven policies, and a dislike for year he visited Ireland including Malone and O'Toole what has become a discourse of put- Dublin, Galway, Cork, Dingle, Sligo I went to school with Paddy Malone, down cultural language are other attrib- and Belfast. and later Simon O'Toole who migrated utes that give rise to a commonality of Both Wayne and Cathy have writ- to Australia from Dublin with his fami- shared experience. ten reflections on their visit. First, ly and settled in Echuca in the 1960s. Connections with land and the rela- Wayne Atkinson outlines the back- Paddy and Simon were to become close tionship between land and identity bear ground to their trip. mates and companions in a relationship witness to an Indigenous-Irish connec- that transcend many social and cultural tion. Notions of individual land owner- This story about the Irish connection boundaries. ship and property rights were imported begins with my personal journey as a If one's back was against the wall, as into Ireland and Australia by the Koori lad growing up in Echuca in it often is for Kooris growing up in British. The closer knit tribal groupings north-central Victoria, a town perhaps regional Australia, you could always of kinship, communal ownership and a better known for its paddle steamers count on Simon and Paddy to be there spiritual as well as economic relation- and the popular TV series, All The shoulder to shoulder with you. ship with the land is known to have cul- Rivers Run. There a relationship with This was an important chapter in my tivated the rich Indigenous and Irish two Irish mates by the names of Paddy Irish-Indigenous connection and one oral traditions that have been and con- Malone and Simon O'Toole began. that laid the foundations for other sig- tinue to be transmitted over the millen- When the occasion arises for me to nificant journeys. I must also acknowl- nia. It has been through the process of tell this story, as it often does, it may edge here in respect of the O'Toole story, song, dance and art that a unify- family, that Simon has since been ing force has been created. called back to his dreaming. His mem- Indigenous music and Irish music limearil7) 1:7 ory certainly lingers on in old Echuca. have become both an expression of cul- Another Irish-Indigenous connection ture as well as a tool of individual and left an indelible impression on me: the community empowerment. From the names of some of my other school 'Fields of Athenry' to a call by popular mates, names like Kellys, Lynches, Indigenous songwriter and artist Lou O'Neills, O'Connors, O'Reillys, Bennett, to 'Knock Dovo the walls that Ahearns, Barrys and O'Briens. I have Divide Us', are songs of humanity that r , kr; since discovered that these names spring from the heart and the soul of would ring loud and clear across the Indigenous and Irish artists. length and breadth of Ireland. At present, with opportunities to An occasional visit to a cemetery or a express more freely the diversity of local history centre in Ireland gives you Indigenous culture and traditions in an immediate sense of a common set of Australia, we have witnessed a flower- names and a sort of melancholic feeling ing of Indigenous artists, writers and of being in Ireland and at home in performers of national and internation- Echuca at the same time. al acclaim. Indigenous with Land rights in Ireland Irish surnames and Australia In many Indigenous communities in The recognition of land rights in the Riverine and Murray region one Ireland by the British under the import- does not have to delve too deep to find ed common law opens up another con- an Irish ring in the names of families nection. The famous 1608 Case of today like the Kellys, Morgans, Pattes, Tanistry provided a legal precedent for Wayne Atkinson at Trinity College Wal shes, Petti ts, Rigneys and the way Indigenous lands were to be Dublin: his boyhood in Echuca laid O'Laughlins. treated by the British when they colo- foundations for a later journey Indeed, Indigenous and Irish people nized other countries during the heyday 20 Thin Sept-Nov 2006 200,000 square kilometers Yorta Yorta have KEY Yorta Yorta Territory { made 17 attempts state border Jerilderie • • key sites at compensation • town/city The Yorta Yorta Aboriginal Community consists of more than Dentliquin 4,000 people. On 12 December NEW SC 10 Hi WALES 2002, the High Court rejected their native title claim. Their claim covers Moira-Millewa Fores Mathoura • , some 2,000 square kilometres of , Howlong crown land from New South Wales • Barmah Forest • 'ril amp Cobram - /?iver • and Victoria in the mid-Murray Kow Sw" Torrumbarry Weir ..,--,_,,,, • Barmah • . region. The Yorta Yorta call the river Yarrawonga • Gunbower tsland Nathalia ----L.....,-,_Broken c; (-I . Dhungula. Their present claim is for Baroona A • r.., ' A McCoy's Bridge UN k some one-tenth of their original '',. Echuca 4 1-/hurn k VICTORIA A Loch Garry , native title land. .,.. ---■. ' 1. , : "The Yorta Yorta people occupied ' - • tGemmill's Swamp Wangaratt a , , Kyabra rn --., Rochester • ,-„ • Shepparton a unique stretch of territory located Glenrowan ,, ',.. Mooroopna t Bonds Bend in what is now known as the Murray- , ) Lake Atkoan ,, cA Daunts Bend Benalta • , -- ,...- Goulburn region. Their lifestyle was ,--` Rushworth.\ 7 ,./ ,- based on hunting, fishing and col- • Murchison A .. , lecting food. However, being river people, most of their time was occu- 'kkk ,k - '''' • Euroa pied by fishing as the majority of food was provided from the network of colonisation and land appropriation: Our free entry to the Guinness brew- of rivers, lagoons, creeks and lakes that conquered peoples' preexisting ery courtesy of Cath's connections with which were and are still regarded as rights and interests in land continued her ancestor Arthur and a couple of free the life source of the Yorta Yorta was the rule that became part of the pints at the end of our visit were most people. The annual floods that occur common law of the time. The rule rewarding. My friends Simon O'Toole in this region are regarded by Yorta applied in this famous case went to the and Paddy Malone were not wrong Yorta people as necessary for the heart of the historic Mabo decision, when they used to tell me in most replenishment of food sources and 1992. The Tanistry case was cited in graphic detail that the only way to the survival of the forest," writes both Mabo and Yorta Yorta, 1998 and enjoy a Guinness at its best was to Wayne Atkinson (see Yorta Yorta was used by Australian legal teams to drink it in Ireland. website). support Indigenous claimants' struggles Not to suggest that our coming "The original territory was both for land justice under the Australian together in Adelaide was all about that rich and abundant in natural food native title law following the Mabo case. part of the famous Guinness connection sources. Archaeologists refer to this The legal discourse and the contrasts but it is a name, as any traveller to type of environment as a broad-based between Indigenous and Irish occupa- Ireland will find, that has become syn- economy which is capable of produc- tion and land law go beyond the scope onymous with Ireland and one that is ing a wide range and variety of food. of this article but the essential connec- steeped in rich Irish history and tradi- Edward Curr, one of the first white tion between Irish and Indigenous land tion. Cathy will enjoy elaborating more intruders to have contact with the relations and their struggle to hold on to on this side of the story.