Tribal Birth

by Margaret Armstrong, Ipswich, Queensland

You came to our land and took it Devastation to our people you knew it You thought that by putting us away We should be here to obey Your every command and demand You had the right to disband You didn't once try to see That we are a special race put here By our almighty one and Mother Earth Who gave each of us our tribal birth Aboriginal Australia has a myth of its own Our Land Our Culture Our Mother Home Let us once more be in peace Do not let this discrimination increase Each one of us put on this earth All have Our Rights Our Land Our Tribal Birth.

Exercises

• Which issues of Aboriginal culture does this poem refer to?
• Who is the 'almighty one'?