Forbidden History: The Censoring of the Djiringanj



Forbidden History: The Censoring of the Djiringanj

Djiringanj people were massacred, tortured and subjugated like any other Original peoples who have been the focus of racist European colonisation.

Racism is a manifestation of fear, and is an integral part of European colonialism, slavery and western economics. But this short blog isn't about trying to retell the history of racism, its already been critiqued, studied, written about and documentaries produced, such as BBC's The History of Racism. I also recommend Tim Wise's take on racism and white privilege.

This blog is about trying to understand why local Djiringanj history within the Bega Valley is censored. A history told within living memory and oral stories handed down from our Elders. A narrative from local Djiringanj voices who are at the receiving end of colonial charged fear and paranoia. The Djiringanj have intimate layers of history.There's a layer that tells the story of the confrontation with colonial power, and this story reveals the very inner sanctum of fear and racism.

These stories are important to the social fabric of our community, they give balance to an unbalanced reality that our society is built upon. But what I've found upon this journey, of revisiting our past, and the will to retell it, is not only a powerful story of resistance against imperial violence Djiringanj people have endured, but a very ominous barrier of fear, denial and avoidance that manifests itself through censorship.

Censoring of the Djiringanj people is nothing more than the continuation of colonial imperialism. It serves to protect the false colonial narrative of Australian "settler" society being founded upon "nobody's land", aka Terra Nullius. It's also a censoring of our collective spirit, that traps us within a psychological mind game with no way to escape. Truth is the only key to the way out.
"oh I don't care if your upset, I couldn't care less if your upset. You see, if you don't change the truth, and your hurt feelings are no excuse, to keep me in this box, psychological locks, repressing true expression, cementing this repression, promoting mass deception, so that no one can be healed" Lauryn Hill 
The story of the Djiringanj holds much healing power within it. It holds vital truths that allows us to collectively understand our fears, and inevitably our shared spiritual journey. And this journey should not be controlled by these fears. Healing is only possible once we confront, and reconcile with, our inner most fears.

And the fear that holds Australia within its clutches, is the truth of horrendous crimes against first peoples. Massacres, torture, incarceration and cruel inhumane assimilation programs are a real part of Australia's history. But this history has become an embarrassment to the constructed Australian narrative. Leaving Djiringanj people to bare this history, to be forever silent and forbidden to speak about it in public.

Whilst the Djiringanj live through the legacy of colonisation, and suffer the pain of its open wound, that's unable to heal, Australia continues on its journey. A journey to where? Oblivious, and willfully in denial, to the destruction being left in its wake. This isn't about blame, and it isn't about guilt. It's about acknowledging the truth, it's about healing ,and it's about our collective belonging. How can we know and understand our present, if we don't understand our past?




"As above, so below. The censoring of the Djiringanj is only a silencing of our universal voice and spirit." D.Dixon

This blog site is a representation of liberation. To be able to write and express thoughts, feelings and perspectives without censorship is part of our universal healing. There's nothing to fear!

D. Dixon
22/08/2017



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