For my last blog I decided to go back to our first topic ‘Indigenous Australia’ and create a question that allowed me to analyse the writing from this time with great depth. Both Eliza Dunlop and Judith Wright wrote poetry that sympathises with the Aboriginal people and advocated their rights, despite being of European descent. I think this is a pivotal detail to note as it amplifies the need to overcome racial differences and support all people which is still a concept that needs further development in our modern society.

Eliza Dunlop’s poem ‘The Aboriginal Mother’ (1838) was written as a protest against the Myall Creek Massacre, thus making Dunlop one of the first Europeans to defend Aboriginal rights and appreciate their culture. This poem is a dramatic monologue of an Aboriginal mother trying to protect her child from the violence that Aboriginal people suffered due to the massacre, evoking an emotive response from readers as maternal instincts transcend cultural differences. This is made evident through, “now, hush thee – or the pale-faced men will hear thy piercing wail, and what would then thy mother’s tears or feeble strength avail!”. The exclamation highlights the persona’s desperation to hide from ‘pale-faced’ English men. Her maternal impulse to protect her child emphasises her humanity in order to condemn the mistreatment of Aboriginal people who are as equally human as white men. Another example of this that really resonated with me is the line “to bring thy people’s murder cry before the Christian’s God”. The religious allusion questions the morality of white people’s actions which do not align with their apparent religious beliefs. This critique of one’s morality is still crucial today as we continue to strive for justice and equality in a damaged society.

Dunlop’s empathy with the experiences of Aboriginal people is mirrored in Wright’s poem ‘Rockace’ through her acclaimed quote; “the mountain has its own meaning”. To me this line means that the mountain, symbolic of Aboriginal culture, obtains a quality that is valuable and should be preserved. This teaching is relevant today as discrimination, although to a lesser extent, still exists. Therefore, we need to allow for all cultures to co-exist, and to respect our differences rather than destroy another’s culture, metaphorically conveyed by Wright saying she does not want to “chisel things into new shapes”.

Overall, these two poets motivated me to seek change in our society that remains flawed. They both use the same context to establish a similar teaching about empathising with others and supporting cultural differences which is a concept that I believe needs to be reinvigorated.