When Oodgeroo of the Noonuccal stood on the steps of parliament in Canberra on the 27th of March 1970 and read her poem “Dreamtime,” she meant to inspire and to set an example of action for her people. She portrayed the anguish and affliction of Indigenous Australians when their land was stolen and their culture ruined by white society. She fulfilled her position as a political activist by addressing the issues they faced and by confronting the white people. She tried to drive the Aboriginal people into doing something about the injustice they had suffered by going to the “invaders talk-talk place” (Dreamtime, Line 1) and setting an example by facing white society about what they’d done.
The poem “We Are Going” displays a strong theme of invasion and with that, the destruction of Aboriginal culture. Oodgeroo of the Noonuccal, through her poem, portrays the desolation of the indigenous people’s once sacred land. The poem explains that “The bora ring is gone...the corroboree is gone...the shrubs are gone, the hunting and the laughter...” (We Are Going, Lines 17, 19 and 20). The sacred lands, the tribal ceremonies and the elder’s laws don’t mean much to many aboriginals at present, the people no longer have connections to the land and no longer respect the old ways. The author depicts that their culture and beliefs were destroyed and that the incursion of the white society was to blame. Great injustice was done by displacing the aboriginals from their homes and showing no respect for their beliefs as to, for example, agree that “Rubbish may be tipped here” (We Are Going, Line 6) upon the indigenous’ bora grounds. Oodgeroo of the Noonuccal exhibits longing for the old ways of her people and searches for a way in which aboriginal culture can exist within white society.
Within the poem “Dreamtime” it addresses the massacre of the aboriginal people due to the white invasion and it explores the chance in which white people may redeem themselves for that injustice. Oodgeroo of the Noonuccal uses vivid imagery in her poem in which to portray the violence and brutality the white people resorted to in order to conquer aboriginal lands “When the invaders spilt our blood” (Dreamtime, Line 14). Even today, with what the aboriginals have been exposed to, like alcohol, their race is slowly dying “When our race dies, so too, dies the land” (Dreamtime, Line 18). The author blames white society for what her people have been exposed to and seeks an explanation and an apology for her people for what was done and displays resentment and anger against white man. With the line “Lead us on to the happy life which once was ours”, Oodgeroo of the Noonuccal shows the clear heartbreak and suffering that the Indigenous Australians were put through due to white man’s invasions which lead to so many aboriginal deaths.
Oodgeroo of the Noonuccal tribe demonstrates her role as a political activist for the indigenous community by exploring the idea that white people are invaders on their land. When she faced Parliament, she was setting an example, not only one of action, but one of action without violence. She used her poem to convey the heartbreak and agony that her race suffered and she sought for white society to redeem itself. The poem “We Are Going” described a culture which had been ruined. All the aboriginals’ traditions and sacred places were disrespected and because of this, they slowly disappeared. The invasion of the white man drove the aboriginals away from these places and away from their traditions and for that, the poem describes that white people are to blame for the destruction of Indigenous culture. Many aboriginal lives were taken during the invasion of the white man. The poem “Dreamtime” describes the pain and misery of the aboriginal race as they were slaughtered by white people and it expresses the pain people feel now for themselves and for the people generations ago.
