Welcome to Our Land Council Our Mob Our Future: August 2014

Our Land Council, Our Mob, Our Future is a website and e-news that  links culture, identity and Land Rights in one deadly email coming direct to your inbox every month from the NSW Aboriginal Land Council.

It’s new and it’s for everyone – Land Council members, Aboriginal mob in NSW and all our supporters wherever you are.

The reality is we all now get more of our news online. And that’s only going to increase. While the Koori grapevine will never die it’s now got lots of online help from Facebook, Twitter and blackfella online networks like Community of Excellence.

The e-news is more than just another newsletter in your inbox. Each monthly email opens a new window into Land Rights in NSW. You’ll see what’s happening in different areas around the state, what’s working for our mobs and how our LALCs are making it happen.

And for every story, there’s more on our new website at ourmob.org.au.

There you’ll see more stories, more video, more images. A print version of Our Land Council, Our Mob, Our Future will be sent to Land Council offices and other Aboriginal organisations so you can check it out in print as well.

Your link to Land Rights is Our Land Council, Our Mob, Our Future.

Share this email with your mob and get them to subscribe at ourmob.org.au

Our Mob: NSWALC
Chair Craig Cromelin

"Our vision is on the here and now and looking further down the road for future generations. It’s about how we utilise our resources to take full advantage. Not just our dollar resources, not just land, but our most precious resources, Our Land Council, Our Mob for Our Future."

Read his full article here.

Watch the video here.

 
Deputy Chair Roy Ah-See

"Through my family I could see the value of Land Councils. I could see it was the only place that expressed our communities’ aspirations and where the mob came together. A lot of people still don't understand the power of the Act and what it can deliver."

Read his full article here.

Watch the video here.
CEO Les Turner

"My focus for the past six months has been on making NSWALC stronger by good governance, better communications (inside the organisation and with all our stakeholders), and getting on with business."

Read his full article here.

Watch the video here.

Our Land Councils
Tamworth LALC Leads Unity

The strength and vision of the Tamworth Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC) has inspired growth and confidence in the community.

Watch the Tamworth LALC video here.

See the full story here.
Youth to Lead LaPa

The La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC) is one of the founding LALCs in NSW. It has a strong focus on the next generation of leaders.

Watch the La Perouse LALC video here.

See the full story here.

Our Mob: Jarred Menz, Growing up with Land Rights

Jarred Menz is a Barkindji Wilyakali man from Broken Hill. He is Deputy Chair of the Broken Hill Local Aboriginal Land Council and proud team member of the Menindee Wedge-tailed Eagles Rugby team.

I’ve always been taught to fight for what’s right. I was reared up within the Land Council and Land Rights. Our family, we were at the Mutawintji blockade and the hand back and the recent anniversary.

Read Jarred's story here.

 

Feature: The Significance of Land

In the Aboriginal worldview we often say that we’re part of the land and the land is part of us. It can’t be one or the other.Whether its red dirt, Mallee scrub, golden beaches or arid plains, land has a different meaning – but one story. Without it, our mob gets sick.

The loss of land means much more than a loss of livelihood. It has a social impact. It affects traditional law, identity, culture and the stories of our ancestors. Alcoholism, crime and family dysfunction are widely accepted as secondary symptoms of dispossession. On top of this is economic impoverishment.

Combine these factors and this is why Land Rights remain at the heart of Aboriginal rights. To reclaim land is to reclaim what was ours and establish our place in society. It’s also about creating a sustainable livelihood and a wealth base. Our future lies in our land.

To read the full story about Land Rights in NSW click here.