Fiona Katauskas' work has also appeared in ABC's The Drum, New Matilda, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian, The Financial Review and Scribe's Best Australian political cartoon anthologies.
Topic tags: Fiona Katauskas, Malcolm Turnbull, racism, 18c
Unlike many media organisations, Eureka Street doesn't use paywalls. We believe in making the work of our writers as free and accessible as possible.
But there are costs. In particular - and in contrast to many other online publications - we pay our contributors. After all, Eureka Street simply could not exist without the talents, expertise and sheer hard work of our writers and illustrators.
In lieu of paywalls, we rely almost entirely on donations from our readers and organisations that support our endeavours. If you found this article valuable, please consider making a donation. Every little bit helps us in our efforts to bring a distinctive, values-based take on the issues and events that matter in our world.
Freespeechman needs a new script (amongst other things). Pam | 28 March 2017
Interestingly, the word "boong" is the aboriginal word for "white man" in the Eora dialect. The Eora people lived on the south side of Sydney Harbour and when Cook landed, the Aborigines, so some accounts acclaim, stood around in curious groups pointing at the new arrivals saying "boong". The landing parties adopted this name not knowing its meaning to describe the Aborigines. Those Aborigines who understandably don't like to be called boongs are objecting to being called white men. Perhaps to many today, the local dialect has sadly been lost, like so many other Aboriginal dialects. I treated many Eora people during my professional life and an elder told me this. The famous Charles Perkins was also a patient of mine and confirmed the meaning to me. Considering the quality of a lot of white men today it is no wonder the Aborigine's object to being called boongs. john frawley | 29 March 2017
x
Subscribe for more stories like this.
Free sign-up
Fiona Katauskas' work has also appeared in ABC's The Drum, New Matilda, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian, The Financial Review and Scribe's Best Australian political cartoon anthologies.