'English First' policies and
the uncomfortable waning of empire

* “The English Language Bill demonstrated that New Zealand First was "trying to appeal to a racist fringe". Professor O'Sullivan >
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-05/new-zealand-first-pushes-to-make-english-an-official-language/106410158

* "The English-only movement...is a political movement that advocates for the exclusive use of the English language in official United States government communication through the establishment of English as the only official language in the United States." >
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-only_movement

* “Australia is home to over 250 distinct Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, comprising around 800 dialects, which are deeply connected to specific land, culture, and identity.” >
https://www.alt.nsw.gov.au/learn/nsw-aboriginal-languages-information

* 'Scarily diverse' people from First Nations or from a culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
https://theconversation.com/a-shadow-on-your-art-how-do-first-nations-and-culturally-diverse-authors-feel-about-representation-275446

* "Monolingualism or unilingualism, is the condition of being able to speak only a single language." >
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monolingualism

#EnglishLanguage #EnglishFirst #language #LanguagePolicies #monolingualism #MonolingualMindset #diverse #polyglots #MultilingualPeople #NormativeMonolingualism #ForcedAssimilation #settlersociety #Anglophones #FirstNationsPeoples #Gumbaynggirr

Logging NSW mid-north coast biodiversity in the plantationocene ( The Great Koala National Park )

'The NSW government has imposed a temporary moratorium on timber harvesting within the boundary from Monday, but harvesting in plantations will continue."

"Koalas on track to be extinct in the wild across NSW by 2050."
>>
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-07/great-koala-national-park-to-go-ahead-on-nsw-mid-north-coast/105743430
#biodiversity #Plantationocene #TheGreatKoalaNationalPark #MidNorthCoast #LoggingImpacts #FCNSW #koalas #gliders #Gumbaynggirr #Dunghutti #NSWLogging #GaggingSci #plantations

Developing Coffs Harbour foreshore will amount to a ‘desecration of the land’, traditional owners say

"We need to have cultural spaces preserved, and no one is listening."
>>
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/aug/10/coffs-harbour-foreshore-development-traditional-owners
#CoffsHarbour #NSW #MidNorthCoast #coast #sprawl #JettyForeshore #Gumbaynggirr #IndigenousPeoples #consultation

while couped up in a forest of lovely Ferns, Trees, and comfortable humans, my friend from Gadigal country, @xtaffy, shared their pack of conversation/reflection cards by talented #Gumbaynggirr activist, artist & comedian #ArethaBrown.

inviting indiv/groups to participate, each card asks questions relating to #FirstNations allyship & invites deep reflection on the often colonial life experiences of each individual.

highly recc, esp w those in need of a healthy dose of radicalisation!

Girrwaa Duguula - teach language through song.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-19/choir-sings-in-gumbaynggirr-reviving-ancient-indigenous-language/104795492

( Gumbaynggirr country between #Nambucca Heads to #Grafton in New South Wales. )

#FirstNations #Gumbaynggirr #Choirs #Singing

The No More: National Rally Against Violence Sunday 28 April

Sunday 28th April

- Naarm/Melbourne: 10am, State Library to Federation Square
- Dja Dja Wurrung/Bendigo: 11am, Rosalind Park
- Djilang/Geelong: 11am at Market Square Mall
- Gumbaynggirr/Coffs Harbour: 11am, Coffs Jetty Foreshore
- Boorloo/Perth: 12pm, Forrest Pl to Parliament House
- Gubbi Gubbi/Sunshine Coast: 11am, Foundation Square to Cotton Tree
Park
- Meeanjin/Brisbane: 11am, King George Square
- Ngunnawal/Canberra: 2pm, Commonwealth Park to Parliament
House
- Wiradjuri / Orange: 2:30pm @ Robertson Parkn

#VAW #MaleViolence #auspol #Brisbane #meeanjin #Wiradjuri #Orange #Canberra #Ngunnawal #CottonTree #SunshineCoast #Melbourne #Bendigo #Geelong #CoffsHarbour #Perth #Wiradjuri #GubbiGubbi #Boorloo #Gumbaynggirr #Djilang #DjaDjaWurrung #Naarm

https://www.refinery29.com/en-au/2024/04/11711690/no-more-national-rally-against-violence-dates-information

Glossy black cockatoos have a highly specialised diet, feeding almost exclusively on the seeds of she-oaks. (Supplied: Alex Pike)

image0.jpeg

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-03/rare-glossy-black-cockatoo-nests-found-in-northern-nsw/102795868

#birdsofmastodon
#glossysquad
#Gumbaynggirr, #Bundjalung #Yaegl

When they came and took the forest away... there was a civil uprising.
Pt 1/2

Timber thieves operated in a small town in Mexico. Cherán is a town of some 20,000 inhabitants in the highlands of Michoacán.
"One estimate states that about half of the area's 17,000 hectares of forest have been lost to illegal logging..."about fifty thousand acres of forest were illegally cut between 2008 and 2011," and 200–250 logging trucks a day passed through the town."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cher%C3%A1n

Reclaiming the Forests and the Right to Feel Safe
"Crime, raging violence, corrupt politicians, a toothless justice system had the Indigenous community in a stranglehold. In 2011, the women of Cherán led a revolt against illegal logging and corruption. Today, the forests are coming back, and the Indigenous community is returning to its roots."
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/cheran-mexico

The Mexican Town That Kicked Out Politicians And Started Over
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrPBdLiqMb0

The Cherán Indigenous Community’s Remarkable Road to Self-rule
"After turning to self-government to fight illegal logging by narco-traffickers, a small town in Mexico is celebrating 4 years of communal decision-making."
https://ourworld.unu.edu/en/the-cheran-indigenous-communitys-remarkable-road-to-self-rule-in-mexico

Pt. 2
https://mastodon.au/@Bellingen/110948624647555754
#Forests #biodiversity #trees #water #Cherán #IndigenousPeoples #uprising #Logging #violence #trucks #cartels #corruption #IndigenousSelfRule #SelfDetermination #DecisionMaking #SocialMedia #protests #democracy #activism #resistance #PoliticalParticipation #fightback #NewryStateForest #NSWLogging #Gumbaynggirr

When they came and took the forest away... there was a civil uprising.
Pt.2/2

Cherán. 5 years of self-government in an indigenous community in Mexico
"Ordinary people decided to confront the criminal organizations that came down from the hill with several vans loaded with wood. That was the beginning. Its experience has inspired indigenous communities throughout Mexico, who seek respect for their rights, territory, institutions and culture."
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/cher-n-5-years-of-self-government-in-indi/

“Reclaiming the Forests and the Right to Feel Safe.” The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/03/world/americas/in-mexico-reclaiming-the-forests-and-the-right-to-feel-safe.html

Images: Confronting the cartel: Ritual Inhabitual depict a community’s fightback against corruption in Mexico
https://www.1854.photography/2023/07/ritual-inhabitual-ones-to-watch/

Can satellite imagery fight illegal logging in Mexico?
Between 2006 and 2012, researchers estimate that about 70 percent of Cheran’s forests were ravaged by organised criminals as locals staged protests to denounce police inaction.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/26/can-satellite-imagery-fight-illegal-logging-in-mexico

Pt. 1
https://mastodon.au/@Bellingen/110948628395660370

#Forests #biodiversity #trees #water #Cherán #IndigenousPeoples #uprising #Logging #violence #trucks #cartels #corruption #IndigenousSelfRule #SelfDetermination #DecisionMaking #SocialMedia #protests #democracy #activism #resistance #PoliticalParticipation #fightback #NewryStateForest #SaveTuckersNob #NSWLogging #Gumbaynggirr