60 years old, the Yirrkala Bark Petitions are one of our founding documents – so why don’t we know more about them? - Prof Clare Wright

theconversation.com/friday-es…

There is a new document that flickers from the incendiary embers of the Yirrkala Bark Petitions: the Uluru Statement from the Heart. This document is not a petition so much as an invitation. (Though the Bark Petitions were enticements to healing and mutual understanding too – not a gimmick but a gift to the Australian nation — as all lasting acts of cultural and political diplomacy must be.) &10; &10;Like the petitions, which set out the contours of Yolŋu land ownership, so the the Uluru Statement provides a map too: Voice, Treaty, Truth. Signposts to a new dawn for an old country, an awakening based on consultation, recognition and restorative justice. &10; &10;The Uluru Statement calls for the Australian Constitution to grow a tongue. It is time for us to listen.