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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Thomas Mayor

We learnt early that white ghosts can lie. Australians are ready for truth and reckoning

A small boat leaves Horn Island in the Torres Strait.
In the Griffith Review essay, Thomas Mayor writes about the differences in attitudes to land ownership and management between First Nations people and those inherited from British colonialism. Photograph: Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

Ngai gar kulai upasian, ngai kuiku mabaigal matha muiya muingu, nga ka thanumun ya i kulai mulie kie. Ngai gar lak upasian kowa kuiku mabiag einabie lugngu thana ka ngulpun wakai waiyak. Ngai mina kaima eso, Awa Waubin.

(Before I speak, I pay my respects in silence, speaking with my ancestors, acknowledging them. I pay my respects to the Rightful Owners of this land who will give us guidance. I express gratitude to Uncle Waubin for teaching me.)

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