Australia apologizes to Aborigines

Today Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd offered an historic apology to Australia's Aboriginal community on behalf of the Australian government. [ pdf text | podcast ]. The apology focuses on the so-called "Stolen Generation," those people forcibly removed as children from their families in a long-standing government policy of assimilation which was not abolished until the late 1960s. The apology is largely symbolic and offers nothing in the way of monetary compensation. Nor does the apology refer directly to language, although clearly the removal policy and associated focus on assimilation has had a devastating effect on Australia's Aboriginal languages. Of the estimated 250 or so languages which were spoken at the time of White settlement, at least 10% are now extinct, and few have more than a handful of remaining speakers. Rudd's apology will do little to strengthen Aboriginal languages. Nevertheless, it is notable that a similar Resolution of Apology to the Native Peoples has never made much progress through the United States legislature. With the recent demise of Eyak, perhaps it is time for Alaskans to reflect on past injustices.