NEW edition out on Wednesday

By Allan Clarke

In the summer of 2013, I stepped off the plane onto Gomeroi Country in Tamworth, north-east New South Wales. The air was thick with an oppressive dry heat but the man waiting for me had an energy that defied the weather. 

Uncle Don ‘Duck’ Craigie was a wiry, fierce fella originally from the Moree mission. He spoke at a million miles an hour and his words were fuelled by a desperate, burning need to be heard. 

Duck was making a public appeal for any information regarding the mysterious death of his 17-year-old nephew, Mark Haines, back in 1988.

By Lloyd Jones with AAP

A FAMILY is heartbroken after learning two police officers who forcibly restrained a mentally-disabled Aboriginal man will not be prosecuted over his death. 

Kumanjayi White, 24, died in Alice Springs in May 2025 after the plain-clothes officers held him down in a supermarket aisle, sparking national outrage and rallies calling for an independent investigation.

A year after Mr White’s death, Northern Territory Police confirmed on Tuesday that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had provided advice on whether to prosecute the officers.

“The DPP formed the view that there was no reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution,” NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole told reporters in Alice Springs last week.

Mr Dole acknowledged the decision would cause “significant distress, pain, and anger” for Mr White’s family, for many Aboriginal people across Central Australia and the territory, and for the broader community.

By Ali Mc

The First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria recently elected new co-chairs, Meriki Onus and Djaran Murray-Jackson.

The announcement also coincides with the establishment of a new representative body Gellung Warl.

Meaning ‘tip of the spear’ in GunaiKurnai language, Gellung Warl has powers to consult and advise government on decisions which affect First Nations peoples in Victoria. 

Murray-Jackson told the Koori Mail his new role was “big shoes to fill”.

“It’s big shoes to fill with Nagara Murray and Reuben Berg, who delivered the first statewide treaty, and then before them Aunty Geraldine Atkinson and Marcus Stewart who laid the foundations for us to actually negotiate the first treaty,” he said.

“But we’ve noticed each term brings different leadership for the right moment, so we feel we’re up to the task.”

A millenium-old dingo deliberately buried by Barkindji ancestors along the Baaka, or Darling River, is offering rare insight into the depth of relationships between First Nations people and dingoes in western New South Wales.

The dingo appears to have been buried with great care in a purpose‑built midden, which continued to be tended and “fed” with river mussel shells for centuries, suggesting an ongoing relationship between the buried dingo and local people.

This is the first time this “feeding” practice has been observed archaeologically anywhere in the world.

“While Barkindji people have always known about this cultural practice, this discovery is really powerful because it provides new details on the depth of that relationship between Barkindji people and dingoes,” project lead Dr Amy Way said.

By Jillian Mundy

Listening to tales of Eora warriors and culture from the summit of the Sydney Harbour Bridge brings the story of Australia’s largest city into a clearer perspective, even on the drizzliest of days.

Ironically, taking this all in 134 metres above the harbour is a grounding experience.

This is BridgeClimb Sydney’s Burrawa Aboriginal Climb Experience, which is led by knowledgeable Aboriginal guides. From next week it will be run daily.

Aboriginalia is the term created by First Nations artist and curator Tony Albert to describe the kitschy mass-produced objects featuring caricatures of Indigenous peoples and cultural designs widely distributed across Australia in supposedly pre-enlightened times.