Matt Weegberg is a Mutti Mutti, Boon Wurrung and Yorta Yorta man who was born and raised in Melbourne. He is a proud father and is the child of a member of the Stolen Generations.
Matt is a performer, having grown up experiencing culture through his family's dance group and learning didgeridoo/yidaki from a young age. He has performed and toured as part of Melbourne based hip hop, dub and reggae band, New Dub City, and regularly plays at local community events.
He spent time volunteering at Cultural Camps for young people in Out of Home Care in 2018, being a mentor and leader for the young men and women who attended. The experience has inspired him to pursue a change of career in the near future, hoping to mentor and work with young people in his local community.
Deadly Story welcomes Matt as he shares his thoughts on 2019's NAIDOC theme of 'Voice, Treaty, Truth'.
What does it mean for the Aboriginal Community to have a voice in our modern society?
We’ve been oppressed for a long time, so it’s important. We’ve been underrepresented in most things and overrepresented in all the wrong things because of the policies of the past and even of now. And they were designed to silence and destroy us. The effects of colonisation are present every day. Our voice is vital to right the wrongs of the past and of today.
Our voice is vital to right the wrongs of the past and of today
What are your ideas for how the Aboriginal voice in this country can be given a greater platform?
Representation, to have blackfellas more engaged in education and how government and its systems work. To have more Black voices in Parliament. We don’t always believe in the system but it would be good if there were better ways to make sure we have representation and education within community and mainstream community at local, state and federal levels. We could have our own political party (ha ha).
To have more Black voices in parliament
What does treaty mean to you?
To me it means acknowledging that land has been stolen. It is an agreement between two parties over shared land and resources. In theory it would hopefully mean the next generation won’t have to fight as hard, we will have achieved something towards equality. It will hopefully lessen the burden of the younger ones to have to fight for that voice and equal say in our affairs and communities.
It will hopefully lessen the burden of the younger ones to have to fight for that voice and equal say in our affairs and communities
What aspects do you think should be included in the conversation about treaty?
Reparations in the form, not of money necessarily but of things like education, public transport, health, housing and land. The opportunity for Mob to have land back free or at a cost more easily attainable.
I think it would also be good to be able fund more research to retrieve or uncover cultural knowledge and practises that might have been taken away during early colonisation.
Fund more research to retrieve or uncover cultural knowledge and practises
What is a fact or truth about Aboriginal history and current experience that you think should be widely known?
We aren’t just black, we’re all different colours. We all look different, but (for a lot of us) we know who we are. History is also just something people don’t get the truth of. The Stolen Generations as it existed in the past was only really ended two generations ago. This Country’s history is not that long, the effect of past policies is still felt in generations of today. And policies now are not that much better.
We aren’t just black, we’re all different colours
What do you think needs to be done to make these truths known?
You’ve just got to tell people. People need to be told sometimes. People must want to be educated about it all as well. Ignorance is the easy way out of it though, I understand because so much of it is pretty heavy but it’s our Country’s history. People have fought long and hard to keep blackfullas down and keep history a secret but there’s not much excuse because we have access to so much information in this generation.
Ignorance is the easy way out of it though, I understand because so much of it is pretty heavy but it’s our country’s history