Kulinma : listening to Aboriginal Australians

Abstract

Kulinma means 'keep listening' and that is what this book urges Australians to do if their attitudes towards, and policies for, Aboriginal Australians are to command respect. Dr Coombs's understanding of Aborigines' problems and aspirations has developed over the years when he was Chairman of the Council for Aboriginal Affairs, because he and his colleagues listened patiently and with open minds to what Aborigines have said not only to them and other whites, but to one another. The book is intended as a record of that developing understanding and as an expression of gratitude for the many lessons the author and other members of the council learned in the course of their work among Aborigines. All who are interested in the attempts that have been made in recent years to end the cruelty and indifference that have characterised the attitudes of most white Australians towards Aborigines and to find a basis for mutual respect in the future will find both disappointment and consolation in these pages. Those who know little of the original Australians will learn much.