Person: Uncle BJ Cruse
BJ (Benjamin) Cruse is a Monaroo and Yuin Elder. BJ has been politically active since 1966 and is the chairperson of the Eden Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC) for 41 years. BJ is passionate about reparations and recompense and caring for Country and Mother Earth. Through his activism BJ has been invited multiple times to speak at the United Nations about the Australian Government’s breach of human rights and has published works as a writer for IndigenousX, The Network for Business Sustainability and Overland Literary Journal.
Missions and Reserves
BJ Cruse talks about the difference between missions and reserves and the role religion played….
Policy Change
BJ Cruse talks about past government policies that led to the mistreatment of Aboriginal Peoples….
Citizen’s Rights
BJ Cruse shares the history of citizen rights for Aboriginal People in Australia and the 1967 Referendum….
The Fall of the Damper
BJ Cruse shares the story of ‘The Fall of the Damper’ and the methods of storytelling and oral history used by Yuin Peoples….
Dreaming and Dreamtime
BJ Cruse explains the difference between ‘Dreaming’ and ‘The Dreamtime’….
The History of Aboriginal Week
BJ Cruse talks about the history of Aboriginal Week, the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association (AAPA) and how Aboriginal Week changed to NAIDOC Week….
