Oodgeroo Noonuccal's Poem

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The opinions and attitudes of Indigenous Australians in the 1960s, greatly contrast modern thoughts and beliefs of Indigenous Australians today, as the impact of white colonisation has affected each generation differently. The messages of Oodgeroo Noonuccal’s poems ‘Municipal Gum’ and ‘Colour Bar’, reflect the pessimistic and bitter feelings of Aboriginal people towards white colonials. Until the late 1960s the Australian Constitution denied Indigenous Australians the right to vote, they were classed among flora and fauna and consecutive government programs policies encouraged discrimination and segregation of Indigenous people. It was not until 2008 when Kevin Rudd, on behalf of the Australian Government, officially apologised for the wrongs …show more content…
‘Municipal Gum’ explores the displacement of Aboriginal people and destruction of their land and home. Noonuccal uses the poem’s title ‘Municipal Gum’ as an introduction to an extended metaphor throughout the poem, comparing a gumtree in the city to Aboriginal people, who have been trapped in the hustle and bustle of a man-made white society and excluded from their natural home. Oodgeroo personifies the gumtree throughout the poem to create empathy in the audience and emphasise the suffering Aboriginal people have experienced. In the phrase ‘hard bitumen around your feet’, Oodgeroo links entrapment to a negative human experience making the audience feel slightly uncomfortable, yet sorry for the tree and reflective about this reminder of their erroneous actions. The use of this technique at the beginning of the poem suggests the negative tone of the subject and suggests that the poet is disapproving of the concept. Aboriginal people, like a gumtree in bitumen have been confined to the laws and customs white man and have been denied the right to originality and their culture since European invasion. The poet concludes the poem by posing a rhetorical question, ‘O fellow citizen, What have they done to use?’, asking the reader to reflect on their actions and showing the implications of European settlement on Aboriginal people. The personal
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