Great Aboriginal Dissenters

The editor of the National Indigenous Times has published his list of his top ten Great Dissenters in the past couple of decades of Aboriginal affairs and politics.

I would say yes, yes, yes to nearly all on his list, but I think that Patrick Dodson deserves his own listing up there on my list. I am really impressed to see a woman elder, Marjorie Woodrow, in the number 1 spot, and tend to agree on the basis of what he wrote.

Something I keep wondering at is, again, the absence of any Torres Strait Islanders from the list. Admitedly, the editor specifically identifies the list as his top ten dissenters in Aboriginal politics. But why? Is it because the NIT is Aboriginal centric, and isn't imbued enough with Torres Strait Islander struggle and culture to appreciate their place in history?

Surely this is not for a lack of TI leaders in the past few decades. Why isn't Eddie Mabo in that list?

This only confirms my sense that the Torres Strait Islands and its struggles is still hidden from many of us non-Indigenous in Australia – even if we support the struggles for land rights and self-determination of our Indigenous neighbours.

Does this suggest that it may be similar for mainland, or certainly central and southern/southeastern Aboriginal people?