Miriam Margolyes - Australia

So Miriam is an Australian having taken citizenship. Like many countries mistakes were made by the British colonisers. There are no Aborigines left in what was Van Diemen’s Land , now Tasmania. I listened to her long book despite her potty mouth and enjoyed it. However, I get the impression that she often talks about subjects where “ a little knowledge is a dangerous thing” I went to uni in very British Adelaide ( grows some of the best wines in the world in the Barossa Valley not many miles from Adelaide) where is is not very British. Now I do know of what I speak. From early 1957 until the end of 1959 I lived on an Aboriginal settlement.We were
called Welfare officers but we were really teachers. Look up Areyonga which is where we served. It was well over 100 miles from Hermannsberg Mission and double that to Alice Springs. I want you to know that Australia mended it’s ways. It spends a lot of money on Aboriginal welfare. My son who was born in 1954 visited Areyonga this year and things had changed drastically. He tracked down some young girls who remembered the 1950s. Just know that Aborigines do get opportunities these days. I would think Miriam became Australian because her long term partner is from Australia. Seeing other travel programmes starring this indomitable woman she is making sure they are financially comfortable the older they become. My understanding is that she still lives in London. I may have lived in Australia for years but never consider myself Australian but I do know they are straight talking people and their attitude towards those who winge is to tell them they can always leave the country. British Colonisers made the mistakes but not today’s Australians.

There are no Aborigines left in what was Van Diemen’s Land , now Tasmania.

There are. Maybe you should watch the program. You might learn something.

Volver i do not need to tske advice from a TV programme about Aborigines in Tasmania as i have more authoritative contacts than a money making programme starring Ms Margolyes.

That's nice.

I guess the aborigines she interviewed in Tassie about how they had been sidelined by the government, they were just "plants" then.

she is certainly a divisive figure

In 1876 the last full- blooded Tasmanian aboriginal princess called Truganini died, the rest of her people having been either killed by the settlers or dying from the diseases they brought with them. When we lived out there for several months we stayed in the North West tip of the island, on land owned by a splendid man called Joe. Joe was part of a farming family, but decided to donate his land to the legacy of the Tasmanian Aborigines. The shore line was littered with old middens and evidences of where they had lived. Joe was good friends with the people who had some original people's blood, mostly crossed with the sealers who came to the land. We met these folk too and not surprisingly they were very passionate about their history. The Margoyles programme seemed very superficial and was also disappointingly lacking in showing any of the beauty of Tasmania, with pristine wilderness and incredible landscapes, along with the poverty that exists in some communities there. DH taught in one of the privileged schools whilst we were out there and we certainly saw a mix of people and circumstances.

The death in 1876 of Truganini, a Tasmanian Aboriginal woman who had aided the resettlement on Flinders Island, gave rise to the widely propagated myth that the Aboriginal people of Tasmania had become extinct.

www.britannica.com/topic/Tasmanian-Aboriginal-people

Its reassuring to think that aborigines aren't around any more so European settlers have nothing to worry about, there's nothing they can do. If people think they are having lots of money spent on them and they have all the same opportunities as everyone else, that's very comforting.

The truth can be a bit different.

volver Does it ever occur to you that you don't know everything or ... shock horror ... you may be wrong?

No, I don't know everything. But if I do know something and if somebody else thinks they know better, I feel its my public duty to educate them... 🤣

(joke folks, joke)

I think she comes across as a kind woman and, although I think she is quite coarse sometimes, I like her.

The trouble with people who think they know everything is that they spoil it for those of us who do...

I only actually watched her on youtube a few weeks ago, as I hadn't ever watched anything.

I watched her on the Graham Norton show.

She was a bit on the edge of outrageous a couple of times, but I found her quite sweet and kindly.

Good actress, tho haven't seen her in much. Vulgar language bores me. I just stop listening.

Volver, not sure if you think you are contradicting me? The guys we spent evenings with knew their history and all related content inside out. They disputed the demise of the Tassie Aborigines (as they were called then), but it was accepted that the 'pure blood' line had been killed by the arrival of the 'settlers'. Joe was very committed to trying to right a few of the wrongs. He and his wife and sons, young when we knew them, supported him in his quest to preserve the land as it had been. He stopped FWDs tearing up the coast and destroying important sites. He was a man of honour and the Tasmanian Aboriginal people knew that and appreciated his huge efforts. The abalone cooked by them (but not, unfortunately Joe 🤣) were amazing. His were good for soling your shoes but little else.

I'm not sure if I was or not Anneeba! I was just adding to the conversation about the erroneous belief that there were no aborigines in Tassie. Sorry if it came across badly.

But Volver Aneeba gives a very accurate account of what happened and as you have never visited with the people of Tasmania i think you are extremely rude in the way you address those who obviously have more experience than you about this subject. I would never give opinions about Scottish history because my knowledge is negligible but you seem rather dismissive of another person’s knowledge, even though Aneeba gave an accurate account. I must thank her for her post.

I learnt quite a lot about it when I lived in Australia.

And there are still aboriginal people in Australia. Which is a fact, whether we lived there or not.

Sorry, not Australia. Obviously there are aboriginal people in Australia... 😕

I meant Tasmania.

I used to like her until I read her recent book. She really is not a very nice person. The book is full of her sexual antics, and hoe many people she really hates!

Aneeba yes, I understood most of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania had been wiped out by the arrival of the British either were killed or died from diseases that the British brought with them.
The present-day Tasmanian Aboriginal people are descendants of native Tasmanian women and white settlers.

That story was particularly shocking but it is only one small part of Tasmanian history.

www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/war-worlds

How many Australians born in the 137 years since Truganini's death learnt her legend and scarcely thought deeper about the enormity of the loss she represented, and the history that led to it? Her spirit casts a long shadow over Australian history, but we have nearly all of us found a way to avert our eyes from its meaning

In The War of the Worlds, Noel Pearson considers the most confronting issue of Australian history: the question of genocide, in early Tasmania and elsewhere

www.abc.net.au/local/audio/2011/02/10/3135481.htm

Truganini (also known as Trugernanner, Trucaminni, Trucanini and Lalla Rooke to list just a few various of her name) is widely referred to as the 'last Tasmanian Aboriginal', because she is the last known full-blooded Aboriginal person to die in Tasmania, but she played a much more important role in our state's history

Miriam made us aware of one horrific story but did not explore very deeply.

She is exploring the Aussie ideal of "A Fair Go" and how it applies now.

MissAdventure

The trouble with people who think they know everything is that they spoil it for those of us who do...

😂😂😂

#MrsAlwaysRight

The trouble with people who think they know everything is that they spoil it for those of us who do

I don't but I trust that what Noel Pearson says is true.
🙂

In these terrible times with awful things going on around the world I want someone like MM to make me laugh. She is vulgar at times, shows off and is outrageous, but she cheers me up.

I must watch episode 2.

She speaks beautifully IMO and is brilliant at accents.

I don’t like her and wouldn’t have watched her even if I was at home in England. I dislike her frequent swearing to be honest. Maybe she didn’t swear on this programme, I hope not.