Page 60 - 10th Annual International Charles Town Maroon Conference and Festival Magazine

June 2018 Charles Town Maroon International Conference Magazine

Camp Freedom versus the StolenWealth Games:

Aboriginal people asserting Sovereignty in the face of
British Commonwealth Games

Jenny Fraser

We wanted to make it clear to the mob, make it clear Camp Freedom was a place to gather, a place to organise
to the world, make it clear to our people, that we are protest actions, a place to visit, a place to swim, a place
here, and we're here, and we're standing strong. And for cultural performances and creativity, a place to rest,
we don't want nothin', we don't want nothin' of the and mostly significant because we don't generally have
Commonwealth here. They've stolen the land, built access to these kinds of public spaces in Australia.
this country on Stolen Wages, built this country on the
blood and bones of our people, and it's about time that The young Warriors of Aboriginal Resistance (WAR)
history is acknowledged. And it's about time them and other organisers worked with Yugambeh
royal families who are responsible for it all, they come Traditional Owners, the bureaucracy of the local City
down here, they get on our level. They ask to be here Council, Police and government officials for years
on our country, that's what needs to happen.' before the Games started, to secure a permit for the
Ruby Wharton 2018 site and ensure facilities for campers and visitors.

The Games drew people from all over the world, and
Camp Freedom is the name of the base protest site set from all walks of life, including parents and families
up by Aboriginal Activists for the 2018 of athletes, who wanted to understand more about the
Commonwealth Games held at on Yugambeh Land at Aboriginal experience of living under colonial
Moondarewa at the Gold Coast in Queensland, oppression. Everyone who visited seemed to take our
Australia. Camp Freedom still lives on in our claims seriously.
consciousness.

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