澳大利亚土著居民争取纳入宪法(上)

Asia

亚洲版块

Australia's indigenous people

澳大利亚的土著居民

voice recognition

话语认可

The prime minister wants to include Aboriginals in the constitution

总理希望将土著居民纳入宪法

“This rock is an awesome feature,” says James, a ranger of the Anangu people in central Australia.

澳大利亚中部阿南古族的护林员詹姆斯说：“这块岩石真是太棒了。”

“It’s a story book.” The story may be about to get longer.

”这是一本故事书。”这个故事可能会变得更长。

James is standing at the base of Uluru, a humungous monolith embedded in the red desert near the middle of Australia.

詹姆斯正站在乌鲁鲁的底部，乌鲁鲁是一块巨大的巨石，嵌在澳大利亚中部附近的红色沙漠中。

The country’s indigenous people have made it a civil-rights symbol: they want Australians to change the constitution to guarantee them a say in laws that affect their lives.

澳大利亚的原住民已经将其作为民权的象征：他们希望澳大利亚人修改宪法，以确保他们在影响他们生活的法律中拥有发言权。

The battle over the call for an Aboriginal “voice to Parliament” is looming as a big test for Anthony Albanese, the newish prime minister (pictured), and his centre-left Labor government.

呼吁原住民“向议会发声”的斗争迫在眉睫，对新任总理安东尼·艾博年和他的中左翼工党政府来说是一次巨大的考验。

In late July Mr Albanese flew to an Aboriginal festival in Arnhem Land, some 2,000km north of Uluru, to add his own voice to the campaign.

7月下旬，艾博年飞往乌鲁鲁以北约2000公里的阿纳姆地参加一个原住民节日，为这场运动加入了自己的声音。

On July 30th he promised the region’s Yolngu people a referendum on the idea within his government’s three-year term, calling it “a momentous change” and a step “in our nation’s journey of healing”.

7月30日，他承诺在他的政府3年任期内对该计划进行全民公决，称这是“一个重大的改变”，是“我们国家治愈之旅”的一步。

Aboriginal people make up barely 3% of Australia’s 25m inhabitants.

在澳大利亚2500万居民中，原住民仅占3%。

But their forebears had lived on the continent for some 60,000 years before the British landed in 1788.

但在1788年英国人登陆之前，他们的祖先已经在这片大陆生活了大约6万年。

They played no part in drafting Australia’s constitution and were not accorded any rights in it.

他们没有参与起草澳大利亚宪法，也没有在宪法中被赋予任何权利。

Five years ago Aboriginal delegates gathered at Uluru, a sacred site also known by the name colonists gave it, Ayers Rock, after a long quest to find a formula to give “First Nations” a say in government policies over their people.

五年前，原住民代表们经过漫长的探索，终于找到了一个方案，让“原住民”在政府对其人民的政策上有发言权。

The delegates produced the “Uluru Statement from the Heart”, a short, elegant cry for constitutional change.

代表们发表了《乌鲁鲁发自内心的声明》，这是要求修改宪法的简短而优雅的呼声。

Their peoples’ “ancient sovereignty”, it said, had never been ceded, and still co-existed with that of the British Crown.

它说，两国人民的“古老主权”从未被割让，而且仍然与英国王室的主权共存。

The statement added that the shocking levels of imprisonment and broken families among Aboriginal people were proof of the need for change.

声明补充说，土著人民被监禁和家庭破裂的程度令人震惊，证明了改变的必要性。

The conservative government of the day greeted the plea coldly.

当时的保守党政府对这一请求反应冷淡。

It misrepresented the statement as a call for a third chamber of parliament, and said new laws would be better than a constitutional amendment.

它将这一声明歪曲为呼吁议会第三议院，并表示新的法律将比宪法修正案更好。