They demand redress. Indigenous leaders, whose lands were once settled by the British, on Thursday urged Charles III to apologize for “centuries of racism” and the role played by the crown in oppressing their people. Representatives of indigenous communities from twelve nations of the Commonwealth have addressed the sovereign by letter, demanding an official apology, financial reparations as well as the return of cultural objects which have been spoliated from them.
Together, they united their voices to help their populations “recover from centuries of racism, oppression, colonialism and slavery”. The letter was notably signed by indigenous leaders in Australia, where the original peoples were driven from their lands, subjected to forced labor and massacred in bloody clashes with settlers. Leaders from several Caribbean communities have also signed it.
“A genocide” blamed on the royal family
While King Charles has stepped up his efforts to engage with Indigenous representatives in recent years, stressing that the crown must “acknowledge the wrongs that have shaped our past”, the letter implores him to go further. According to Hannah McGlade, lawyer and Aborigine, the issue of financial reparations is becoming a constant in Aboriginal claims.
“We are seeing more and more members of indigenous communities asking for reparations from the royal family” for the wrongs suffered by their peoples, she explains to AFP. “A genocide occurred under their supervision,” said the lawyer. The letter was also signed by leaders of indigenous communities from Canada, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.