Perspectives

It very important for you to be able to put the poem “The Past” by Oodgeroo Noonuccal into perspective, relate it to social, literary and thematic contexts. This will broaden your understanding of the topic and the poet’s message.

Periodical and perspective

The poem was written in 1970. In the previous decade, Aboriginal Australians had gained many rights and civil liberties, such as the right to vote both at the national level and at the Commonwealth level. Furthermore, several marches took place for the freedom and equality of Aboriginals. Nevertheless, discrimination remained very common and it is still sometimes an issue today in Australia.

Why do you feel the poet wrote the poem, at the time she did? Was it a reaction to non-Aboriginals looking down on the indigenous Australians and their culture?

Was it, perhaps, a message to the Aboriginals themselves, who in their newly-found full Australian citizenship might have been tempted to dismiss their indigenous origins, in order to fit in the Australian society? 

Reflect on whether the poem is still relevant today. If you look at the larger theme, that of the importance of our past and origins for the present, you can easily conclude that the theme is universal. As a universal theme, it is perpetually relevant. One does not have to be an Aboriginal from Australia to relate to the poem.

Think about the origins and the past of the Danish people. To wh...