The Traditional Owners of this land are those who identify as
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Sovereignty was never ceded.

ANTAR pays respect to Elders past, present, and emerging through our dedicated advocacy for First Nations Peoples’ justice and rights.

ANTAR acknowledges the responsibility of committing to a truth-telling process that promotes an honest and respectful path forward for future generations to build upon.

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Resources Understanding Resurgence

Understanding Resurgence

Amelia Fox Wallis McRae Jessica Johnston
Last edited: January 23, 2025

This background paper introduces ‘resurgence’ – how First Nations peoples across the continent and around the world fighting against similar forces of settler colonialism, imperialism and occupation are reclaiming their ways of being and knowing, strengthening their relationships with each other and their places, and revitalising their languages and cultural practices.

Taking our lead from First Nations academics, creatives and others, we are using the framing of ‘resurgence’ to refer to these expansive, diverse and ongoing processes by which First Nations peoples reclaim, revitalise and re-engage with what has been stolen from them since colonial invasion.

As the settler state increasingly demonstrates its inability to deliver meaningful justice or restitution to First Nations peoples and communities, resurgence represents First Nations-led and community-based practices that continually embody and deliver meaningful alternatives.

In the wake of the referendum and with increasingly regressive policymaking here in so-called Australia, we want to amplify and raise awareness of these alternatives, and center the many ways in which First Nations people are engaging in worldbuilding activities that defy settler colonial violence and control.

Above all, First Nations resurgence as a concept and practice is by and for First Nations peoples. As Lawrence Bamblett writes in a recent piece for The Conversation, resurgence is an alternative to asking outsiders to face the truth and change.