October 2006 Newsletter from didjshop.com

Editorial

Last month probably was the busiest in my life! It all started with the equinox didgeridoo meditation which was the biggest we ever had here as well as the biggest ever globally, thanks to all of you who added the voice of your didjes (read more below).
Then Dr. David Suzuki came to Cairns for the 2006 Global Eco Design Dialogues, a one day seminar I participated in, and we were honoured to have him come to the Kuranda amphitheatre to meet local scientists and elders as the main part of the emPower event we sponsored and helped organising - which I will also describe in more detail below.
Next Ganga Giri came to Cairns for what was a great concert in a historic small pub. This famous didj player who performs in front of thousands of people all around the world came to one of the oldest Cairns hotels forcing loads of people to squeeze into a very tight space which made for a very intimate atmosphere. As it was impossible to stand still, soon we were all sweating from the wild dancing his powerful didjing invoked. After the show I enjoyed a chat and a drink with Ganga and we both were glad to finally catch up with each other in the real world (after our virtual communication had suffered a setback due to emails not being received). Ganga Giri was inspired by the Worldwide Didj Meditations and promised to support them in future, which is wonderful. I'd love to get a few more big name didj players to support these regular global events, so if you can get the message to any of them, please do.
And the last of the events was another human mandala which we did at the "Common Ground" conference in Cairns, which brought together community workers from all over Queensland. The about 80 conference participants really enjoyed the human mandala we did with them and it totally changed their energy, creating a much more open, relaxed and happier atmosphere. I really enjoyed playing didj rather than leading it as I usually did and we had a great time jamming.
All in all a month full of wonderful events which leaves me feeling optimistic about the exponentially growing human awareness. Hopefully 2007 will be the year when the hundred's monkey wakes up - when human awareness reaches critical mass and humanity realises the imminent danger from rapid climate change. Let's work towards 2007 being the year when humanity initiates a massive shift from using fossil fuels towards renewable energies to avoid excessive climate change. It is so abundantly clear that we simply cannot afford to use fossil fuels any longer if we want our children to have a future. Which reminds me of a comment I heard on the radio about nuclear power possibly lasting us another few decades, but if instead we develop solar energy we need not worry about running out of energy for the next few billion years!

In between all these events we worked on lots of didjes and are proud to announce that we have just uploaded over fifty brand new didjes to our virtual shop. Since there is so much to write about in this newsletter, there is no separate topic on this upload, which does not mean they are inferior didjes. On the contrary, there are some awesome sticks. More than 3/4 of them are concert class didjes with ten new high concerts. So if you have been waiting for a really good didj, check them out! You'll also find quite a few affordable painted learners didjes which make ideal Christmas presents and most of them have Stevens neat artwork on them.

Since we are coming up to Christmas we offer you a very generous discount on 75 didjes to give you a small present when you shop for that special present for a good friend, a family member or yourself! About one third of these are plain didjes, another third are painted by various artists and the last third are decorated with Brad Gosam's incredible dot on top of dot art. We thought the latter make the best Christmas present anyone can wish for - you get a didj of superior sound quality and workmanship decorated with some of the very best Aboriginal art, that is hard to beat - and to be able to get it cheaper is the icing on the cake. So go and check out these Didjshop Christmas Specials and take advantage of this rare opportunity by treating yourself to a real Brad Gosam didj.
And as Christmas presents for those who are not interested in didjes we also offer discount on all canvas paintings, covering our wide range of Small Canvas Art, Medium Canvas Art and Large Canvas Art. We trust that you will be able to find something you like in that wide assortment of genuine Aboriginal arts. And your purchase will also help Australian Aboriginal people to have a better Christmas...
PLEASE NOTE: these specials are valid until 20th December.

And if you have any doubt about the quality of our didjes, consider this: preliminary results from our didgeridoo customer survey show that over 94% of our customers consider the sound quality of their didj to be as good or better then we say and over half of them think it is even better than what we say in our detailed online assessment (below are some more details of that survey)! If you have bought a didj (or more than one) from us at any time in the past and have not yet filled out our customer survey, please do so for your chance to win a great didj!

We have had a fair few enquiries in the past from people who would like to know how to write musical notations for the didgeridoo. As I have no idea and unsuccessfully tried to contact some people I know would know, I'd like to ask for help from anyone who knows anything on this subject. We'd very much appreciate an answer to this question (and so would quite a few other people), so if you have any idea how to write musical notations for the didgeridoo, please let me know.

Every year people wonder how late they can order and still get the goods for Christmas. The simple answer is: the earlier you order the safer, especially this year because Christmas day falls on a Monday, making Friday the 22nd the last possible delivery day. While it is impossible to give any guarantees, our average turnaround from order to delivery is about ten days and some didgeridoo orders have been delivered to America within four days of being placed.

Enjoy the rest of the newsletter...

Svargo

Spreading the Word

As announced in the last newsletter, here finally the wonderful story we received from Salvador Pardo, who lives in Galicia on Spain's Atlantic coast, with wonderful beaches and eucalyptus trees...

"The very first time I heard the sound of a didjeridoo it was at the house of my best friend in Madrid (Spain), as I was stepping in everything was surrounded by an amazing sound. I thought that what I was listening at was the sound of earth, a very direct and deep touch. I knew at that moment that "that thing" and I have been presented and will keep a good relationship.

Since then I have used almost anything with a tube shape to practice the sound, asking all the people I have met, playing on the streets, or meeting on bars and concerts. Actually I discovered a very nice people working with the didjeridoo here in Spain, Rai de Horna in Barcelona is one of them (www.tribales.com) and Roy with his djemberidoo association working with people with learning difficulties in Leon is another

Didjeridoo itself has opened for me the doors to the vibrational music , and now I am playing Tibetan singing bowls, the ney flute, koomei overtone singing, and the didjeridoo, of course not at the same time :-) I am now playing the didjeridoo almost everyday, for myself, my girlfriend, for my flat mate, and for my friends giving healing sound along with Tibetan singing bowls. To them it works very well to calm down and to find an inner place to feel good within themselves. In these days living in any city is a very stressful way of life.

But I also play the didjeridoos I got from didjshop (three by now) at my band Nomhadas (www.nomhadas.com) with many other instruments like Indian sitar, Mexican percussions, bass and an apple Macintosh :-) The picture I send you has been taken when I was playing with Nomhadas, a tribal dance in which we play to the mother earth, the mask you can see is the god of earth, wind god is missed on the picture but we use to make a dance with both faces on the show. At the end of every concert people ask me about the didjeridoo, breathing technique and healing use.

Music is one of the best ways to connect with others, I just came two weeks ago from a workshop on Indian tabla and we were singing playing at night on the beach with all the instruments, it just happened that my d-tuned didj was connecting so good with the darbouka and the guitar, people singing and dancing in many different languages. Awesome! I think didjeridoo is so into us that it does not mind whatever the culture you come from, it is something bigger than ourselves, it’s about the earth and its sound, I believe.”

Thanks, Salvador for sharing this story with our global didj community and thanks for spreading the word about the didj.
If anyone reading this has any didj related story of their own to share, please email us, we'd love to hear from you.

Worldwide Equinox Didj Meditation

The last Worldwide Didgeridoo Wave on 23rd September 2006 was like a sound tsunami going around the planet. As mentioned in the last newsletter many participants emailed us in addition to the regular supporters. Since then I have heard from even more participants making this the biggest ever sound wave our planet has heard.

Peter in Fiordland, New Zealand; Svargo & friends in Kuranda, Oriya in Sunshine Coast, both in Queensland; Shahido in Mullumbimby, Viv in Sydney, both in NSW; Lyn In Melbourne and Ray in Keysborough, both in Victoria; and Nic in Perth, Australia;

Ravinderjit in Kuala Lumput, Malaysia; Manas in Assam, India; Rogério in the Brit. Indian Ocean Terr.; Wakas in Lahore Pakistan; Ray in Ramadi, Iraq; Oscar in Nairobi, Kenya; Bodhi in Sandton, South Africa; Haris in Greece; Irene in Struga, Macedonia; Punita in Brasov, Romania; Elena in Ljubljana, Slovenia; Vadim and Raduga in Moscow and Sidhartha and Kyshtym somewhere in Russia; Arkadiusz in Podkarpackie , Poland; Tero in Hämeenkyrö and Petri in Hämeenlinna, both in Finland; Jostein in Stavanger, Norway; Vibeke in Sindal, Denmark; someone in Israel;

Mariella in Matera, Stefano in Terni, Linikunda in Bergamo and Paolo in Sardara, all in Italy; Felice in Zurich and Andreas somewhere in Switzerland; Klaus in Stuttgart, Oliver and Dennis in Wuppertal and Stefan elsewhere in Germany; Lars in Luxembourg; Damien in Tongeren, Rita in Zoersel and Dirk somewhere in Belgium; Ian in Maastricht, Clemens & Bart & friends in Eindhoven in The Netherlands; Sebastian in Gallius and Alain in Bugarach, both in France; Bohindra in Norte, Pais in Vasco, Juan in Malaga and Marisol in Madrid, all in Spain; João in Sintra, Portugal; Andy in Haworth, Nikki in Forest Row, Alan at Cadbury Castle, Tony in South Oxfordshire, Kevin in Colchester, Kev and Kerryanne in Lincoln, Michaela in Glastonbury, Tony in Wallingford and Michelle & friends in Sharnbrook, Brian in Middleton, and Dave somewhere in the United Kingdom;

Stuart in Hamilton, Bermuda; Tatiana in Porto Alegre, Brazil; Gabriela in Aurora, Uruguay; Mercedes and Deva in Buenos Aires, Sebastian & Maria in Cordoba, Silvia in Corrientes Capital, Edith in Provincia de Tierra del Fuego, Leo in Buenos Aires, all in Argentina; Xiw in Santiago, Chile; Carlos and Alberto in Bogotá, Colombia; Rodolfo in Puno, Ursula in Lima and Alfredo in Cusco, all in Peru; Helida & Mo in Tepoztlan, Carlos and Laura in Ciudad Victoria, Armando and Anya in Chalmita, all in Mexico;

Bill in the Canadian Rockies, Ric in Nelson, BC and Gabriel somewhere in Canada; and in USA there were Joseph & friends in Rye, Mike in Derry and Julia in East Wakefield, all in New Hampshire; Ralph in Shady Side, Maryland; Andrew in North Scituate, Rhode Island; Paul and Jason in High Bank and Suzen in Lavallette, both in New Jersey; Nathaniel in New York City, New York; Linda in Evansburg and Ron in Morgantown, both in Pennsylvania; Jacqui in Vashon Island, Jewel in Neah Bay and Dave & Berdie in Olympia, all in Washington; Steve in Zirconia, North Carolina; Jim in Ellijay and Lois in Atlanta, both in Georgia; Margrete and friends at Boynton Beach, Rosemary in St. Petersburg, Fred in Stuart Steve & Joan in Ft. Lauderdale and Dave in Boca Raton, all in Florida; Dr. Sam in Plymouth, Indiana; Peter in Kalamazoo, Mitchigan; Peggy in Memphis, Tennessee; Shannon in Bloomington, Tim and the Chicago Didjeridu Chorus at Rockefeller Chapel and Jim also in Chicago, Illinois; Jefferson at Spider Lake in Northern Wisconsin; Zack in Bozeman, Montana; Derek in St.Louis, Missouri; Will in Kearney, Nebraska; Aaron in Boulder and Aurelia in Denver, both in Colorado; Tomas in Santa Fe, New Mexico; Lou in Laramie, Wyoming; Paul in Rimrock, Alan & friends in Tuscon, Liana also in Tuscon and Jed in Phoenix, all in Arizona; Auntie Matter & friends, Aaron and also Amrita in Santa Rosa, Jeff and Martin in San Francisco, Shelley in Mt. Shasta, Tony in Stockton and Claudia in Folsom, all in California; Jason in Troutdale, Judie in Portland and Dale in Eugene, all in Oregon; also Al, Brett, Steve, David, Julia, Cheshire and Einar & family somewhere in USA and Jol in Maui on Hawaii;

Truly awesome!!! Please accept my apologies if I forgot anyone. Those of you who post their participation somewhere on our forum or elsewhere on our website, in future please do send me a separate email to let me know where you are participating (city and country), thanks.

I want to say a huge THANK YOU to all participants for making it such a successful event and for letting us know about their participation. It's a bit overwhelming that this first step of my vision has come true (to have people participating in over one hundred places in the world). I feel honoured and humbled that so many of you support the Worldwide Didgeridoo Meditations and the intent and vision behind them. Sorry for not answering your emails individually, I was very busy with lots of events (specially organising emPower) and making didjes and family matters.
I would like to encourage you to join the growing list of regular World Didj Wave supporters around the globe, in which case please email me your name, country, city, zip code and time zone. You can also check out whether any of the regulars are near enough for you to join them for the next solstice meditation on the 22nd of December. It is more fun to didj together!

Even if you just want to join in the next Didj Wave on the 22nd of December (rather than in all future ones), please let us know where in the world you will be participating (town and country). Please help to make the next one just as big or even bigger by telling your friends about it. May the Earth be listened to around the world through the voice of our didjes!

Dr. David Suzuki in Kuranda

The 2006 Kuranda emPower Energy Fest was an amazing event to be involved in and a wonderful experience of trusting in existence. It all grew out of showing the movie "The End of Suburbia" which a small local group did earlier this year. This movie is highly recommended and shows how our society became so dependent on oil and gives an outline of the problem we are facing now. Three women watching the movie decided to do something at a local level and envisaged an event in Kuranda where the public could be educated about Peak Oil and Climate Change as well as being presented with potential solutions. They approached me to help with organising such an event. Around the same time another friend of mine told me that he signed up Dr. David Suzuki to be the keynote speaker at an Eco Design Conference he wanted to hold in Cairns. However the organising for the Cairns event had hardly with only three month to go, so I asked another friend to help with organising the Cairns conference. That made Dr. Suzuki's visit to our area a certainly. I then suggested to the Kuranda group to pick the weekend of his visit for the emPower event which we did, allowing for the slim possibility that he might attend.

The whole event was focused on Climate Change and Peak Oil and what we as a community and as individuals can do to minimise those problems and their negative impacts.

We invited people selling sustainable or organic products to have stalls, organised healthy food stalls, created a huge display area with lots on information on Climate Change and energy issues like the shredding of the worlds first batch of highly efficient electric cars and organised a Prius hybrid car to be displayed. We organised a range of talks and workshops on subjects from Sustainable Agriculture to Carbons & Fluoro Carbons. We organised a film festival showing local movies made by and with Aboriginal youth as well as "The End of Suburbia" and "The Power of Community". I highly recommend watching those two movies.

We got support from many people and friends and the event grew bigger and bigger. As the day drew closer it took up more and more of my time to ensure it happened well (which is why I was rather slow with my emails - sorry for those of you who had to wait for a reply).

As the key event of the day we decided to ask local scientists and Aboriginal elders to be part of a forum or talking stick circle to talk about the challenges our society faces and what we can do about it. We ended up having half a dozen local scientists and half a dozen Aboriginal elders on stage together with Dr. David Suzuki who generously agreed to become part of it. Many wise words were spoken during that talking stick circle by everyone involved and especially Dr. David Suzuki's speech was highly inspiring. If you ever have a chance to listen to this man, do not miss it. Check out the website of his foundation, they are doing some wonderful work. Please consider joining the over 200,000 people who have taken the Nature Challenge while you are there :-).

Immediately after the talking stick circle (during which we stopped all other activities) we held a rainbow snake ceremony. The local school kids made a big papier-mâché snake head and a hundred meters of calico with hand and foot prints on it made up the body (mainly done by the kids on the day). To live music and song about a hundred people carried the rainbow snake around the amphitheatre spiralling until it came to a halt. At that point I stopped the music and asked people to observe a couple of minutes of silence to remember how blessed we are to live in such a beautiful community and in such a beautiful environment and that we all need to cooperate to treasure and protect our local community. Bertie then started on the didj and with the other musicians joining in, the rainbow snake circled its way out again.

The over 500 visitors enjoyed several dance and music performances and the shadow play "Oil's well, all's well".

Didjshop.com sponsored the whole event and also supplied some prizes for a rather unusual draw. We asked people to write down a pledge what they will do to minimise their environmental impact and move towards greater sustainability. About a hundred people made pledges, from kids to grandparents, and many of them were really inspiring. Five of them won boomerangs and clapsticks and one of them won a Brad Gosam painting.

All in all this was a wonderful day which everyone enjoyed and which not only brought Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people together in harmony and celebration but which also helped everyone to better understand the imminent problems we all face an the importance for all of us to start doing something about them.

We intend to continue the process of communicating with scientists and Aboriginal Elders and informing the wider community about impending Climate Change and Peak Oil and what we can do about it.
At the Kuranda School Indigenous teenagers are now editing the video footage and we hope to be able to distribute a video of the event next year.

Let the Customers Speak!

We are currently doing an extensive survey of our past and present didgeridoo customers. So if you ever bought a didj from us, please participate for your chance to win a fantastic Brad Gosam didj valued at over A$1500.-.

Here some preliminary results and a few customer comments on their Didjshop didjes:

• Melanie from Canada: "I was very hesitant to spend so much money on a didge without playing it first. After reading and visiting every site I could possibly find on the net (Well over 100) I decided on your company as it offered the most information and had the best ethics and treatment of aboriginal people. This didge far surpassed anything I was hoping for. I will be saving up[ for another didge, and when I am ready to purchase another, I will not use any other company or website. Keep up the good work."
• Robert from USA: "As I remember it, this didj was rated as Medium Concert Quality. It being a double didj, the C side is a very good player, while the Eb side is absolutely awesome. People don't always remember me, but they always remember "The Twins.""
• Jesus from USA: "I had a pvc before this one and thought I would never be able to cb. I was very happy when I figured it out just two days after receiving my didj. What a quality instrument."
• John Mason from Canada: "I really enjoy the didj. the sound and tone is awesome and I can now play it pretty well. I have absolutely no dislikes whatsoever. I have had lots of complements on it and I referred everyone to your site to check it out"
• Åsa from Sweden: "I'm extremely pleased with my didj and I really like the artwork by Brad Gosam."

As for statistics, I have already mentioned in the editorial above how well our customers rated the sound quality of their Didjshop didjes, so let me tell you now how our customers rate the looks of their Didjshop didj: their average rating is better than 9 out of 10 with over half of our customers giving a 10 out of 10 rating! Talk about happy customers! This exceeds any hopes we had.

Now to our regular visitor survey where the most famous didj player during September was David Hudson again, keeping him in the lead. I like it that our local Tjapukai maestro is so well known, he certainly deserves it. And here some of our favourites from last month:

• Heather from USA: "I love it. gives information your looking for not just for shopping but allows you to become part of the didjshop community and keep up with the aboriginal news"
• Anonymous from Peru: "Love the worldwide meditation info!"
• Fairlie Arthur from Australia: "The Didjshop.com. web site is a wealth of information on Indigenous Issues coming from the pulse of things. For people like me living in the big city of Melbourne we often only get the one side of the story - biased media pushing negative views. I have directed quite a few people to your site because of your Aboriginal Australia news and they too have joined up for your newsletter. I have also browsed your didj shop and clicked on various Didjes just to hear their beautiful sound - knowing that ONE DAY when I can afford it - I too will own one."
• Nuno from Portugal: "I think that the information about the didj culture and about every product for sale is very complete and clear. The best site of didj i 've seen. Congratulations."
• Gary from USA: "It's a great web site. It's very informative it gives more information about the particular instruments for sale than any other site I've seen and it addresses all sorts of topics and concerns that are important to me."
• James Pierson from USA: "I Love this site!! I have been visiting this site for the past 6 or so years. Sometime in high school I discovered you. I have recommended many people to check you guys out. In fact my grandparents emailed me this morning asking about the spelling of didjes so I sent them here to maybe learn a little more than the multiple spelling options. I hope they love it as much as I do."
• Ed from Netherlands: "Am very interested in the worldwide healing circle and will participate or even organise one"

There are many more Didjshop comments which will give you a feel for how our visitors think about us.

Thanks to all of our customers and visitors for their valuable feedback

October Winner!

The winner of our October $50.- shopping voucher is Larry Steiner from South Tweed Heads in Australia. Great to have an Australian winner again!

Congratulations Larry and we are sure you can put this shopping voucher to good use. Larry has already placed eight orders with us and once even came personally to have a look through our stock. We are delighted that such a loyal customer (thanks Larry) is this month's winner.

This is what Larry had to say about his latest didj he got from us only last week: "Very pleased with service and workmanship. I really love this didj. This is my first bell and I like the increased volume. The sound is incredible with a "transparency, depth and etheric quality" I don't hear on my other didj's, even though they are also concert class."

Aboriginal News

This month our Aboriginal news section is full of interesting stories:

• Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell has given final approval for the diversion of the McArthur River so Swiss mining company Xstrata's can expand its zinc mine in the Borroloola area near the Gulf of Carpentaria. It is "a win for the Australian economy and the environmental issues can be addressed" he said. The local Yanyuwa Elders have pleaded with the Northern Territory Government to not allow the river diversion. They fear that diverting the river will damage the home of the rainbow serpent. McArthur River Mining chief executive Brian Hearnehas questioned and discounted the traditional owners concerns and also refused their request to meet the CEO of Xstrata. It is a shame to see that our environment minister seems to value the profits of big cooperation's as more valuable than the environment he is charged to protect and that Aboriginal concerns are ignored and even ridiculed.
• 27th September was the 50th anniversary of the first British nuclear test at Maralinga. The test codenamed 'One Tree' was detonated despite poor weather conditions, resulting in significant fallout around Coober Pedy. I heard personal stories from residents in far away Townsville (over 2000km) who witnessed the black fallout cloud passing over the town at the time. Many Aboriginal people were exposed to radiation and the Milpuddie family even camped in one of the highly contaminated bomb craters. A Royal Commission later found that at Maralinga "attempts to ensure Aboriginal safety demonstrate ignorance, incompetence and cynicism on the part of those responsible for that safety". Friends of the Earth used the anniversary to present BHP Billiton with the Blinky, a three-eyed gold fish, for being the world's fourth largest producer of uranium and its massive impact on climate change.
• We reported extensively nearly two years ago about the death in custody of Mulrunji on Palm Island last year. Well Queensland coroner Christine Clements has finally released her finding that Mulrunji died from injuries received when hit by Senior Police Sergeant Chris Hurley. "There was no attempt whatsoever to check on Mulrunji's state of health after the fall and its sequelae," she said, "I find that Senior Sergeant Hurley ... sent family members away from the station after knowing that Mulrunji was deceased,". The coroner pointed out that for legal reasons it would be up to the Department of Public Prosecutions to charge the officer over the murder.
  The Queensland Police Union president Gary Wilkinson defended the officer and attacked the coroner: "He's done nothing wrong and he has the full support of the union" he said, "She has conducted a witch-hunt from the start that's been designed to pander to the residents of Palm Island, rather than establishing the facts."
  Police Minister Judy Spence declared that some of the coroner's recommendations were unworkable and that "no charges have been laid [against the officer] at this point in time,"
  Police Commissioner Bob Atkinson refused to comment on possible charges against the officer and confirmed that the officer will continue to work on desk duties.
  The Australian Council for Civil Liberties asked for the Queensland Police Union president Gary Wilkinson to be charged with contempt for his attack on the coroner's integrity calling it one of the worst attacks on a senior judicial figure in Australian legal history.
  About ten days after the coroner's findings, Senior Sergeant Chris Hurley voluntarily stood aside on full pay while the Director of Public Prosecution reviews the inquest findings. There is no news on charging the officer.
  Meanwhile Alec Doomadgee, Mulrunji's cousin, presented Premier Peter Beattie with a petition demanding the sacking of the officer and even Mike Reynolds, the local labor member, demands the Police Service consider laying charges against Sergeant Hurley.
  We hope that Palm island residents will see justice done.
• And just when you thought it cannot get any worse news have leaked that the Queensland police service is trialling a new prisoner treatment on Aboriginal people. We were shocked to learn that Queensland police are actually trialling using hoods on Aboriginal prisoners. It is outrageous that such degeneration is even considered in this country. Did they get this idea from the Americans when watching Abu Graib footage and thought this is a good way to treat Aboriginal people? Queensland acting Deputy Police Commissioner Cathy Rynders claims the trial is to protect officers from being bitten or spat at and emphasises that it is "only" a trial. Cameron Murphy from the Australian Council for Civil Liberties (ACCL) says the practice must be stopped: "this is a disgusting thing to do to any prisoners" he said, "I don't think there are any circumstances in which it's appropriate to cover somebody in a hood," he said. We agree and hope such inhumane treatments will be discontinued.
• We welcome news that Tasmania's Premier Paul Lennon has announced an AUS$ 5 million compensation package for descendants of deceased Stolen Generation members. Stolen Generation is what the generation of Aboriginal people are called which were forcibly removed from their families during early Australian settlement. "It's about recognising that in Tasmania's history, Aboriginal people were dispossessed from their land, severed from their culture and taken from their families," he said. "It's about saying that we're sorry that this happened." Thank you Paul Lennon for showing true leadership on this issue and it is not so much about the money, but much more about the symbolism. We would like to encourage Australian Prime Minister John Howard to follow suit and finally say "sorry" to the members of the stolen generation which are still alive. It's the least an ethical leader of our country would do.

Keep on didjing until next month ...

from Svargo and the DIDJSHOP.COM team