[LINK] Newfoundland to Queensland

[rfmcdonald]

Canadian fiction author Michael Winter writes on his blog about his recent visit on a book tour to the Australian city of Cairns, in the state of Queensland.

You have to walk through a mall to get to downtown Cairns. From the elevated parking lot, there's a vista of the tropical mountains and the sea. The escalators take you past Angus and Roberstons's booksale, which is four tables of books covered in red plastic for the night. They look like a hasty burial of books. The first bar is the Railway Hotel. It is the hardest bar I've found in Cairns. There's a tall blonde man with a dirty unshaven face. He's dressed in mechanics overalls and his eyes are clear and blue. At the bar sit a mix of races, half aboriginal and half European. If you can say that. I heard someone say once, do they like to be called Aborigines or Aboriginals. And the person being addressed wasnt sure what the question was. It's like the Jews, the questioner said. They prefer now to be called Jewish.

All I know is there's an official tone of grave respect for Aboriginal peoples. The tourist signs that might alert you to a rock in the ocean as being two brothers
who are looking for their father will say this comes from an early folktale of a certain aboriginal group. And then stress that permission to use this story has been granted by the group. I wonder if we do that in Canada. The other part is the postcards. These expensive black and white photos of Aboriginal children holding baby kangaroos or posing with a gecko on their heads. What could be more outrageous?