Colonialism is evolutionary in its nature. There are only a handful of countries that have protected their sovereignty and there are many minority groups across the world branded with the scars of their ancestors’ demise.

It is important to note that what happened to Indigenous Australians is distressing, but not unusual in the annals of history.

But after half a century of national recognition and 25 since Eddie Mabo’s historic native land rights case, we still have no substantial progress.

People know there is nothing to show for it. That’s why 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates from across the country congregated at Uluru for the First Nations National Constitutional Convention. 

The message was clear. Recognition is not the final outcome: constitutional reform will be. The proposal, dubbed ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart’, is an ironically lighthearted title for a potentially explosive mission.

“When we have power over our destiny, our children will flourish,” the statement reads.

“They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country.”

This hand reaching out to the Australian Parliament is not clenched, but exhausted. It is the vitality of the children and their culture that is unsettling these delegates.

More so, many believe this submission should not be a request, but an entitlement. 

What people forget is that change with all intentions of success cannot be achieved through conflict or legislation, but the individual.

The average Australian does not really care about the struggle of the Indigenous. That is not to say they do not care about Indigenous people today, but the impact of the past is misunderstood amongst the context of present difficulties.

Herein lies the problem, a festering ideological clash of ownership of the land. Is it about righting the wrongs, or fulfilling modern social progression?

Where the edges of a linked metal chain are rusty, the strength of the chain is compromised.

Reconciliation is not all about rehashing a turbulent past. It is about ensuring, as an individual of this state, country and world, that each of us does not become a broken link in a chain of needed change.