Oodgeroo Noonuccal's Last Of His Tribe And The Past

Poetry is beautifully written text that can provide a wide view on a topic and helps to illustrate the beliefs and values of society; poetry is often a representation of Australian identity. Oodgeroo Noonuccal, the poet of Last of his Tribe and The Past has portrayed examples of Australian identity and a strong emotional portrayal of the Indigenous displacement and mistreatment in each of these poems. Clearly, these poems provide an insight into their adversity.
Last of his Tribe provides a serious and sensitive perspective of Australian identity and the emotional breakdown the Indigenous Australians have gone through. Many of the beliefs and values have been submissive due to the "white culture" becoming dominant and replacing all that was once valued. – "Change is the law. The new must oust the old". Noonuccal shared a different light of Australian identity, that is, where Aborigines are not treated equally. From the eyes of an Aboriginal, Noonuccal describes the suffering of one particular man named Willie Mackenzie; he is the last representative of his tribe and is referred to as a – "displaced person in your own country". Although this man is the last of his tribe, readers are reminded of his displacement and alienation - "lonely in teeming city crowds, Last of his tribe". It is evident that Noonuccal’s writing

captures the displacement of Aborigines in Australia.
The writer has displayed a range of figurative language which is used to solidify the purpose of the poem. Firstly, through such lines as "gay throng… voices and the laughter" imagery is established, which paints a picture of life prior to European settlement. To strengthen the perspective of the character, forms of alliteration has been used – "sudden sting" and "lonely and lost" which privileges the emotions, particularly sorrow and loneliness. Repetition is also another technique used which builds on the feeling of loss experienced in the Indigenous culture – "all gone…" and "you...” Therefore, those affected in the past, Noonuccal invites readers to emphasise with them through the use of her native tongue.
The Past represents Noonuccal’s desires and portrays her resentment for the mistreatment of her own in the past. This poem starts off when Noonuccal states her resentment towards the past and all its effects it had upon her and many others, she also reveals its importance. She has an outspoken dispute from the cause of mistreatment by white people not only towards herself but also to the whole Indigenous race. She will never forget. – “Let no one say the past is dead” the words “no one” acts as an absolute which builds a negative tone. In the poem, Noonuccal clarifies the surrounding of suburbia “tonight here in suburbia as I sit in easy chair before electric heater” which is then contrasted by the poet’s conversation of her dream “I am away at the camp fire in the bush, among my own people, sitting on the ground…” This text captures the displacement of the Indigenous race from the past and the anger Noonuccal has towards it.
The poet has used such language devices that provides the audience the intuition of anger the author has regarding to the past.

Firstly, Noonuccal has used repetition of the words “let” and “the past”. The connotative meanings in the lines “let no one say the past is dead” and “let none tell me that past is wholly gone” are very much the same. Personification is another language device particularly in the line when death, a human quality is given to a non-human thing such as the past. Also, deceased and gone are implications of the word “dead.” For the reader to appreciate a deeper connotation of the poem Noonuccal has used effective language

devices.
Last of his Tribe and The Past have both truthfully represented the hardships they faced throughout the course of displacement and mistreatment. Both poems also provide a wide aspect on the suffering of the Indigenous race and present different aspects of Australian identity which gives the reader a better understanding of what our native’s went through.