Muk Kutbun Lewin

(Messenger of good news)

Muk Kutbun Lewin is your cutting edge weekly source for current affairs in First Nations Australia.

A Window to the Soul

Even in plain sight their real motivations remain shielded.

They construct a reality where they are always shielded from accountability, not only in regard to first nations, but also in regard to the entire community.

The reality of self-promotion is the fact that people in particular politicians and the wealthy wear masks, in their daily lives and in their jobs, while presenting a deceptive image of themselves.

The primary goal is the preservation of influence, a necessary tool for maintaining public consent.

They lower the defences of the people and create a sense of alignment with their target audiences.

It is a deliberate tactic of impression management. It creates a disconnect between the stated objectives of leadership and the reality of whose interests are really being served.

If an audience believes that their interests are being represented, they are less likely to scrutinise the systemic structure, that actually dictates the distribution of law, power and control over them.

History of First Nations Populations

15 October 2026

First Nations Social System

1 October 2026

First Nations Culture

24 September 2026

Archaeology Gippsland

17 September 2026

Early Human Occupation in Gippsland

Archaeological evidence indicates that Aboriginal people occupied Gippsland during the late Pleistocene and continued to use the region throughout the Holocene. Key evidence comes from Cloggs Cave, Wangangarra, and other sites in East Gippsland.

Cloggs Cave in East Gippsland contains archaeological deposits showing human activity extending back about 25,000 years. Its oldest securely dated stone artefacts in well-stratified layers fall between approximately 24,760 and 25,740 years before present, although older material has been recovered from disturbed deposits. These dates represent the earliest evidence identified at the cave so far, not the earliest possible occupation of Gippsland as a whole.

Archaeological excavations at Wangangarra in Mitchell River National Park have revealed a rock shelter containing deposits from before the last ice age through to recent times. Nearby sites also preserve evidence predating 20,000 years ago, and another cave in the area has been dated to approximately 25,988–26,840 years before present.

Cloggs Cave

Further evidence from Cloggs Cave suggests that it was used primarily for ritual practices rather than as a general campsite. Microscopic plant remains and pollen show that grasses and other plants were repeatedly brought inside and burned. The cave also contains ritual fireplaces featuring trimmed Casuarina sticks smeared with fat and dated to about 11,000–12,000 years ago; these have been described as Australia’s oldest known wooden artefacts. Bogong moth remains identified as food dated to approximately 1,600–2,000 years age.

Wangangarra 1

At Milluk mungee 1 in the Buchan River area, recent excavations have identified about 5,000 years of occupation, including backed artefacts and evidence of quartz flaking.

Gippsland Lakes

Research at the Gippsland Lakes and nearby dunes indicates occupation spanning at least 30,000 years, with shell middens, mounds, and artefact scatters concentrated near freshwater sources.

In 1995, survey work at Nooramunga Marine and Coastal Park examined land-use patterns and archaeological sites, and provided recommendations for their management.

Projects such as Marinus Link have combined desktop studies, field walkovers, non-invasive surveys and, where necessary, test excavations to identify Aboriginal and historical heritage along proposed corridors. Together, these investigations have revealed a diverse record of occupation, subsistence and ritual activity across Gippsland.

Tribal State Governance

10 September 2026

First Nations Sovereign Governance Before Colonisation

Prior to colonisation, tribal communities exercised their own systems of state governance. This governance was administered through the authority of councils of Elders, often led by a headman or chief. Their authority came from inherent laws that had been passed down through generations over millennia.

The jurisdiction of these first sovereign laws applied within each tribal state and was recognised by First Nations peoples across the continent.

Authority to Speak for Country

Under First Nations sovereign law, people from one tribal state could not represent or speak on behalf of another tribal state unless they had the authority of that local tribal state’s council. This authority could not be assumed or transferred without consent.

Likewise, a person could not be elected to represent a language group as though it were a single political authority. A language group may include dialects spoken by several tribes, but shared language does not create authority to speak for every tribal state within that group.

The Gippsland Example

In Gippsland, there were five tribes, each speaking a dialect of a language that could be understood by the others. However, this shared linguistic connection did not give any one person or group authority to speak on behalf of all those tribes.

Authority to represent a tribal sovereign state could only come from the local Elders’ council: a council made up of local statesmen. In this context, “local” means the tribe or tribal state, not the broader language group.

Colonial Law and Representation

Today, colonial laws are used to elect spokespersons for language groups in ways that bypass First Nations sovereign law. This occurs without informed consent or treaty, and is based on foreign legal doctrines, including the Westphalian doctrine of 1648 and the Act of State policy of 1788.

Government Accountability and Reform

Governments continue to disregard recommendations and reports from their own royal commissions on matters affecting First Nations peoples, including:

deaths in custody;
incarceration rates;
the Stolen Generations;
Indigenous welfare and wellbeing;
social imperatives and self-determination; and
child detention and abuse.

Strong reforms are needed to address the failure of governments to recognise First Nations human rights and sovereign law. Such reforms must also bring an end to the dispossession and erasure of sovereign owners’ traditional state boundaries.

Continuing Impacts of Dispossession

Many First Nations people are still living who were born into, and lived through, the experience of missionisation and the continuing dispossession and destruction of their tribal sovereign state authority.

Referring to First Nations peoples as a minority operates as a smokescreen that avoids accountability for past and present government actions. It obscures the continuing dispossession of First Nations sovereignty, laws, human rights, land, and identity.