This Land Is Mine Poem Analysis

Belonging Essay Daniel Mansutti

It is essential for people to belong as it is one of the basic human needs in which we thrive for but some want to “belong to” and others want to “belong with”. The two texts I have chosen to explore the differences are ‘We Are Going” by Oodgeroo Noonuccal and a scene called ‘This Land is Mine’ from ‘One Night The Moon’ by Carmody and Kelly. They both emphasise the way white people tend to belong to and the indigenous tend to belong with.

In ‘We Are Going’ the difference is shown as the white people use the land for their own needs while the indigenous people connect with the land and is seen as a way forming together. The white people are silenced in this poem showing that the author thinks very little of the white people. Personification is used to show that the white people are just people that belong to the land and not with it as the poem states “but the white tribe are strangers “giving them the identity of just using the land for the own personal good and do not belong there.
In the poem the last sentence says ‘We Are Going’ to reiterate that sense of belonging with each other instead of belonging to stating that yes they have lost their land but they have gained something better, each