Queen's death shines spotlight on wrongs suffered by indigenous people

When newly elected indigenous Australian parliamentarian Lidia Thorpe took her oath to office last month, she raised her fist above her head in protest and labelled Queen Elizabeth II a "colonising queen", Qazet.az reports.

"It was like kneeling to the murderer," the Greens senator told Reuters this week. "I had to swear my allegiance to a colonising power that has caused so much harm to our people."

The death of Queen Elizabeth has led First Nations people from Canada to Australia and former colonies in the Caribbean to speak about their pain and marginalisation, as well as renewing calls for the removal of the monarchy as head of state in some countries.

The accession of King Charles comes amid a rise in anti-colonialism fuelled by a growing awareness of historical atrocities and a greater recognition of indigenous culture and knowledge.

"There's rising popular consciousness around injustices around the world, what's carried out in the name of one's own nation for the exploitation of indigenous peoples," said Veldon Coburn, an indigenous Anishinaabe professor at the University of Ottawa, Canada.