SYDNEY, Oct 23, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Aboriginal Australian leaders ended a vow of silence Monday to condemn the collapse of an Indigenous rights referendum, denouncing the "shameful" majority who opposed the landmark proposal.

Deep racial divisions were exposed earlier this month when Australians overwhelmingly voted against a binding referendum to recognise the country's first inhabitants in the constitution. 

Many Indigenous leaders embarked on a "week of silence" so they could come to grips with what they saw as a crushing rejection at the hands of Australia's white majority. 

They have now broken that silence in a scathing open letter addressed to the government, which criticised the "appalling and mean-spirited" outlook of millions of Australians. 

"We do not for one moment accept that this country is not ours," read the letter. 

"The truth is that the majority of Australians have committed a shameful act whether knowingly or not, and there is nothing positive to be interpreted from it," the letter added.

The reforms would also have created a consultative body -- a "Voice" to parliament -- to tackle inequalities that plague Aboriginal communities.

The letter was based on the views of Indigenous leaders, community members and organisations who supported the "yes" case.

Indigenous "yes" campaigner Sean Gordon said the open letter had been left unsigned so that Indigenous people across the country could commit to it.

Those behind the letter also revealed plans to create their own Indigenous "Voice" to "take up the cause of injustice for our people". 

Australia's centre-left Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had launched the referendum as a way to unite the country and address historical injustices. 

Instead, it exposed racial fault lines that persist more than two centuries after British colonisation.

Albanese has vowed that his government will continue working towards Indigenous recognition -- although it is unclear what options remain. 

The referendum result has also slowed down plans for treaties with Indigenous people at the state level in Queensland and New South Wales. 

Aboriginal Australians are celebrated as one of the world's oldest cultures -- but they remain far more likely to die young, live in poverty, and wind up in prison than other Australians.