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It doesn’t matter if you’re Black or White:
Aboriginality and concepts of identity
The legal definition of an indigenous person is
a person who: 1. has indigenous heritage, 2.
identifies as indigenous, and 3. is recognised
as an indigenous person by the community in
which he/she lives1.
This definition contains an element of self-‐
identification, rather than just the quantity of
Aboriginal/ Torres Strait Islander blood a
person has. In part, this recognises that
indigenous people themselves have a role in
determining their own identity. Aboriginality
is not something that can be imposed from
the outside. However, a history of
colonisation has played a role in shaping the
concept of Aboriginality. In some ways,
structures from the colonial era continue to
exist, causing discrimination against and
amongst indigenous people2.
Colonial concepts of Aboriginality: Degrees of
blood
1 Commonwealth v Tasmania (1983) 158 CLR 1, 274 (Deane J) and Mabo v Queensland (No 2) (1992) 175 CLR 1, 70 (Brennan J). 2 Maddison S (2013) “Indigenous Identity, Authenticity and the Structural Violence of Settler Colonialism”, Identities: Global Studies in Culture and Power, Vol. 20:3
“Meet the white face of a new black race -‐ the
political Aborigine…. In 1972, Pat Eatock,
founding secretary of the Aboriginal Tent
Embassy, officially became the first Aborigine
to stand for federal parliament in the ACT,
even though she looked as white as her
Scottish mother, or some of her father’s British
relatives.3
-‐ Andrew Bolt, 2009
During the stolen generation and the policy of
assimilation, “half-‐caste” children were taken
from their families. This was based on the
idea that children with “white” blood in them
could be absorbed into the general
community, as they were not fully Aboriginal4.
The concept of the Aboriginality was
therefore based on race: your identity was
based on how Black you were, which in turn
determined your prospects to be accepted
into the “white community.”
Based on degrees of blood, people of mixed
heritage were classified as either indigenous
or not indigenous, in theory at least.
3 Bolt A, (2009) “White is the New Black”, Herald Sun, http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/column_white_is_the_new_black 4 See n. 2 above
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There is a story of a fair-‐skinned part-‐
Aboriginal man, in 1935, who was rejected
from a hotel because he was Aboriginal. He
went back to the mission-‐station to collect his
kids, but he was barred from entering because
he was not Aboriginal. When he tried to sign
up for the war, he could not enlist because he
was Aboriginal. He then went interstate and
signed up as a non-‐Aboriginal5.
Although the governmental definition of
Indigenous people has broadened to avoid
problems such as the one illustrated above,
these ideas still have an impact. Today, the
idea that real Aboriginal people should have
black skin causes problems for people of
mixed descent, who may also have fair skin.
In 2009, Andrew Bolt wrote an article in The
Herald Sun, claiming that some well-‐known
people and political figures of mixed
background were using their Aboriginal
heritage to gain an advantage; claiming jobs
that should have been reserved for “genuine”
Aborigines. It was said that some of these
people, having lighter skin, have deliberately
down-‐played their European/non-‐indigenous
heritage in order to falsely identify as
5 Foley, Dennis. 'Too white to be black, too black to be white' [online]. Social Alternatives, v.19, no.4, Oct 2000: 44-‐49, p. 44
Aboriginal6. The newspaper was forced to
publish a correction notice, after Justice
Bromberg (in the Federal court) found the
article to contravene s18C of the Racial
Discrimination Act7.
Anita Heiss, an Wiradjuri writer (who is also
half Austrian) was one of the people
mentioned in Bolt’s article. Her memoir, Am I
Black enough For You?,8 tells of her
experience growing up as an Aboriginal
person in the Eastern suburbs. She was deeply
hurt by the accusations in the article because
her identity is personal, shaped by family
history and her own upbringing, not based on
skin-‐colour or working in a so-‐called
“Aboriginal job”9.
“Traditional culture”
“I don’t wear ochre, I wear Revlon or Avon….I
don’t go walkabout for work or social/cultural
reasons, because I drive a sport’s car; it’s
faster… I don’t speak creole or pidgin or my
Wiradjuri language. I speak the coloniser’s
language and I take some joy in talking and
6 Bolt A, (2009) “White is the New Black”, Herald Sun, http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/column_white_is_the_new_black 7 Eatock v Bolt [2011] FCA 1103 8 Heiss A (2012), Am I Black Enough For You?, Bantam 9 Ibid, p.80
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writing about colonisation and its
consequences using the language that was
once forced onto my people.”10
-‐ Anita Heiss
Besides race and colour, Aboriginality is
sometimes assessed by how much connection
people retain with “traditional culture”.
“Traditional” society and practices of
indigenous people were (and still are) placed
at the opposite end of the scale to modern
(Anglo-‐European) society. In the past,
Indigenous societies were seen as backwards
and undesirable -‐ they were societies that
would eventually die out11.
Traditional laws and customs are now
something to be celebrated rather than
destroyed. The value of Aboriginal cultures
has been promoted both politically and in the
media.
However, the perception that “true”
Aboriginal people should still live and practice
the traditional ways does not properly
acknowledge the diversity of experiences. In
particular, Aboriginal people who live in urban
10 See n. 8, p.120 11 Dodson M (1994) “The End in the Beginning”, Wentworth Lecture 1994, accessed online: http://www.aiatsis.gov.au/events/wentworth.html#mdodson
areas have their Aboriginal identity
questioned because they have “lost” their
culture.12
The problem with viewing all indigenous
people as living in remote areas, with intense
spiritual connections with the land is that it
fails to take into account historical events like
assimilation and the Stolen Generation13. The
policies of assimilation created the situation
where today’s indigenous people were
displaced from homelands and most grew up
in urban contexts. This does not make them
any less Aboriginal than those that live in
Arnhem Land.
Aboriginal people in places like Redfern and
La Perouse have their own concepts of
Aboriginal identity and culture. For example,
the history of activism in urban centres has
created a type of minority culture14. In other
ways, a sense of community and collective
identity has emerged simply by interacting
with other Kooris in the area. In this way,
Kooris that were interviewed in La Perouse
said that they were automatically able to
12 Lambert-‐Pennington, K (2012) “Real Blackfellas: Constructions and Meanings of urban Indigenous Identities”, Transforming Anthropology, Vol. 20(2), p. 135 13 See n. 2 above 14 Ibid p. 293
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recognise other Kooris just from their
features, mannerisms or a general feeling.15
Justifying Aboriginality
“‘Mum’s Wiradjuri,’ I would say proudly and
then almost whisper, ‘Oh, my dad’s a
whitefella,’ as if it were something to be
embarrassed about. I hate myself for that
now. My dad was my hero.”16
-‐ Anita Heiss
Due to fixed concepts about what
Aboriginality really means, individuals who
identify as Aboriginal often find it difficult to
be accepted as such by non-‐Aboriginal as well
as other Aboriginal people.
One academic, Yin Paradies17, has written
about his experience as an Anglo-‐Asian-‐
Aboriginal. He has Caucasian features and did
not have the benefit of growing up in an
urban Aboriginal community like the one in La
Perouse. His Aboriginal heritage is accepted
by some people but contested by others. As a
professional, he is often called upon by
15 See n. 12, p. 135 16 See n. 8, p.191 17 Paradies YC, (2006) “Beyond Black and White, Essentialism, Hybridity and Indigineity”, Journal of Sociology, ,Volume 42(4), pp. 355 -‐ 367
colleagues to present an indigenous
viewpoint. Yet, other people have labelled
him a “coconut” – a derogatory term
indicating that Paradies has been raised by
white society and is therefore white on the
inside.18
The label of coconut obscures the diversity
that exists among Aboriginal people, assuming
that there is only one way to be a true
“blackfella”. Sometimes fair-‐skinned
Aboriginal people find it easier to keep their
Aboriginal heritage private, because of the
disbelief and scorn that they sometimes face
when trying to acknowledge it. 19
People with mixed heritage may also feel
uncomfortable acknowledging their non-‐
indigenous heritage because of a fear of
seeming inauthentic or disloyal to their
indigenous heritage.
One interviewee named Leslie, who was half
Irish, said that her childhood growing up as
part of the La Perouse community was the
reason why she was still accepted as a Koori.
If she had not grown up there, she would not
have been recognised as a “blackfella”. She
also said that someone had asked her why she
18 Ibid. p. 358 19 Ibid. p.359-‐360
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was so proud of her white heritage if she were
really a Koori20.
Mirroring Leslie’s story above, Paradies has
also stated that sometimes “racial loyalty
demands that a person choose to identify as
either exclusively indigenous or exclusively
non-‐indigenous”21.
The way forward
“I cannot stand here, even as an Aboriginal
person, and say what Aboriginality is.”22
-‐ Mick Dodson, Wentworth Lecture 1994
Mick Dodson, Australian of the Year in 2009,
has remarked that self-‐identification is a
human right. There may be truth to
representations of Aboriginality, but it is
important to realise that these are
constructions (perceptions based on a certain
point of view)23. In effect, imposing one
definition/idea of Aboriginality takes away
peoples’ rights to shape their own identity.
Dodson as well as Heiss have encouraged self-‐
representation: acknowledging the many
voices of indigenous people. Instead of
choosing one authoritative voice to determine
20 See n. 12 p. 137 21 See n. 17 above, p. 357 22 See n. 11 23 Ibid.
what Aboriginal culture is, people should be
encouraged to write about themselves and
their own experiences as an Aboriginal
person. In this way, Aboriginal culture is not
frozen in time, but diverse – able to grow and
change.
1. Which statement is the most correct?
a) Aboriginal people living in the cities
have lost their culture
b) Aboriginal people living in the cities
have their own culture
c) Aboriginal people living in the cities
have adopted white culture
d) Aboriginal people living in the cities
are not considered Aboriginal
2. Why was Andrew Bolt’s article racially
discriminatory?
a) It said that Aboriginal people can
never be successful
b) It said that Aboriginal people always
use taxpayers’ money to get ahead
c) It implied that light-‐skinned Aboriginal
people are not genuinely Aboriginal
d) It implied that light-‐skinned Aboriginal
people are “coconuts”
3. What part did race and colour play in
the assimilation policy?
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a) People were assimilated into or
rejected from mainstream society
depending on how much “Aboriginal
blood” they had.
b) All people of colour were assimilated
but segregated as they were
considered “separate but equal”
c) All indigenous people were kept on
missions and outstations, as the state
governments tried to “smooth the
pillow of a dying race”
d) The Racial Discrimination Act was
enacted in 1975 to prevent
discrimination based on colour.
4. What is a coconut?
a) a delicious tropical fruit grown on
trees
b) a racial slur that implies that a person
is white on the inside
c) a racial slur that implies that a person
with brown skin has a thick skull, like
a coconut
d) Andrew Bolt’s terminology for
traditional indigenous hunting and
gathering practices – e.g. saying that
people in Arnhem Land have a
“coconut economy”
