Aboriginal Identity: Who is 'Aboriginal'?

Who is 'Aboriginal'?

Ever since white people mixed with Aboriginal people they have struggled to define who is 'Aboriginal'.

Racist definitions of Aboriginal identity

From 1910 to the 1940s white people classified Indigenous people into castes. They defined

• a 'full-blood' as a person who had no white blood,
• a 'half-caste' as someone with one white parent,
• a 'quadroon' or 'quarter-caste' as someone with an Aboriginal grandfather or grandmother,
• a 'octoroon' as someone whose great-grandfather or great-grandmother was Aboriginal.

These terms pervaded literature of that time. Today these words are considered offensive and racist.

Use of these terms stopped in the 1960s. Instead, authorities tried to find alternate definitions of Aboriginal identity, which, however, were still influenced by colonial thinking. Since legislation for Indigenous people was a state matter, each state found its own definition for 'Aboriginal'. Examples [1]:

• Western Australia: a person with more than a quarter of Aboriginal blood.
• Victoria: any person of Aboriginal descent.

The Commonwealth Parliament defined an Indigenous person as "a person who is a member of the Aboriginal race of Australia", a definition which was still in use in the early 1990s [2].

Read more on racist terms and racism against Aboriginal people.

Three-part definition of Aboriginal identity

It took a 'Report on a Review of the Administration of the Working Definition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders' in 1981 to propose a new definition (my emphasis):

This was called the 'three-part' definition of Aboriginal identity and was soon adopted by all Commonwealth departments [2]. Variations of this definition were used later by legislative and government bodies. Many Indigenous persons carry 'certificates' from Indigenous organisations which state their Aboriginality.

However, the fact remains that a white authority defines who is an Indigenous person.

Without our voices, Aboriginality will continue to be a creation for privileged opportunists and will always be about us rather than by us. —Julie Tommy Walker, Innawonga woman and Aboriginal leader [35]

When Aboriginal people seek to have their Aboriginality confirmed they still encounter major hurdles, even 30 years after the three-part definition [31].

• Organisations do not recognise each other's paperwork.
• There appears to be a lack of consistency between agencies.
• There is no governing body regarding Aboriginality. It is left up to the individual organisations to interpret government rules.
• No national register or directory of Aboriginal people exists.

Proposals of genetic testing as a means of proving one's Aboriginality have been dismissed on the grounds that 'race' and 'ethnicity' are social, cultural and political constructs [2] which cannot be tested objectively.

My Aboriginal grandmother married a white man in 1916. My Aboriginal father married a white girl. I asked him 'wasn't there an Aboriginal girl?' and my dad said 'love has no colour, I loved your mother'. —Bronwyn Bancroft, Aboriginal artist and illustrator [32]

Aboriginal people defining their Aboriginality

Prior to colonisation the First People of Australia identifed themselves by their nation. They would say "I'm a Dharawal man" or "I'm an Eora woman". Some country names around the greater Sydney area include Darug (near Katoomba, Blue Mountains), Gundungurra (near Goulburn, south-west of Sydney), Dharawal (Woolongong), Eora (Sydney).

Many Aboriginal people identify themselves as belonging to several nations for example as "Yuwaalaraay and Gamilaraay". This is because

• their parents or grandparents come from these nations. Traditionally they would've come from the same nation, but contemporary relationships often involve partners from different Aboriginal nations;
• they have lived in two places and identify themselves with each.

Another way Aboriginal people identify is by their boundary or state name.

Aboriginal boundary (state) names

State	Name
New South Wales	Koori, Goorie, Koorie, Coorie, Murri
Victoria	Koorie
South Australia	Nunga, Nyungar, Nyoongah
Western Australia	Nyungar, Nyoongar
Northern Territory	Yolngu (top end); Anangu (central)
Queensland	Murri
Tasmania	Palawa, Koori

Fact If Aboriginal people think highly of you, for example because you showed respect and have a deep understanding of their culture, you are an inverted coconut because you are white on the outside yet black on the inside.
Similarly, people who blend into Chinese culture are called an egg (which is a compliment) because they are white on the outside yet yellow on the inside.

FactHowever, if Aboriginal people call one of their kind a coconut they want to express that they became white on the inside and are no longer considered to be 'one of them'.
If you are of Asian descent and have a Caucasian attitude you are called a banana—yellow on the outside but white on the inside.

Identity Intact

No matter how much you dilute
Mix, match and try to pollute
Our identity remains intact
Something you can't change, that's a fact
Our spirit is not measured by the shade of our skin
But by something stronger found within
A place you can not touch or take asway
It will remain shining out till our dying day
We all connect with it again
No matter how far we've been.

This poem was written by Deidre Currie, Tweed Heads, NSW [36]. Read more Aboriginal poetry.

The very fabric of what it means to be Aboriginal [is] that being, living and breathing the journey, walking the land as proud Aboriginal people, knowing the importance of being respectful within our community and wanting with all your heart and ability to make positive change. —Paul Ralph, CEO KARI Aboriginal Resources Inc [38]

What does it mean to you to be Aboriginal?

That was a question asked to a couple of Aboriginal people in the Blak Side Story project in Footscray, Victoria. A website presents their answers as they were recorded on video.

Videos: What does it mean to you to be Aboriginal?

Deconstructing myths about Aboriginal identity

Take the following identity test to see if you can find out which face belongs to a person who identifies as Aboriginal and which does not:

Which face belongs to an Aboriginal woman?

Tell me!

Myth: All Aboriginal people have black skin colour

This is the most common misconception of them all. Many people expect Aboriginal people to always have black skin.

This is an extract from the poem The First Australians by Troy Hopkins from Oxley, Queensland. It tells us about an Aboriginal girl yearning for her dad's darker skin colour and his own experiences [33].

My daughter wished she was my skin colour, I told her you don't want this.
This country hates me 'cause I'm black, I'm glad I can't grant this wish.
[...]
Too Black Too Strong is a way of life, my daughter has much pride.
Those blacks could learn a lot from her, her colour is inside.

In a 2008 exhibition, Not Really Aboriginal, Aboriginal artist Bindi Cole explored what non-Indigenous people thought what an "Aboriginal identity" should look like [6].

She photographed members of her light-skinned family who had blackened their faces, an allusion to early movies where white actors had blackened their skin to play Aboriginal people.

Given her background you could imagine the hurt she must have felt when people, seeing her blonde hair and blue eyes, asked "What are you? But you're not really Aboriginal...!".

With remarks people try to define Bindi's identity for her, but they are utterly racist. And the fact remains that these remarks are still 'rampant throughout Australian society' [6].

It should be emphasised that Aboriginal identity no longer has anything to do with the colour of the skin.

What is Aboriginal? According to most white experts and the media, it's a black person who lives in a remote community, has social issues and claims benefits that are way above what they deserve. So being Aboriginal but white, fairly socially adjusted and living in an urban area, where do I fit in?—Bindi Cole, Aboriginal artist

Aboriginal people are not a skin colour, we are a community and people by history, spirituality, locations, country, thinking, politics, treatment, laws, cultures and most importantly, our stories. —David Towney, readers letter, Koori Mail [18]

If you are like me with paler skin, because of an Irish mother and my later father was Aboriginal, I find myself having to explain my Aboriginality over and over [again]. —Najella Green, readers letter, Koori Mail [26]

Aboriginal people of mixed descent feel the double sword with which Australian society judges them. When they blend in or are successful it is their 'white identity', but they are Aboriginal if they go to jail, die early or suffer from alcoholism.

If you are fair-skinned or have European features, you can find yourself explaining your Aboriginality to absolutely everybody. —Sharon Livermore, Aboriginal poet [25]

Read more about Aboriginal stereotypes.

"It's hip to be black"

To add injury to insult, some non-Indigenous Australians suggest that people who identify as Aboriginal do so out of self-obsession and "driven more by politics than by any racial reality" [20].

Andrew Bolt, journalist and blogger for the Sun Herald, lists at length Aboriginal people of mixed descent who he claims have "a racial identity you could not guess from [their] features". When he proposes to "go beyond racial pride, beyond black and white" he implies that these people not claim they are Aboriginal. But he fails to suggest what they should do instead.

Bolt's article reflects an attitude felt by some Australians that mixed-descent Aboriginal people identify so to claim benefits they would otherwise not be entitled to, taking away jobs from other 'more black' or – worse – white people.

Despite popular opinion over the last several generations, no-one really in their right mind would declare Aboriginality unless it were true. The myth of the extra money and extra benefits is really a piece of crap. And the backlash far outweighs the benefits. —Sharon Livermore, Aboriginal poet [25]

What do we get out of being Indigenous? Not money, not hand-outs—but plenty of racist remarks. —Najella Green, readers letter, Koori Mail [26]

Australians like Andrew Bolt seem to forget that we have a choice. Who but prejudiced people can stop you from identifying with one part of your heritage stronger than with another? I'm sure there are people out there who have also Aboriginal blood in their veins but don't mention it with a word.

We should also not forget that the first mixed-descent Australians came into existence not by choice but through crimes by white people. Just ask any member of the Stolen Generations.

Once we we were too black and now we are too white. We reject that. Black or white, we are and always will be Aboriginal because of our unique cultural experience and identity.—Abigail Burchill, President Tarwirri Indigenous Law Students and Lawyers Association of Victoria [21]

For people who still judge Aboriginality after skin colour Abigail has these words:

Aboriginality is not a question of skin colour—it is about our cultural connection to our communities and our history, a history that is alive and thriving.—Abigail Burchill [21]

Myth: Aboriginal people live in remote communities

Young urban Aboriginal people complain about being told they are not 'real Aborigines' because they don't live in a remote community [9].

And many urban non-Indigenous people have no idea how many Aboriginal people live in the big cities.

I am often asked, 'How often do you visit Aboriginal communities?' And I reply, 'Every day, when I go home'. —Prof. Larissa Behrendt, Aboriginal lawyer [11]

Only 25 per cent of Aboriginal people live in remote areas.

While the vibrant life of urban Aboriginal communities goes mostly unnoticed, the national eyes turn willingly to reports of violence, criminal activities or antisocial behaviour (such as drinking) which then shape the perception of urban Aboriginal identity.

Too many Australian government policies are about Aboriginal people who live in remote areas, almost as though if that's not where you live you can't be a real Aboriginal person. —Nyoongar Prof Colleen Hayward, Edith Cowan University, Perth [19]

Myth: Aboriginal people are beautiful and healthy

You don't need to venture out far to find images of beautiful young Aboriginal children or adolescents promoting Australia, mainly for tourism.

But the stories behind these images can be surprisingly different. When Qantas published a similar picture of a young 18-year-old Aboriginal girl under its 'The Spirit of Australia' slogan it forgot to mention that the girl actually lived in a mission dormitory which she shared with more than a dozen in-laws, family and dogs. Her community suffered from diabetes, heart disease and obesity, and had poor access to essential services [11].

These beautiful and glamorous images about Indigenous Australia often belie the reality of these people. —Linda Burney, chairwoman NSW State Reconciliation Committee [11]

Myth: You can pick Aboriginal people by their name

Many people try to tell if a person is of Aboriginal identity by reading their names. This technique can fail easily. Take the following test:

Which name belongs to an Aboriginal person?

Tell me!

Myth: Aboriginal people cannot be successful

Another white misconception is about success of Aboriginal people. Malcolm Tulloch, former Holroyd City Council Mayor, says white people "see you as a 'blackfella' first, and whatever I have achieved, it is perceived that someone has given it to me because of my black background." [10] Hence he finds himself not making his Indigenous identity known as much as he might want to.

Challenge yourself: Do you know of someone who identifies as 'Australian' but actually has migrated to Australia? Like Melbourne's Lord Mayor John So who was born in Hong Kong. We have to be careful when we define identity because our first definition might be utterly wrong.

Apparently we're disadvantaged by being born Aboriginal. I don't accept that. —Alison Page, Aboriginal designer and TV personality [22]

What does it mean to be 'Aboriginal'?

A friend of mine [3] put it this way:

"To be Aboriginal is many things and different to all. But at this moment, to me, it includes:

• to follow a path to those who journeyed before you, similar but different,
• to hear the secret and loving stories of the land with understanding,
• to be independent,
• to hear and see with feeling that which can not be seen with open eyes,
• be part of a group,
• be as natural as the land,
• to be hospitable and enjoy hospitality."

You can only be a proud Aboriginal person if you carry your own learning and cultural lifestyle with you. —Galarrwuy Yunupingu, Chairman Yothu Yindi Foundation [29]

To me, Aboriginality is about that shared experience, that shared culture and that shared pride. —Amy McQuire, Aboriginal journalist, Koori Mail [6]

I tell my grandchildren you might not want to go to an Aboriginal dance and you might not want to talk our language, but the whitefella still calls you Aboriginal, I don't care how you act like the whitefella. You are still Aboriginal, you can't change that. —Joyce Injie, Aboriginal woman, Yinhawangka tribe [23]

Aboriginal people about Aboriginal people

Some Aboriginal people are very suspicious of their kind getting to close to whitefellas.

Aboriginal lawyer and elder Noel Pearson from Queensland, ALP powerbroker Warren Mundine, and Aboriginal academic Marcia Langton were all met with suspicions by their own people because they engaged with people from all sides [30].

Being Aboriginal is about relationships

Being Aboriginal is a lot about relationships. Here's an extract from a Welcome to Country given by Rob Welsh, Chairman of the Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council in Sydney, which illustrates in a humorous way what this means in practice:

This is a bit of wisdom that comes from one of my elders in Redfern. I was walking along Redfern Street, and an elder came up to me. And he said to me: 'Rob, as a leader in this community, there's something you gotta know. And what I'm going to tell ya affects the Aboriginal people in Redfern and right around Australia. But it also affects the people from right around the world, every culture.' He looked at me and said: 'Rob, where there's a will, there's a relative!'—Rob Welsh [5]

Peace and Aboriginality

Patrick Dodson, a respected Aboriginal elder and leader, received the 2008 Sydney Peace Prize. In his thank you speech he described what peace means to him, revealing his notion of Aboriginal identity at the same time, in an almost poetic manner [8]:

Peace from the drunks, the alcohol abuse, the violence, and the molestation that takes place...

Peace from the harassment from police, peace from discrimination and racism, that people experience when they try to get a flat or a house or seek to get a job.

Peace from the gazing eyes of the public as you enter a room because of the colour of your skin.

Peace because of the unsettled nature of our relationship with this country, which was once ours and has since been taken over...

And a peace that comes from knowing that you have to justify who you are every day of the week just because you are an Aboriginal person.

Sick of Aboriginal identity?

One would assume that Aboriginal people are always proud of their Aboriginal identity. Surprisingly some Indigenous women choose to marry outside their race as a way to escape their impoverished lifestyle [7]. Sick of their disadvantaged circumstances, which they assume would continue if they marry within their own race, they hope a white partner is the quickest way to owning a home outside the Aboriginal ghettos.

These women give up their Aboriginal identity and become white in their thinking and lifestyle. But some then face unexpected domestic violence from their white partner. Others have to deal with open or subtle racism from their partner's family even if their relationship is a loving one.

'Security to aisle three' can generally be translated as 'identifiable Aboriginal of any age shopping in aisle three'. —Sharon Livermore, Aboriginal poet [25]

Resources

Out of respect for Aboriginal culture I use Indigenous sources as much as possible.
[1] 'Aboriginal welfare', Letter to the editor, The Sydney Morning Herald, 22 November 1965, p2 [2] 'Who has defined us since 1967?', NIT, 31/5/2007 p.27 [3] www.aboriginalsoul.com [4] Stolen Wages committee submissions, http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/Committee/legcon_ctte/stolen_wages/submissions/sublist.htm, submission #12 [5] Premiere of the film Liyarn Ngarn, 22/8/2007, Hayden Orpheum, Picture Palace, Sydney [6] 'A colide-ascope of colour', NIT 10/7/2008 p.25 [7] 'Whoopi's hot air', Koori Mail 429 p.21 [8] 'Inspiring peace', Koori Mail 427 p.11 [9] 'Real Aborigines, regardless of where they come from', Koori Mail 427 p.23 [10] 'Union job for activists', Koori Mail 431 p16 [11] 'Blackout on invisible Aboriginals', NIT 159 7/8/2008 p.24 [12] 'LJ Hill releases second album', Koori Mail 440 p.50 [13] 'Peter Yu to head NT intervention review', The Age, 6/6/2008 [14] 'William Ferguson', www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A080513b.htm, 14/12/2008 [15] 'Sir Douglas Nicholls', civicsandcitizenship.edu.au/cce/default.asp?id=9156, 14/12/2008 [16] 'Shannon McGuire vies for Miss Universe Australia', www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,,23675844-2761,00.html, 14/12/2008 [17] 'Late starter finds his identity', Reconciliation News issue 13/2008 pp.6-7 [18] 'Aboriginality - More than the colour of skin', Koori Mail 444 p.27 [19] 'Leaders told: Don't ignore urban people', Koori Mail 447 p.18 [20] 'Column - White is the new black', Herald Sun 15/4/2009 http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/column_white_is_the_new_black/P120/ accessed 20/9/2009 [21] 'Bolt may face action', Koori Mail 450 p.4 [22] 'Alliance looking to bright future', Koori Mail 469 p.41 [23] 'Karijini Mirlimirli', Noel Olive, Fremantle Arts Centre Press 1997 p.73 [24] 'He's moving ahead', Koori Mail 470 p.45 [25] 'Who is black and who is white?', readers letter, Koori Mail 473 p.27 [26] 'Fair comment', Your Say, Koori Mail 476 p.25 [27] 'It's not colour of your skin', Your Say, Koori Mail 477 p.25 [28] 'The Aboriginal of Australia - More intelligent than supposed', The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA), 1/2/1932 p.14 [29] 'Yolongu celebrate', Koori Mail 483 p.37 [30] 'Cape crusader', Koori Mail 487 p.11 [31] 'Aboriginality, and the need for a better confirmation system', reader's letter, Koori Mail 489 p.24 [32] 'A work in progress', Koori Mail 497 p.21 [33] 'The First Australians', Koori Mail 498 p.25 [34] 'Aboriginal identity: 'I never had a choice'', Crikey 8/4/2011 [35] 'Woman of firsts', Koori Mail 500 p.21 [36] 'Identity Intact', Koori Mail 407 p.25 [37] 'An Aborigine in India', Koori Mail 400 p.19 [38] 'Will the NSW Govt stand up for our rights?', Koori Mail 506 p.26