This post is the second in a series of five taken from “Aboriginal Australia, Non-Aboriginal Australia”, an essay by John Tracey.
So what is a “non-Aboriginal” person? I believe Oodgeroo Noonuccal was the first person to use the term “non-Aboriginal”. It was a subtle but radical redefinition of race relations. Instead of defining Aboriginal people by their difference from mainstream Australians, this new term define mainstream Australians by their difference from Aboriginality. A “non Aboriginal” person is easy to identify within the ATSIC definitions, as someone who fails the test of Aboriginality.
But do non-Aboriginal people also have ancestors? Are we not also connected through our bloodline to the very first humans? Of course we are, unless we belong to a different species. The Aboriginal view of reality by way of dreaming is equally applicable to European or any other non-Aboriginal bloodlines. But while the specific places where our ancestors were born and are buried do exist, they are not on this continent.
It seems, then, that the difference between an Aboriginal person and a non-Aboriginal person is a matter of bloodline but not necessarily genetics. This definition of difference still does not explain difference in culture, consciousness and behavior. There are many Aboriginal people who work in the mainstream institutions such as the bureaucracy or church who believe and behave in ways identical to their non-Aboriginal associates. Similarly there are many non-Aboriginal people who play important roles in Aboriginal society – including traditional tribal society – which are identical to their Aboriginal associates. Some non-Aboriginal people even achieve tribal initiation, fully incorporating them into traditional family structure, but this does not change that persons bloodline or dreaming.
It seems to me that the difference between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal culture, consciousness and behavior is a very different question from the difference between an Aboriginal or non-Aboriginal person.
Posted in opinion | Tags: Indigenous Australians, Indigenous issues, opinion
