Who is Indigenous?
You might meet a person who says they're Indigenous but you're doubtful because they don't look the way you think Indigenous people should look.
Perhaps their skin is not as dark as Aboriginal or Torres Islander people you see on television, perhaps they're dressed differently to how you imagine we should be, perhaps they live in the city and you thought 'real' Aboriginal people live in the desert.
In Australia today, there are three legal 'tests' that determine whether a person is Indigenous. They must:
-
be of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent,
-
identify as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person, and
-
be recognised as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander by other Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people.
Skin colour has nothing to do with defining whether a person is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. Terms like 'half-caste', 'part Aboriginal' or 'mixed blood' are meaningless and can be deeply offensive. Such terms have been used to control and divide Indigenous people. They are words that belong to the past because they are words that are divisive, damaging and meaningless.
There are many Indigenous people today who have pale skin and live in cities. The reasons for this are varied. For a long time, governments deliberately tried to ‘breed out’ Aboriginality by dictating who we could and could not marry. Many also began relationships with non-Indigenous people by choice.
All Indigenous people take pride in their ancestry that goes back tens of thousands of years. Indigenous cultures have evolved over time, just like all cultures, such as through contact with other people, new technologies and new ideas. Whilst Indigenous Australians move between two cultures they are still incorporating traditional practices and beliefs in their everyday life.
Previous Next