ON BECOMING AUSTRALIAN
The survival of the Aboriginal people and their culture sometimes
appears miraculous to new Australians like myself. Mind you my "newness"
would be considered old by many people, my family arrived in the 1850's
and settled in Victoria. Amongst my families amateur genealogists, the
current rage is discovering our Koori relations which resulted from
"wrong-side business" instigated by various family patriarchs. This
is a cause of some embarrassment to the more upright members of the
extended family and to much glee amongst the women. (" Dontcha reckon
Uncle Alby looked a bit like a ring in?")
30 years ago (when Uncle Alby was still with us) such thoughts
would have been impossible. 40 years ago, at the time of my birth, the
survival of the race of people called Aboriginal was still very much in doubt.
If it weren't for the same forces that saw my mother pregnant, married
and full of doubt and sadness as she saw the chances of a career slip
away, it is probable that the aboriginal race would not have survived.
Women were being driven out of the workforce and back into the
home following World War 2. Women had been relied upon as a reserve
labour force and were no longer needed. But there was some resistance
to this, the taste of a working life and independence was alluring
to young women. Along with the usual propoganda, the government in 1952
introduced "Child Endowment Payments" paid directly to women with no strings
attached. It was not much initially, 10 shillings per quarter per child.
Nevertheless, the historian C.D.Rowley builds a strong case for suggesting
that this payment was responsible for reversing the long -term decline
in Aboriginal numbers since European settlement. There is much to be
learned from this, 2 pounds a year was the difference between genocide
and survival.
To most members of the senior cultures(1) in Australia their
survival is not a miracle, but merely vindication of their beliefs
and customs. Thomas Keneally's suggestion that aboriginal artists
might consider themselves to be on a civilizing mission to the
uncivilized coastal cities is probably not far from the truth.
The British attempt to impose their own culture on the
land was flawed from the beginning. What is not often acknowledged
is how what is now known as "Australian culture" has been formed
and moulded by aboriginal influences. In a trivial sort of way one
could say that it has been formed by the land, but because of
the unity between land and culture, as the new australians have
been adapting to the land they have been (whether they liked it or
not) adopting aboriginal cultural practices.
My favorite example is swearing, a practice that is
widespread in traditional culture, partly as a result of a frank
attitude to sexuality. Commentators as early as the 1840's were
appallled at the everyday language of the new australians. This
was attributed to their convict origins, the imbalance between the sexes
and a host of other reasons. But I think that it was something
we picked up from the locals.
We certainly picked up their swear words - "boong",
for instance, comes from the Ngora dialect of the Kooris who had
the misfortune to live in the Sydney region - it meant "arsehole"
originally. Other examples of aboriginal influence would include
Australian rules football in which aboriginal influence is of
issue of some contention, the rockabilly influence in australian
rock and roll, the strength of environmental consciousness in
Australia. Casualness in behaviour and apparel is a response to
the environment (who needs a suit on a hot day), but this air
of casualness extends into many habitats where, on occassion,
it seems startingly inappropriate, and singularly identifiable
as an Oz characteristic.
During the Rugby world cup last year whilst the Kiwis
danced a haka, the Welsh and the Scots sang lustily, and the
British stood to attention, the Aussies picked their teeth
with a blade of grass or wandered around looking a bit embarrassed
as they tried to remember the words to Advance Australia Fair.
Until the game started.
I watched this amazed because it was so like the behaviour
one sees all the time in films of corroborees and ceremonies within
the aboriginal cultures. It's an affected casualness, that disguises
the fact that something important is about to happen. It's something
that truly marks apart and is shared in common by both Australian
cultures.
These examples are not meant to comprise a thesis - but
to redress the imbalance. Because aboriginal people were not only
here contrary to the doctrine of "Terra nullius" , but they
have been here ever since and the doctrine of "Culture nullius"
which is often implied especially towards those aboriginal people
who live in the cities is equally a falsehood.
Today, the cultures of the Pintubi, the Pitjantjatjara and to
a lesser extent other western desert tribes remain mostly unchanged.
The "law" is still alive. The economic poverty of these people
is still a threat, young people are distracted from the law by the
allure of white society. But the old people are not stupid, they plan
for the next generation rather than for next year. If they could
convince the government to do the same we would all be better off.
There is the whiff of a sea change in the air. Respect and
recognition of this ancient culture is being sung and painted
and written about by a new generation of writers both new and
old Australians. The complexity as opposed to the mere existence of the
senior cultures is coming into focus. A vision is being born
of ancient traditions infusing and enhancing everyday life.
At Albany recently, a Military Tattoo was held. An event
appropriate to a small town with a strong sense of it's place
in history as an outpost of the British Empire. The Tattoo was
opened by aboriginal dancers and closed in darkness to the
voice of a single didgeridoo. The conservative mayor of the Town
commented later that the lone didgeridoo " was the high point
of the night" for her, echoing away in the darkness as the guns
and the shouting fell silent. She said that it was a first for
a military tatoo and that she was "quite sure" that it would not be
the last.
The definition of an aboriginal australian according to
the law is " a person who is accepted as an aboriginal by the
aboriginal community". This definition evolved out of the 1966
Constitutional amendment, and if my memory serves me correctly,
was partially a result of the morass that had been created by the
classification of people as half-caste, full blood etc. Genetics,
it was acknowledged was more trouble than it was worth.
The answer to people who claim that aborigines get
'special treatment' , that they should not be given land rights
because it is 'discrimination' is simple. If they wish to
avail themselves of this 'special treatment' then they can become
an aborigine simply by being accepted as one by their local
community. To my mind this is an admirable aim.
We are the midwives at the birth of a new dawn. A new
polymorphpous peverse culture is being born. Like all new born
it requires constant care and attention, young life is fragile.
This culture will encompass all immigrant cultures, grounding them in
the land, in the oldest culture of them all. The differences
between the immigrants' various cultures pales into insignificance
when compared to the differences between them and the senior cultures.
The new culture will find new resonances and harmonies previously
unseen and unheard. The didgeridoo may be the oldest musical
instrument in the world, it sounds like the newest.
(1) The phrase "the senior culture" was coined by the poet, Les Murray
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"He who's not busy being born, is busy dying" (Bob Dylan)
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Bob Howard: e-mail:- IGC peg:rmhoward, Internet rmhoward@peg.pegasus.oz.au
tree-mail:- 19 Carlisle St, Albany, W.A., 6330.
voice-mail:- Australia - 098-413805
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