Author Celeste Liddle.
It’s not uncommon for people to ask me what term I prefer to use when describing my background from my father’s side of the family. In most instances, my answer is plainly and simply “Black”.
In the past when I have stated this to non-Indigenous people, some have shifted uncomfortably. This is because they make the wrongful assumption that the term ‘black’ focuses on outward appearance and is therefore offensive. I, however, have long preferred ‘black’ and the many terms associated with it. There are many reasons why this is the case.
I am formally an “Arrernte Australian”. “Arrernte” is my tribal background and comes from three branches of my father’s extended family. “Australian” is from my mother’s side, but due to my dual heritage and my personal alignment with the sovereignty movement, I am never just Australian. My father wasn’t considered Australian until he was 17 years old, so I find the term “First Australians” particularly irksome. Aboriginal people were the last ones to be considered “Australian” in this country, and definitely the last individuals to be considered “people”. To gloss over that by using the term “First Australians” washes history clean. Plus it’s a term used in a Seekers song which I find irritating and which Pauline Hanson was once filmed singing…
A lot of our community organisations are currently dropping the term ’Indigenous’ (which came into popular usage when Amanda Vanstone was the Minister for Indigenous Affairs) and returning to ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’ with the acronym ‘ATSI’.
That’s because ‘Indigenous’ homogenises two broad and distinct groups. What’s more, it occasionally gets misappropriated by people wishing to discredit the unique status that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people hold as ‘first peoples’ of this country. There’s also the fact that it only means ‘native to the land’ when the alternative, ‘Aborigine’ means ‘an original inhabitant of a country or region who has been there from the earliest known times.’ Both these terms are, however, umbrella terms I use only for convenience, and they are not our own.
I am generally happy to be referred to by some of our own collective terms; eg: Koorie, Goori, Palawa, Murri. Being Arrernte though, and coming from a region of the country where we don’t use collective terms apart from greater tribal groupings, I am technically none of those.
When referring to myself, and particularly talking with someone who I assume won’t understand what I mean by ‘Arrernte’, I tend to use the term ‘Black’. Why? Because in this country the term ‘Black’ carries a lot of political weight. It is word that has power and a term that we’ve reclaimed. After years of removal policies and stolen generations based on the tone of one’s skin and their alleged blood quanta, to state that you are ‘Black’ regardless is defiant. It proclaims resilience in the face of harsh assimilation policies proudly. People sometimes fear that otherness, when what they should do is embrace it and recognise that it is important and something to celebrate.
I like other reclaimed terms too such as ‘mob’ (our people). That a term was used pejoratively when we were considered no more than animals, but we’ve since adopted it and it’s now a commonly used colloquial term in the community is something I enjoy.
But here’s the thing: there’s no set of rules that everyone agrees on. We are not homogenous, and whilst I’ve stated and defined why I like and dislike various terms, other people do not feel the same way. And nor should they.
It’s up to the individual, the family, the community to define what they are most comfortable with and for others to respect that. Too many times I have seen non-Indigenous people state what the preferred terms for Indigenous people are based on what they have been told at one point or what they assume from their gathered knowledge, and I have shuddered at what they have come up with. Don’t tell – ask! Then go from there. You can bet after years of being defined by the government we have some very strong opinions.
First published here at www.dailylife.com.au
Thanks for this post Celeste. I really enjoyed reading your honest, well written piece and have learnt a lot from what you’ve written. I was told that the acronym ATSI was offensive back in the 90’s; is that generally not offensive now with community groups? You’ve given me a lot to think about.
Love your post Celeste. I understand the difficulties with the different terminologies used to mean Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. I tend to use the longwinded inclusive Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander then use Indigenous as an inclusive term, countering it with non-Indigenous. Much as I feel some disquiet over the word Indigenous, the sneaky way some academics (and even recently non-academic, Bolt who is as Indigenous as the cane toad) try to appropriate the word using semantics and all sorts of outrageous justifications makes me determined to use it. There was even a non-Indigenous non-white new migrant to Australia say on The Converstation, that she was Indigenous, to another country, so therefore she claimed to be part of Indigenous Australia. I assured her that she was not!
Sadly, I have also heard black non-Indigenous Australians use the same argument – that they are ‘black’ Australians and therefore should be able to get all the perceived benefits that Indigenous Australians are supposed to get.
So I tend to name and claim the word Indigenous, much like you mention we have done with ‘mob’.
One thing is for sure, the original peoples of Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, face an ongoing attack that seeks to de-legitimise their identity. It is a facet of ongoing colonisation.