Blackfellas - and Not-So-Blackfellas

     My tour leader in Kakadu and related areas of the Northern Territory in 1986 was half Aboriginal. "Because my mother is Aboriginal," he told us, "I am able to relate to them. But I would never be considered one of them. I'm khaki coloured."

     "Yellow fellow" is another term they used for mixed bloods. (I myself don't.) Aboriginal society makes distinctions which we whitefellas in the coastal zones fail to see. Nevertheless, in the interest of clarity, I shall now show you what Australian Aborigines look like.

     And in case anyone objects to my use of the term, "blackfella", kindly note that they use it for themselves, and call us "whitefellas", a term which causes no offence. I regard these words as informal terms, like "paleface" and "redskin" - not derogatory, but more likely to be used in informal conversation than in formal essays. Nevertheless, someone was taken to task recently for using the familiar word, "Aborigines" on the ABC. It is getting harder and harder to keep up with political correctness. In any case, here is a series of photos of what Aborigines look like. Make sure you scan down to the end, to see the significance.

     This is Ted of the Mirriwong tribe in the Kimberleys, W.A. When I took the photo a couple of months ago, I neglected to ask his last name. In any case, he is a wonderful outgoing person, who works as a highly articulate and informative guide of the Argyll Diamond Mine, currently being decommissioned.

    At this point, according to the almost universal customs of the media, it is traditional to warn that some of the pictures refer to people who have died. Now, common sense tells you that there was no photography or even realistic portraiture among the Aborigines prior to contact with the white man. The custom of avoiding such depictions must be of recent origin, and it is surprising that it has spread continent wide. No-one has ever explained the reason for this custom, but I am aware that, in traditional society, the name of the deceased was not mentioned, lest it attract the attention of his ghost. Whether that now applies to pictures and taped voices I do not know, but one may conjecture. In any case, some of these photos are of people who have died.

     This lady passed away this very year: Rosalie Lynette Kunoth-Monks (1937-2022) of the Arunta (Arrente) tribe in Central Australia. One eighth Caucasian by ancestry, she received whitefella education, but was nevertheless immersed in the tribal life of the Anmatjere subgroup of the tribe. A long time community leader and activist, she is best remembered for the leading role in the 1955 movie, Jedda, from which this picture is taken. In a television interview, she explained that the producer, Charles Chauvel didn't think Rosie sounded like a good Aboriginal name, so he asked her the name of her "skin" or clan. She told him Pnuggan. (I have rendered it phonetically, but have no idea of the official spelling.) Not good enough. He asked her mother's skin name, and was told Naala (again, written phonetically). He decided to adopt this name for the film, and called her Ngarla Kunoth on the credits. Rosie said she was outraged.

     The man on the right was her co-star, Robert Tudawali (1929 - 1967), from Melville Island. If he looks a bit wild, it is because he played a wild man in the movie.

     

     On the right is Bess Price of the Warlpiri tribe. She is a Northern Territory politician who catches flak in some circles because she tells it like it is about domestic violence in remote Aboriginal communities.   Her story can be found here.

       Here we have a portrait of Albert Namatjira (1902 - 1959), the famous Arunta (Arrente) painter of Central Australian landscapes in water colours. 

     The old photograph on the right shows the Rev. Lazarus Lamilami (c1913 - 1977), of the Maung tribe of Arnhem Land, with his wife and daughter.
 He was a prominent evangelist to his people, and was ordained a minister in the Methodist church.

      Here we have a photo, probably taken in the 1960s, of an unnamed elder of the Pitjantjatjara people of Central Australia.

     This handsome individual was Gwoya Tjungurayi (c 1895 -1965), otherwise known as "One Pound Jimmy", because he used to make and sell boomerangs for one pound - which was a lot of money then. He survived one of the last white-on-black massacres, and shot to fame with this cover of the Walkabout magazine of September 1936. (The original, full length photo shows him in his native costume ie nothing at all.) In 1950 his face made history by becoming the first one of a living Australian to feature on a postage stamp, In fact, he became so famous he had to shave off his beard to avoid recognition.

     I took the following picture from the December 1916 edition of the National Geographic, and left in the caption simply as an indication of contemporary attitudes, not because I believe it. (The author appears to confuse material culture with intelligence.)

      

      Finally, we have photo of a family from Peppiminarti in the Northern Territory: Captain and Mary Woditj, with their four year old son, Daniel. That little boy decided to go pig hunting, and swam two crocodile infested rivers, thereby demonstrating that the spirit of bushcraft is by no means extinct in the younger generation.

       Now that you know what Aborigines look like, you may wish to be reminded of how someone with absolutely no indigenous ancestry appears. The photo at right is how I looked a quarter of a century ago. I am of mixed ancestry, being 13/16 English and 3/16 Irish, and so can claim to be typical of mainstream Australia.

     With this in mind, we shall now examine some recent photographs of prominent modern Aborigines. At least, the newspapers and television all hail them as Aborigines, and often cite them as example of the advancement of indigenous Australians in our society. But nobody - nobody at all - ever mentions the elephant in the room. Can you see it?

 

   This is our tennis star, Ash Barty, born 1996, who this year retired undefeated champion of the court. Through her great-grandmother, she is a member of the Ngarigo tribe, and so hailed as an inspiration for indigenous people throughout the country (like those depicted in the earlier part of this essay, no doubt).

  

 

    Here we have John Maynard, a member of the Worimi tribe of Port Stephens, NSW. He is Professor Emeritus of Indigenous Education and Research at Newcastle University.

    

     Larissa Behrendt is a Kamilaroi woman who is a Professor at the University of Technology, Sydney, and is the author of a number of books, and a number of films, all on Aboriginal subjects.

Her genealogical history is somewhat complex.

     This is Lidia Thorpe, an Aboriginal member of the Senate, and as such claims descent from the  DjabWurrung, Gunnai, and Gunditjmara tribes of Victoria through her maternal great-great-grandmother. She is noted for declaring that her entry into the Senate represents an infiltration of the colonizers' system, and for racist rants against white people, plus offensive statements about our late Queen. However, she is the deputy leader of the Greens in the Senate, so what can you expect?

     Josephine Cashman is a member of the Warrimay tribe of central coastal New South Wales, and was once a NSW Crown Prosecutor. Her political opinions are completely opposite those of Lidia Thorpe. In fact, she once stood for Parliament as a One Nation candidate.

     Clarence Stockee is a member of the Bandjalung tribe of northeast New South Wales. He is the Education Officer at the Sydney Botanical Gardens, and appears frequently on the ABC program, Gardening Australia.

     Jack Evans is one of two Aborigines working for the ABC who happen to be homosexual, and who thus tick two boxes in the ABC's (legally suspect) diversity program. Isn't it good when you can kill two birds with the one stone?

      Here we have Julie Gough, an artist of the Trawlwoolway tribe of northern Tasmania.

     This is Arlene Mehan, an indigenous civil celebrant. It is not stated to which tribe she belongs, but she is behind a campaign to remove a statue of our first Prime Minister.

     So now you have a good idea about what modern urban Aborigines - the ones lauded and lionised by the media - look like. How do they compare to those in the first half of this essay? Can you see the elephant in the room? If you can, be careful where and how you comment on it. There are some things not supposed to be spoken about in today's society.

    John Ray has a similar gallery of modern Aborigines.

    Sydney University is examining the situation.

  

   We now have a website tracing family trees and exposing Aboriginal academics who may not be what they claim to be.

PS I keep finding more examples. Here is Linda Augusto, who is a Wiradjuri woman, who was introduced to her Aboriginal heritage by her grandmother.

You can read her touching story here.

     This is Lauren O'Dwyer, a Labor candidate in the 2022 Victorian state election. She describes herself as a single mother, a lesbian, and a "proud Yorta Yorta woman". I have noticed that every Aborigine is proud of his or her heritage. In her case, it comes via her great-grandfather, Graham Berry. For some reason, however, Mr. Berry's daughter (I presume her great-aunt), Joan Keele insisted that Graham Berry never claimed Aboriginal descent, and the Yorta Yorta Nation and Aboriginal Council claims no knowledge of her. (See here.) It's pretty tough when your own family and your own tribe refuse to stick up for you.

     Here we have Kerry White, an elder of the Narungga tribe of Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. Unlike some other Aborigines, she is against the Welcome to Country ritual, the proposed Aboriginal Voice, and the Canadian term, First Nations. She calls urban Aborigines claiming indigenous status "tick-a-boxers". She also ran as a One Nation candidate in the South Australian election.

This is Ash Gardner, a lesbian cricket star from the Muruwari tribe of northwest NSW, beyond Bourke and Lightning Ridge. She has adopted the Central Australian custom of dot painting, along with smoking ceremonies, but she has an issue with Australia Day.

       Here we have Marcus Stewart, co-chair of the First Peoples Assembly in Victoria, campaigner for The Voice, and husband of Labor Senator Jana Stewart. He belongs to the Taungurung tribe Nation by descent from his great great grandfather, John Franklin. The latter was an orphan fostered by a white family, who later married a white woman, and became a prominent farmer and, later, ran a tea shop with his wife.

      He also comes from a long line of Scottish aristocracy.

       This is Blake Stockton, a Wiradjuri man from the Nation of Three Rivers mob in western New South Wales. (It is unclear how many nations belong to the Wiradjuri entity.) For over a decade he ought indigenous cultures and history at four different high schools, and now he is the RACQ's Reconciliation Action Plan Program Specialist. Although he doesn't actually say so, he appears to be a supporter of the Aboriginal Voice, because people like him are unable to make their needs and desires known.

     This is Celeste Liddle, a writer for the Guardian, and she belongs to the Arrente tribe, the same as Albert Namatjira and Rosalie Kunoth-Monks (see above).

      Here we have the entire newly elected Victorian First Peoples' Assembly (2023).

This is Tarneen Onus, who is clearly of mixed ancestry. According to Mamamia, "

Tarneen Onus Williams is a proud Gunditjmara, Bindal, Yorta Yorta person and Torres Strait Islander from Mer and Erub islands. Tarneen is a community organiser for Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance working on Invasion Day, Black Deaths in Custody and Stop the forced closures of Aboriginal Communities in WA. They [sic] are also a filmmaker and writer."

       One of our most prominent Aborigines is Ray Martin, who has for many years been one of the country's leading television presenters. He has recently discovered that his great-great-grandmother was a Kamilaroi woman.

       Andrew Bolt has some interesting comments here. (Make sure you go to 3.34 to see a group of Aborigines who have graduated from university by means of a scholarship provided for members of their race.)

     Julia Cornwell McKean recently discovered that she is a Wiradjuri woman, because her father was a member of the "Stolen Generations", having been taken from his parents at the age of three months. In 2023 she was elected as the first Indigenous mayor of the Berrigan Shire Council. She immediately started opening Council with a "Welcome to Country" ceremony, using the Aboriginal flag, and endorsing the Uluru Statement.

     Jay Walton has just discovered he is an Aborigine, his great-grandparents having belonged to the Worimi nation around Port Stephens, NSW. He is now explaining how celebrating Australia Day and flying the Australian flag are breaches of human rights.