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Cathy Freeman's racial background is Chinese, English and Aboriginal. AAP/ Dean Lewins

All too often the matter of Australian Aboriginal identity is decided superficially - by looking at a person's face and general appearance. Colour is often the measure of Aboriginality, since the original peoples were black or brown, depending on their location in the country.

But, given recognition and identity are areas of acute importance to Aboriginal people, this bears closer scrutiny. I write here with insider knowledge: I am Warraimay from the mid north coast of New South Wales.

Questions about the right of people of mixed-race to identify as Aboriginal are often raised by the settler colonial society. The most notorious example was in 2011 when Andrew Bolt wrote a column in the Herald Sun questioning the claims to Aboriginality of several high profile light-skinned Aboriginal people - who then successfully brought legal action against him.

That was a classic case of questioning the identity of Aboriginal people of mixed-race because they did not "look like" the stereotype of an Aboriginal person.

It's not only white people who have formed families with Aboriginal people to produce children of mixed race. People of South Asian, Middle Eastern and African descent, among others, have done so from the early 19th century to the present. Those people, while of mixed race, can seem to be "more Aboriginal" because they are of a darker colour.

Who decides on identity?

The task of deciding who is Aboriginal is increasingly that of state-based organisations, such as universities and government departments. All too often the important subject of identity is decided by subjective assumptions and outdated stereotypes.

The all-important research-base for Aboriginal descent and connection is seldom considered. Understanding the history of the Aboriginal family provides us with a better way to approach the complex issue of Aboriginal identity.

Findings about Aboriginal identity are an important aspect of the research that has been undertaken as part of the ongoing ARC-funded project - More than Family History: Race, Gender and the Aboriginal family in Australian history - of which I am the lead researcher.

The people now known as Aboriginal were known as Australians until the 1830s. The term "Australian" was co-opted by settler colonials to describe themselves, while "Aboriginal" was used to homogenise what was even then a very diverse population, covering an immense geography. Already by that time there were generations of mixed-race people in this community.

Life histories

Evidence collected from more than 200 Aboriginal biographies and autobiographies, such as Aileen Morgan's The Calling of the Spirits (2000), Harold Hunt's Memoirs from the Corner Country (2006) and Marty Dodd's They liked me, the horses, straightaway (2000), indicate that, unlike white people, the way in which Aboriginal people define themselves has little to do with race.

Those life histories cover a vast geography and time-frame. They give us the opportunity to understand the development of Aboriginal identity. Aboriginal people in this study describe themselves in 50 different ways that mostly indicate their mixed racial background.

Many Aboriginal people have more ancestors in the last two or three generations who are not "Aboriginal" than who are.

The inadequacy of "race"

Being of Aboriginal descent is crucial because this is our link to country and the natural world. But at the same time, Aboriginal people do not rely on a race-based identity. In fact, while those people writing their life stories and their family histories are often interested to acknowledge non-Aboriginal ancestors, they do not identify with them.

They continue to be Aboriginal.

Western scientific thought has reached a point at which the notion of human difference based on race being meaningful in any way is rejected. As Darren Curnoe, evolution specialist has asserted, the idea of "race" was never scientific to begin with.

The majority of people who identify as Aboriginal in Australia today are of mixed-race. So, on what basis do they do so?

Culture as the basis of Aboriginal identity

The answer to this is culture, more particularly the intangible aspects of culture that are transmitted through families and kinship systems.

A person is Aboriginal when they have living Aboriginal relations; this is the primary aspect of cultural connectedness. Aboriginal bureaucrats recruited into the new Commonwealth Department of Aboriginal Affairs in the early 1970s sat down together to develop the "government" definition of an Aboriginal person.

Those Aboriginal leaders were thinking of kinship when they developed the three items that form the basis of this identity: descent, identification and acceptance as an Aboriginal person.

Family, kinship, relatedness and connectedness are the basis of Aboriginal world-views and the philosophy that underpins the development of Aboriginal social organisation.

When we meet each other, in whatever circumstance, we talk genealogies, relationships and connectedness. This is common to indigenous people around the globe and is recognised as the basis for knowledge production - in New Zealand, the Maori people call it whakapapa.

In English, the word "genealogy" is inadequate to explain the import of genealogical connection to not only people but place, through time. In Aboriginal languages for example, the word "tjukurrpa" of language groups in Central Australia encapsulates all of this.

And so it is that continuing cultural values and practice are the true basis of Aboriginal identity in the whole of Australia today.

Understanding the true nature of Aboriginal identity gives us an opportunity to begin to make decisions on who has the right to claim Aboriginality. And Aboriginal people must be active in this, to define and establish what it means to be Aboriginal.

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Culture, not colour, is the heart of Aboriginal identity

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All too often the matter of Australian Aboriginal identity is decided superficially - by looking at a person's face and general appearance. Colour is often the measure of Aboriginality, since the original peoples were black or brown, depending on their location in the country.

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It's 50 years since Indigenous Australians first 'counted'. Why has so little changed?

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In 1967 Australia voted in a landmark referendum to finally include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in its census. But, as Paul Daley reports, the fight for genuine equality is far from over

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PAULINE Hanson has accused indigenous organisations of "milking" land rights claims.

In an interview with Sky News Australia last night, the One Nation leader said she gets upset when people say this is Aboriginal land and Australians stole it - arguing she "didn't steal it" and it is something that happened in the past.

"When people claim I don't have any connection with this land, I'm sorry I do. There's no other land I feel I would fight for, defend, that I am so proud as I do Australia," Ms Hanson said.

She said migrants who have come to this country have embarrassed its values and culture and call themselves Australians, but fired up over people who claim it to be Aboriginal land.

"I get really upset when people say we have no connection with the land, that this is Aboriginal land, that we stole it. Well, I didn't steal it," she told Sky News.

"I see people that have jumped onto the bandwagon. The Aboriginal industry to milk it for what it's worth. That's what I get annoyed about."

Ms Hanson also called for "equality" so that Australians get government assistance based completely on individual needs, with cultural background not considered.

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PAULINE Hanson has accused indigenous organisations of "milking" land rights claims. In an interview with Sky News Australia last night, the One Nation leader said she gets upset when people say this is Aboriginal land and Australians stole it - arguing she "didn't steal it" and it is something that happened in the past.

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Kathy Mills wants to see Australians use their wealth of reconciliatory tools - from a simple handshake to the words "g'day cobber" or "fair go mate" - to ignite a change in the nation.

Today marks the start of National Reconciliation Week

It aims to reflect on and improve the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians

The theme this year is "Grounded in truth: Walk together with courage"

The prominent Northern Territory elder has spent her life striving for reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and while she believes progress has stalled, she said restarting it could come through a simple, heartfelt gesture.

Today marks the first day of National Reconciliation Week, which aims to reflect on and improve the relationship between Australians, while celebrating a shared history.

This year, the theme is "Grounded in truth: Walk together with courage".

But while Ms Mills, who recently became a Member of the Order of Australia, said it is a "very promising" sentiment, the lack of change that came after Kevin Rudd's National Apology to Stolen Generations in 2008 has made her cautious about getting her hopes up.

"This has been a marathon for me and for the Aboriginal people of Australia," she said.

"And it's very sad because we've never reached the point of truth and sharing.

"We have had our national apology, we thought we were going to surface from there.

"But an apology without restoration is null and void.

"Reconciliation has to come before anything can prosper and we can walk together."

This year's National Reconciliation Week theme is "Grounded in truth: Walk together with courage".(ABC News: Owain Stia-James)

'We've got to open the door'

Australia remains one of the only Commonwealth countries without a treaty or treaties with its Indigenous people.

Ms Mills spoke about the progress made back in 1979, when the National Aboriginal Council recommended a Treaty of Commitment be entered into between the Australian Government and Aboriginal nations.

It recommended a word for an Indigenous language should be used for the process, and "Makarrata" was selected, which Ms Mills said meant "peace talks after conflict".

"[But] they didn't want that explanation because they didn't want to admit that there was a conflict. So we lost that," she said.

More recently, the Uluru Statement from the Heart called for a constitutionally enshrined First Nation's Voice to parliament.

But this idea has so far been rejected by the Coalition Government.

"It got all the way to the door and the door has not been opened," Ms Mills said.

"We've got to open the door. It will be very important."

Kungarakan traditional owner Kathy Mills hopes to see reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.(ABC News: Terry McDonald)

'There's an element that we have to fix'

Asked whether she believed Australia was making progress in achieving reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, Ms Mills said "sadly, no" despite a majority of Australians pushing for it.

"There's an element that is not surfacing that is holding Australian people back," she said.

"The Australian people who have marched with us, demonstrated with us who have supported us all the way have been disappointed as well.

"I'm not saying the whole of Australia, [but] there's an element that we have to fix.

"We don't want to cause any bad feeling, we want us to get together as mates and do it the right way. And there's many of us who believe in that - we just can't get to the point."

But she believed there was still hope, and that the best way forward was with a simple, familiar gesture.

"A handshake. A 'g'day cobber'. We've got it all there. A 'fair go mate'," she said.

"Let's put words to action. It's there - we just have to do it."

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Australia's reconciliation efforts are making no progress, Aboriginal elder says

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Kathy Mills wants to see Australians use their wealth of reconciliatory tools - from a simple handshake to the words "g'day cobber" or "fair go mate" - to ignite a change in the nation.

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CAPTURING striking images of three generations of empowered Aboriginal females is the basis of Dianella photographer Sasha Mortimore's latest project to celebrate Naidoc Week from July 8-15.

Inspired by this year's theme, 'Because of her we can', she captured Balga resident Evelyn Mitchell, daughter Anne Mitchell and granddaughter Dana Woodley to represent their matriarchal heritage.

Former Mercy College (Koondoola) schoolmates, Mrs Mortimore and Anne worked together to bring the project to life with Ms Mitchell and her only daughter Dana (10) flying to Perth from Karratha for the occasion.

Ms Mitchell, who comes from the Pitjakarli tribe and is part of the Nygangumarta language group, said the project recognised strong influential women in her family who shaped her identity and who taught her how to mentor younger generations through a connection to her indigenous culture.

"My late grandmother Lucy Mitchell was a big part of my life growing up and I learnt who I was through her and discovered myself through her taking me back to country and showing me where we're from, out near Telfer where I felt a big sense of belonging," she said.

"My grandmother is my roots, my rock and as indigenous people our grandmothers are who we are and it's important to have that bond because it shapes your identity."

Ms Mitchell's grandmother Lucy and her husband Ernie were civil rights advocates and helped lead one of the longest strikes in Australia where unpaid Aboriginal labourers stopped working in Pilbara pastoral stations.

Ms Mitchell said her mother Evelyn grew up knowing the strength of her mother and knowing her worth which had filtered down the generations.

"My mum is an indigenous mentor too and she's helped a lot of indigenous women and men in Telfer through the issue of having a gold mine up there and supporting them for our land rights," she said.

"My mother has done so much for other people, not just indigenous people but for other cultures and I look up to her in that respect because she walks in those two worlds, she's my role model and I wish to show my daughter that we need to help everybody, not just our people.

"Remembering our past and knowing that time can change and things can be better, we all just need to work together."

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CAPTURING striking images of three generations of empowered Aboriginal females is the basis of Dianella photographer Sasha Mortimore's latest project to celebrate Naidoc Week from July 8-15. Inspired by this year's theme, 'Because of her we can', she captured Balga resident Evelyn Mitchell, daughter Anne Mitchell and granddaughter Dana Woodley to represent their matriarchal heritage.

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Drawing on over 770 responses from local Indigenous education leaders, non-local leaders, and Indigenous community members, the research found bilingual or first language education had not been prioritised in recent years.

"This is exactly why having a well-trained local workforce is so important-local educators not only speak local languages but they know their community,"

Mr Guenther said the leaders thought it was important to be "strong in both worlds" - to both deepen connections to local culture and succeed in Australia's wider education system.

"We believe that our children are happier learning first in their own language. They have more confidence in learning, in themselves and they learn more effectively," one local Indigenous leader said.

According to the study, non-local leaders' priorities aligned less with those of remote Indigenous communities and were more concerned with systemic issues, such as employment strategies, policy and political contexts, measurable outcomes, workforce development and issues of race and equity.

Dr Guenther said this was due to the demands placed on them by the education system: "These non-local leaders grappled with tension between the desires of local communities and the issues they had to report on to education authorities."

"The tension is more acute for local Aboriginal school leaders, who are caught in the middle between these two worlds."

"Too often, remote community schools or schools in remote areas set themselves up as islands and they set themselves up as the institution that is going to resolve the issue with Indigenous people when in reality that's not the case."

Community members also had priorities which were "not high on the list of important concerns for either non-local leaders or remote Aboriginal leaders", such as academic outcomes, health and wellbeing and relationships.

"The evidence shown here may suggest that system priorities about what matters and what communities think matters are largely mutually exclusive with very little overlap," he said.

"Local Aboriginal leaders may act as a bridge or a broker between the two, but there is only so much they can do."

While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox each Friday at 6am from the Katherine Times. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, sign up here.

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First language teaching essential for Indigenous education

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Drawing on over 770 responses from local Indigenous education leaders, non-local leaders, and Indigenous community members, the research found bilingual or first language education had not been prioritised in recent years.

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Posted November 01, 2018 12:50:48

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are dying from heart disease at twice, and in some regions, triple the rate of non-Indigenous people in the same communities, according to new data from the Heart Foundation.

The figures come from hospital admissions across the nation, and lay bare the stark difference in health outcomes for heart patients.

One of those patients is 44-year-old Trevor Riley, who last week suffered a major heart attack in his remote community of Minyerri, 450 kilometres from Darwin.

He identified his symptoms of a painful arm and immediately called a community clinic, after which he was flown to the Royal Darwin Hospital.

It was the second serious heart complication Mr Riley has experienced, after having his aortic valve replaced at the age of 40, in Adelaide.

"I was in a coma for 27 days with my partner, just praying and praying, just like an angel on top of me. I came back from sleep and came back really safely. But now I'm back in hospital, I don't know what's happening with me," Mr Riley said.

As an Aboriginal man in outback Northern Territory, Mr Riley is almost three times more likely than a non-Aboriginal man to wind up in hospital due to heart disease.

The Territory and Western Australia have the widest gaps in hospitalisation rates, with a ratio of 4.4 in WA's Wheatbelt

"At a national level we've known about the heart health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians for some time, but this new data actually tells us how stark that gap is across some of Australia's regions," the Heart Foundation's health equity manager Jane Potter said.

"In the NT, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are hospitalised for heart failure at a rate of six times that of non-Indigenous women living in the Northern Territory."

The new figures don't surprise Marcus Ilton, one of a handful of cardiologists based in Darwin, but he is shocked by the young age of his Indigenous patients, many who have developed rheumatic heart disease from childhood.

"Seeing a young 18-year-old lady who's having her first pregnancy who's already had valve surgery, has now got a valve that's been repaired but it's still not working well so the risk of her getting through pregnancy is a major difficulty ... sometimes we have to advise people that they may not survive the pregnancy," he said.

"Rheumatic heart disease is a sad story that Australia really does need to improve. But the other side of it is heart disease is also affecting 20 and 30-year-olds. We've had episodes of 20 and 30-year-olds playing footy and having a heart attack."

Ms Potter wants the new evidence to inform the Government's Close the Gap policy.

"This really highlights the association between heart disease and socioeconomic disadvantage," she said.

"Good heart health is associated with a good income, adequate housing, secure employment, access to affordable healthy food, and in some of these regions there is persistent disadvantage."

Topics: heart-disease, health, adolescent-health, healthcare-facilities, indigenous-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander, diseases-and-disorders, darwin-0800, nt, wa, australia

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Trevor suffered a major heart attack at 44, and that's late compared to others

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Posted November 01, 2018 12:50:48 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are dying from heart disease at twice, and in some regions, triple the rate of non-Indigenous people in the same communities, according to new data from the Heart Foundation. The figures come from hospital admissions across the nation, and lay bare the stark difference in health outcomes for heart patients.