With Andrew Bolts trial just finished, the issue of Aboriginality is quite at the forefront of public gaze.
Bolt raised the question of a number of white skinned people who claim Aboriginal identity, and the court hearing was littered with statements like "3 part test".
I've got another 'test' for Aboriginal Identity. 'Can each of these people speak the language of the tribe they identity with'? In my case, I'm as white as the driven snow, but my wife is not, she's brown. I speak her language, so.. can I embrace her tribal idenity? Should I? hmmm *thinks*.. well.. if there was a truckload of benefits, free education, eternal centrelink payments etc.. and if business was tight... it might well be an attraction, speaking for myself alone of course. Oh.. there IS one benefit I can obtain indirectly, my wife, being a 'princess of the soil' in her original country, is eligible for very low interest finance....also she can own land in areas reserved for indigenous people.. now thats not bad! I could become a vast landholder by marriage.
People who claim aboriginal identity might be more persuasive and credible if they:
-Dressed traditionally. (Geoff Clarke wears this creepy (to me) possum skin coat thing over his otherwise very western clothes)
-Spoke "their" own language.
-Did the cultural things expected of members of the tribe...including (to me) grotesque flesh wounds caused by traditional initiation ceremonies.
Outside of the above, I think most reasonable people would hold a high degree of cynicism regarding the validity of the claim to aboriginal identity. Those cynics might include aboriginal people of different tribal backgrounds.
So.. of those people Andrew Bolt named:
-Larissa Behrendt
-Bindi Cole
-Annette Sax
-Tara June Winch
-Anita Heiss
-Pat Eatock
-Leeanne Enoch
-Kim Scott
-Geoff Clarke
-Lowitja O'Donohue
-Wayne Atkinson
-Graham Atkinson
-Dr Mark Rose
-Daniel Browning
-Casey Donovan
It would be most interesting to know how many (and in particular, of those who took Bolt to court) actually speak the language and have undergone the initiations of the tribe they identify with?
As Tom Cruise said in Jerry McGuire.. "showwww me the moneyyyyy"(i.e..the initiation and linguistic skills)
I don't doubt that some of them have these credentials, but all ? Well.. the answer to that is a work in progress.
I suppose one *naughty* way to test it would be to find someone from that tribe who speaks the lingo, learn how to say "g'day mate" (cultural equivalent) and then make a phone call to the people claiming that identity, and blurt it out..... if it's met with the verbal equivalent of a blank stare.. you have the answer.
It just seems reasonable to me that if you claim to be a member of a culture/race, that you should be able to speak it's language.
I personally prefer to identify as a Scot,. but my Gaelic ability is very limited. I'm working on that one. If only the *sounds* of the words had at least SOME connection to how they are written, I'd be a lot further down the track with that. If there were enough people in my area who spoke the language, it would be more helpful.
My "Scottish" identity (though half English) is not in any way related to being able to claim any benefits, or help from government on the grounds of that identity, as far as I know there are none. As for others, such as those named by Bolt? That is a question for each one to answer to and for their own individual tranquility.
The general public will form opinions about that no matter how many legal actions are carried out. They might hold those opinions silently, but hold them they will- one way or the other.
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