Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia by Anita Heiss

Author:Anita Heiss [Heiss, Edited by Anita]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Schwartz Publishing Pty. Ltd
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Recognised

Mathew Lillyst

David Unaipon, Albert Namatjira, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Oodgeroo Noonuccal. These are names that are legendary and inspire our people – faces that are recognised by all.

The teachers at my high school were well and truly aware of the Lillyst name. My mother worked in Catholic education and won their hearts through transformative cross-cultural presentations on Aboriginal spirituality. My brother also earnt their affections with his charisma and exceptional musical talents. When I joined the school and staff discovered my surname, they would immediately ask: ‘Are you Jayden’s brother?’ or ‘Are you Delsie’s son?’ Although I was only twelve, it was obvious that many more questions were on the tips of their tongues, but their manners stopped them from investigating any further.

Over time I established myself as a diligent student and developed a passion for social justice. Given that my teachers considered me a role model, I was invited to a reconciliation network day at the Treacy Centre. At the start, all of the boys from our brother Catholic schools sized each other up and made fun of the bright colours and bizarre patterns of the inner-city school uniforms. After fifteen minutes of mutual judgement, we were ushered inside for the day to begin. The main speaker was introduced: I remembered her from Aboriginal events around Melbourne. We had been introduced to each other a number of times over the years, and I was relieved to see a familiar face.

Given that the audience was predominantly non-Aboriginal, she gave a general outline of Aboriginal culture. We are a proud culture. We have a strong connection to the land, our mother. We all have different songs and dances. We are not all drunk and troublesome. We don’t all stand on a rock with one leg up and a spear in our hand.

To ascertain the impact of stereotypes on the attitudes of the general Australian public, she posed a question to the audience: ‘When you think of Aboriginal people, what do you think they look like?’ No one answered. ‘Go on, you lot, no need to be shy.’ She smiled as she gazed around the room, but no hands went up in the air. Everyone’s lips were firmly sealed.

I had sat through this exercise a million times and knew exactly where it was headed. It was comforting to know that today I would not be asked if my mum or dad was an ‘Aborigine’, or what fraction of my heritage was ‘In-digger-ness’.

‘You there.’ Her hand opened towards the group of boys who sat with me. ‘What do you think Aboriginal people look like?’ I stared at the back of the head of the person in front of me and waited for his response. His waxed blond hair had a shine to it, but it was obvious he’d bypassed the shampoo and conditioner that morning.

‘No, no, you there.’ I turned to the person behind me, but he nervously shook his head as if to point out she was not referring to him. ‘You there, with the glasses.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.