Australian Archaeology
Archived at Flinders University: dspace.flinders.edu.au
Full Citation Details:
Kelly, R 1975. From the "Keeparra" to the "Cultural Bind" - An
Analysis of the Aboriginal Situation. 'Australian Archaeology',
no.2, 13-17.
FROM THE 'KEEPARRA' TO THE 'CULTURAL BIND'
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AN ANALYSIS OF THE ABORIGINAL SITUATION
In t h i s paper I w i l l endeavour t o explain a very d i f f i c u l t s i t u a t i o n t h a t we, t h e Mission Aborigines have been p u t i n s i n c e t h e establishment oE t h e Mission environments. M y theory i s t h a t we Mission Aborigines have been unconsciously r e j e c t i n g the Western man's education f o r f e a r we would be proven f a i l u r e s i n absorbing i t . I b e l i e v e we must t r y t o feed i n some o f o u r own education i n t o t h e school system. By doing t h i s we w i l l g a i n p r i d e i n o u r s e l v e s and our r a c e and we l.wi.11 gain a sense of knowing who w e a r e and what we hope t o achieve out of l i f e . This r e s u l t can only b e achieved when both white and black gain r e s p e c t f o r each o t h e r . For u s t o gain r e s p e c t f o r white people, we must b e r e s p e c t e d as human beings. Only then w i l l Le respond t o w h i t e people1 S o f f e r i n g s .
In t h e e a r l y 1880's we, t h e peaple of t h e Thungetti t r i b e , Macleay River, mid-north c o a s t of New South Wales, were forced t o
l i v e on t h e S t a t e Government mission a t Bellbrook, t h i r t y - f i v e miles west o f Kempsey. This type of mission was s e t up by t h e New South Wales S t a t e Government. The body a t t h a t time was known a s t h e Aborigines P r o t e c t i o n Board. There was a l s o a church involved b u t I f o r g e t which denomination. The Seventh Day Adventist church was a l s o involved but they came much l a t e r .
When t h e s e missions were f i r s t e s t a b l i s h e d , many people b e l i e v e d t h e y were set up f o r t h e p r o t e c t i o n of t h e Aboriginal people. I t was about t h i s t i m e many massacres had taken p l a c e and t h e t r i b e s were g e t t i n g s m a l l e r each day. So t h e Government acted by e s t a b l i s h i n g t h e Aboriginal Protection Act. Although t h e s e missions provided some kind of p r o t e c t i o n f o r our people from
e x t i n c t i o n , i t i s obvious t h e missions were used t o b r i n g our people under c o n t r o l . Once o u r people were on t h e s e missions it was s a f e f o r t h e white farmers t o s q u a t on land t h a t was r i g h t f u l l y ours.
When t h i s happened our people were f a c i n g depression. They no longer had f r e e a c c e s s t o t h e hundreds of square miles of t r i b a l land they once proudly roamed. They were now confined t o n i n e t y a c r e s .
Because o f t h i s , t h e w i l l t o be s e l f - s u p p o r t h g was now l o s t . So t h e Government introduced r a t i o n s and hand-outs t o our people, a g a i n t a k i n g away t h e w i l l t o be self-supporting. Of course, t h e r e were some people who wanted t o break away from t h i s s t y l e of l i f e b u t were a f r a i d t o do s o because they feared what might happen t o them. So t h e y accepted t h i s s t y l e of l i f e .
Only c e r t a i n people were allowed t o leave t h e mission with t h e manager's approval. No Aboriginal s t r a n g e r s were allowed t o camp n e a r t h e s e missions. No one was l e t i n o r o u t without a white man's consent. Under t h e s e conditions it was impossible f o r any of
us t o f e e l proud of ourselves, and our Aboriginal knowledge q u i c k l y began t o fade away. The l a s t of t h e i n i t i a t i o n s t o be performed i n our t r i b e was held i g t h e l a t e 1930's. Many o f t h e o l d f u l l y - i n i t i a t e d men were now dying without passing on t h e information t o the u n - i n i t i a t e d men. We were now i n a c u l t u r a l bind.
When I think back over t h e y e a r s and what I have been t o l d of our p a s t , it seems we Aborigines have stood looking towards t h e white man's education on t h e f a r horizon and unconsciously asking ourselves how much of t h i s education do we r e a l l y need. I guess we a l l know we would have had t o drop o u r own c u l t u r e and education t o f i t i n t o the white man's way o f l i f e , and because of t h i s , we were now thrown i n t o a c u l t u r a l bind. Our unconscious bind was:
could we a f f o r d t o l o s e a l l of o u r p a s t Aboriginal knowledge j u s t t o absorb something belonging t o people who weren't going t o accept u s anyway? O r should we absorb o u r own t r a d i t i o n a l form o f education f u l l y ? In s o r t i n g out t h i s bind we had l i t t l e choice. So we became stuck i n t h i s bind, and d r i f t e d along doing n e i t h e r . I n my own
l i f e t i m e , I am s o r r y t o say t h a t many o f t h e o l d people were now dying without passing on t h e language and c u l t u r e . In a way t h i s s o r t e d out t h e problem f o r us without u s e v e r making a conscious decision. We were now on t h e road t o t r y i n g t o absorb t h e western man's education.
To me i t seemed we were s t u c k out i n a d e s e r t looking towards t h e f a r horizon. Every s t e p we took forward i n absorbing t h e western man's education, t h a t horizon moved away i n t h e same d i r e c t i o n . This continued f o r t h e l a s t f o r t y y e a r s , and then we began t o pick up pace. For me who l e f t school twenty y e a r s ago, t h e pace had j u s t begun t o quicken over t h e l a s t couple o f y e a r s a t school. For t h e f i r s t time i n my l i f e I had come i n c o n t a c t with a q u a l i f i e d t e a c h e r , someone who could s e e some v a l u e i n me a s a person, s o I began t o l e a r n .
Over t h e l a s t f i f t e e n y e a r s , t h e k i d s a t school have begun t o absorb t h e western man's education more r a p i d l y s t i l l . Some o f them gained u n i v e r s i t y degrees, and then p r o p o r t i o n a l l y more o f them.
Many o f them have absorbed i t t o t h e e x t e n t where t h e y a r e not recognised a s Aborigines any more
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e i t h e r by whites, by themselves, o r by t h e i r own people whom they have l e f t behind. Now f o r them t h i s d i s t a n t horizon was a t l e a s t coming n e a r e r , but again t h e western man's education r a i s e d a new o b s t a c l e-
t h i s t i m e a system t h a t i s workable f o r highly-educated people only. Even t h e b e s t of o u r western-educated people found it d i f f i c u l t t o keep up with t h e r a p i d change. Even t h e better-educated whites have had t o run t o s t a n d s t i l l i n t h e i r own system, so n a t u r a l l y it would be hard f o r u s . Those o f us who have stood up against t h e white s o c i a l system have been marked out a s r a d i c a l i d i o t s , because we refused t o be pushed i n t osomething we f e l t was n o t c a t e r i n g f o r t h e r e s t o f our people.
Now we a r e r e a l l y i n a new bind. The bind I s e e myself i n is: what should I do about what i s l e f t of our t r i b a l c u l t u r e ? Should I push my c h i l d r e n i n t o absorbing a white man's system which seems destined t o f a i l them? The migrants who have t h e i r own c u l t u r e
and community system seem t o be s o f a r i n f r o n t of us. They have strength because i f they f a i l i n t h e white A u s t r a l i a n system, they can f a l l back on t h e i r own. So we must a l s o have our own. I look a t it t h i s way though: we Aborigines have no r e a l a l t e r n a t i v e o f our own, unless we do something a c t i v e about t h e problem r i g h t away.
I f e e l we need t o get a l l our people t o become knowledgeable about Aboriginal h i s t o r y and c u l t u r e
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t h i n g s t h a t only a few of u s seem t o be i n t e r e s t e d i n a t p r e s e n t . To g e t them i n t e r e s t e d and knowledgeable, we have t o make s u r e f i r s t t h a t t h e knowledge i s preserved i n i t s Aboriginal meaning and then fed back i n t o t h e peoplegenerally. I s e e t h i s a s t h e t a s k of t h e Sacred S i t e s Survey which we a r e undertaking i n N.S.W. No doubt our bosses a t t h e I n s t i t u t e of Aboriginal Studies think t h e knowledge has been w e l l preserved, b u t I think t h a t although they have t h e f a c t s they do n o t have t h e t r u e Aboriginal meaning. They a r e only preserving a white man's i n t e r p r e t - a t i o n
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about as good a s our understanding o f what it i s t o be a s Eskimo. I s e e t h e job of people l i k e us on t h e Survey of Aboriginal S i t e s t o be t h a t of c o l l e c t i n g t h e meaning a s well a s t h e f a c t s , and then t r y i n g t o find a way t o g i v e t h a t complete understanding t o a l l our people. Then we w i l l have t h e same s e c u r i t y a s a l l t h e o t h e r people l i v i n g i n Australia.The f i r s t problem blocking t h e way towards t h i s a t t h e present i s t o encourage white anthropologists, a r c h a e o l o g i s t s and
l i n g u i s t s i n t h e i r 'ivory towersf t o g i v e d i r e c t feedback t o t h e people they have obtained t h e i r m a t e r i a l from. The way i t has been i n the p a s t , a l l of t h e s e 'ivory tower' people have had d i r e c t communication with t h e i r informant, but no a c t u a l feedback h a s been received by t h e informant a s t o what has been done with t h e information, o r whether t h e r e a l Aboriginal meaning of t h e f a c t s gathered h a s been understood. So f a r , whenever t h e g r a s s r o o t s Aborigines on t h e mission receive any feedback material, it f S only e i t h e r v i a t h e 'grapvine' or out of newspapers, and usually mixed up o r m i s i n t e r p r e t e d along t h e way by urban Aborigines. Urban Aborigines have very l i t t l e more understanding of these t r i b a l m a t t e r s than white s o c i e t y g e n e r a l l y . When garbled information reaches t h e mission, what happens? I n my experience, t h e informants a r e annoyed and switch o f f from providing any f u r t h e r information. I t makes t h i n g s very d i f f i c u l t f o r s i n c e r e researchers when they move i n t o t h e f i e l d a t any time a f t e r t h a t . I t often takes many v i s i t s t o g e t t h e s e people t o respond again.
What I f e e l should have happened was a s I s t a t e d b e f o r e : white anthropologists, archaeologists and l i n g u i s t s must r e t u r n t o t h e people they took t h e information from, t e l l them what t h e y have done with i t and where it can be found i n t h e f u t u r e . Most
importantly they should make s u r e t h a t t h e Aboriginal meaning i s correct. Then only do I think t h e informants w i l l be s a t i s f i e d and keep on co-operating
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The next block t o be overcome i s t h e white education system, which has not accepted t h e need f o r Aboriginal k i d s t o be educated i n t h e i r own h i s t o r y and the s i g n i f i c a n c e of t h o s e l e s s - s a c r e d s i t e s which it i s proper they should know about
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e.g. rock engravings,rock a r t , and b u r i a l s i t e s , and how t h e i r own t r i b a l forebears found meaning i n l i f e . We have plans on t h e Survey t o introduce teaching about t h e s e t h i n g s f o r mixed c l a s s e s i n Armidale high schools i n 1975. This w i l l b r i n g them t o something l e s s than kingergarten s t a g e i n t h e i r understanding o f Aboriginal laws and c u l t u r e but it i s a necessary beginning.
Another group who a l r e a d y f e e l t h e lack of t h e i r own knowledge a r e men aged 30-60 who have shown signs of wanting t o absorb t h e r o l e s of t h e t r a d i t i o n a l system i n a somewhat
modernised form. We have plans on t h e Survey t o feedback t h e r e s u l t s o f our r e s e a r c h t o t h i s grou? by involving them i n p r o j e c t s t o p r o t e c t t h e s i t e s and a l s o , maybe, by a r e v i v a l of t h e i n i t i a t i o n s .
A whole new education and 'feedbackt system w i l l have t o be g r a d u a l l y b u i l t up, using a l l t h e old knowledge a s a b a s i s , t o g e t h e r with a l o t of new ideas coming from our thrashing out t o g e t h e r t h e present-day r e a l i t i e s t h a t our people have t o cope with. How t o get t h i s t o happen? Maybe I ' l l be able t o t e l l you i n a few y e a r s from now, a f t e r I ' v e graduated f u r t h e r i n my own i n i t i a t i o n !
Ray Kelly
N.S.W. National Parks &
Wildlife Service
FROM THE 'CULTURAL BIND' TO A SOLUTION
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THE SURVEY OF ABORIGINAL SACRED SITES I N NEW SOUTH WALES
Now t h a t Ray has outlined t h e circumstances which led the Aboriginal people i n t o t h e ' c u l t u r a l bind* a s he c a l l s it, my i n t e n t i o n i s t o show t h e p a r t played by t h e Survey t o encourage a
' r e v i v a l v o r 'renaissance' o f t h e Aboriginal c u l t u r e i n New South Wales. From o u r experience on the Survey I w i l l go on t o make some suggestions which can be applied t o research elsewhere i n Australia.
My view of t h e Sunrey i s f i r s t t h a t it i s a n a t u r a l development i n s o c i o l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h i n A u s t r a l i a and a s such i s c l o s e l y linked with t h e events of t h e p r e s e n t decade when we have witnessed an
e x t r a o r d i n a r y rise i n t h e p o l i t i c a l and ' c u l t u r a l ' awareness of minority groups t h e world over, e s p e c i a l l y among t h e Aboriginal people, and an i n c r e a s i n g d e s i r e t o p a r t i c i p a t e f i l l y i n matters concerning t h e i r d e s t i n y . Because of t h i s t h e Survey has
considerable s o c i a l consequences and r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s .
