This amazing photo, which has been colourised and restored, was taken by a visiting German photographer in 1877. It was posted by Boorloo Boodja, a Facebook page that describes itself as: 'a place to honour and learn about the people and culture of First Nations Perth.....Past present and future'. According to the page admin. this is a group of Minang Maaman from Albany and the gentleman third from the left might be Wandinyil, a well-known Minang Elder.
The Minang, Mirnong, Mineng or Menang tribal group lived (and still do) on the south coast of WA.
Hopefully most Aussies know by now that at the time of European 'settlement' there were more than 200 Indigenous language groups in Australia. Some groups never lost their language but some, like the Menang, have only relatively recently started clawing back what knowledge is left. Albany was one of the earliest European settlements in Australia and this particular group suffered heavy losses of their culture as a result.
The Menang are part of the Noongar nation who inhabit the south-west of Western Australia. Menang territory is about ‘6000 square kilometres and ranges from Albany to about 70 kilometres north-east of Many Peaks to the base of ‘Koikyennuruff’ in the Stirling Ranges, east to Moorilup near Kendenup and south-west to Wilson’s Inlet’.
Traditional life and land use focused on hunting, gathering and particularly fishing 'around freshwater lakes, river channels and estuarine environments in and around the coast' in the warmer months. (Beard and Dortch, 1987) Large groups of Menang people met at King George Sound and Oyster Harbour to carry out ceremonies and social business.
In the winter months they broke up into smaller family units and moved into the 'hinterland to the open woodlands to hunt kangaroos, wallabies and possums', where I assume it would have been warmer - away from coastal storms and wind. They travelled along the King and Kalgan rivers - probably because it made it easier to navigate the terrain, but maybe to stay close to water and food sources. I'm also assuming the group pictured above are wearing their winter kangaroo skin cloaks. (I'm hoping Sarah Toa will chime in in the comments section with some more info as she spent some time researching these people for various writing projects).
I love this photo. I am in awe of these people. They had little impact on the environmant for the tens of thousands of years of their occupation. And they were tough - it gets really cold down here on the south coast and as far as I know, they didn't even wear shoes. Seeing photos like this both delights and saddens me. My family and probably most non-Aboriginals would just see a primitive 'savage' people.
I work with the direct descendants of the Menang - and other language groups from the Nyoongar nation and wider Aboriginal population - in the prison system. I see the ravages of generations of dispossession, stolen children and colonialism. I am regularly in conflict with my own family over their fate, what should be 'done' about them and how we might all move forward and away from a vicious past. But year after year, even after Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's apology, there are more of them in prison now than 20 years ago and I can't see that reducing any time soon.
The demographic of Australia has changed considerably. To prop up the economy the government has encouraged many new immigrants from diverse cultural backgrounds to move here. These people are even more removed from our history than 1st to 6th generation Europeans and Asians. Most non-Aboriginal Australians, particularly those living in urban areas (which is 90% of the population), don't even know an Aboriginal person. The BLM movement has empowered the Aboriginal population but it has also fuelled a rise in negative responses and racism as the 'fragile white' - people like my own family members - insist that 'all' lives matter. No matter how 'civilised' we claim to be as a society it always comes down to rampant self-interest.
A comment by one of my Aboriginal students from a Northern tribe pretty well sums up the whole dilemma for me. This guy was an initiated man and although these guys are also suffering terribly under our occupation - they know who they are, they have a solid sense of culture and therefore self. We were observing another Aboriginal student, urban and I would assume uninitiated, having a bit of a whiney meltdown about not getting his own way about something I had denied him. This Northern man just shook his head from side to side slowly and said quietly: 'they are just children'. I think the same could be said for my own culture.
Information: KINJARLING REPORT 2005, Kinjarling: The Place of Rain, The City of Albany & Dept. of Indigenous Affairs Aboriginal Heritage Survey, pp 43-45
Map: http://noongarboodjar.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/30-Noongar-map-v3.1-copy.jpg
oh yes, there is a great deal of white fragility around right now!
ReplyDeleteI've often been a bit ashamed to say I dont know any indigenous people but then I found out one of my seniors group is indgenous. Her story is not nice: extreme abuse, dissociative identity disorder, recovering alcoholic, needs a liver transplant. She's 56. Not old at all
i love the photo, it looks like serious business
I don't think there is any shame in not knowing many or any Aboriginals Kylie. It's just the way our society seems to run. I did have an Aboriginal friend in grade 1 and have worked with local Noongars at TAFE, but if I didn't have my job at the prison, I wouldn't be associating with them either. Not directly through choice - I think they prefer to stcik with their own mob too. I'd have to say I don't have any Moslem friends either though, or Chinese, or anything much different to European or British! But I do think we must all get to know people different from ourselves if we don't already because it's the only way to develop real understanding, good relationships and empathy.
DeleteThere is such a similar history here in the United State and the treatment of the native population. I don't know what the numbers are in terms of prisons. Many of the native population live on reservations and often don't have much interaction with the rest of our country's population. My step-daughter had a long-term relationship with a member of the native tribes of the local Karuk population. They have a daughter together. Over the years (she's only 6 years old), we've watched how her dad has tried to instill some sense of their native heritage. One thing I've been wondering about over the years is why all the native tribal songs and dances have become so very much the same. So much has been lost.
ReplyDeleteYes, you are right about the sameness of traditional stories Robin - I've noticed similar. Also a confusion of tribal cultures, for example dot painting isn't traditional where I am, but the local Noongars have appropriated it as their own. It is specific to the Papunya people. As a white teacher it's not up to me to adjust their knowledge on these things. They need to find a sense of identity and in a post-post-Modernist world, appropriation is both accepted and rampant. It's a new world order on many levels and I guess you can thank globalisation for most of it.
DeleteJust like the U.S., treatment of the original inhabitants is, along with black African slavery, our original sin. I don't know if it can ever be repaired as long as white supremacy and fragility exist.
ReplyDeleteI agree Tara. The world order is changing now whether white supremacy likes it or not. Trouble is the fair and decent white folk will be swept up in the revolution too. I'm glad I've lived out most of my life already.
DeleteThere are so many tranches to this story Michelle.
ReplyDeleteOne, from the comments that I'm gathering are north American, is that the Canadians had much the same admin as ours with the same Acts etc. NZ too.
Re the way forward, the Uluru Statement From The Heart gives all Australians a way of moving into the future as us living in a shared 'third space', not as two races but as one. Our former PM ignored this entreaty from Indigenous people. It was a profoundly generous gesture from 1st Nations mob who had discussed for six weeks in the centre of our country, how to bring us all together. This document still stands but it's yet to be implemented. You can watch an explainer for it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB-31jD4XcA
The image is arresting and I think because it's been coloured. I use another image of Aboriginal men neck chained at Wyndem. It too has been tinted and that turns it from an historical archive to something contemporary. It jogs people's brains away from what was happening to what is happening now. V. powerful.
The Uluru Statement From the Heart contains two arms. The first is to get an Indigenous voice enshrined in parliament and the second is the Makarata or truth telling. Personally, I urge all australians to get involved with this.
Thanks Sarah. I've tried talking to my Aboriginal students about the Uluru Statement but they won't have a bar of it. They say their people weren't consulted. I can appreciate that they feel dispossesed - even by their own people. Unfortunately the tribal thinking is staill a barrier to getting things resolved because the non-Aboriginal population use it as a way to justify not doing anything serious with the statement.
DeleteI love the Makarata concept. It's a very grown up way to conduct relations between people. I think I will do some research and a post about it.
Yes that is interesting regarding your guys' feedback. Several ideas emerged at the same time and one was the 'Recognise' project, a bureaucratic vehicle to recognise Aboriginal people in the constitution. There appeared to be little Aboriginal consultation for this. I would argue that there has been Noongar reps when it came to the Uluru. But representing everyone is pretty tricky.
DeleteThe difference is that the Uluru statement calls for an Indigenous voice to be actually enshrined within parliament and therefore having a permanent constitutional voice for the lives of 1st Nations Australians. Previously we've had advisory bodies such as ATSIC abolished thanks to whatever political climate.
I agree that 'lateral violence' exists, but I still urge all Australians to get educated about this issue. When I first talked about the Uluru Statement, many people thought it was about recent bans on climbing the rock itself.