Urban identity
Bronwyn Fredericks argues for the identity of urban Indigenous Australians
We aren’t all in the ‘bush’, ‘outback’ or ‘on communities’…
I
don’t leave my Aboriginality at the airport or in a locker at the
bus station on the city fringes when I visit. It seems that some people
assume that Aboriginal people don’t belong in the city or big regional
centres. Research undertaken in Brisbane suggests that some people think
that Aboriginal people belong in the ‘bush’, ‘outback’,
and ‘on communities’. Others think that somehow our Aboriginality
becomes irrelevant in the city or that we place our cultures to the side
in order to ‘succeed’. In spite of such comments, Aboriginal
people are still asked to give a ‘welcome’ or an ‘acknowledgment
to Country’ in cities and in other urban areas. We may be asked whether
we know, or could we organise, a group to do traditional dancing or play
the didgeridoo, or whether we can get an artist to paint a mural or display
some art? Our involvement is generally placed in the context of what is
deemed ‘traditional’, ‘authentic’ or ‘tribal’.
That is, we are asked to be involved in ways that portray the artistic
and material cultural images of the past. What if we don’t depict
the cultural and social stereotypes of what some people in society believe,
perceive or expect of us? What if we aren’t dark brown or black skinned?
I have experienced people trying to categorise me by my hair, skin or eye colour, in an attempt to organise me into a grouping that suits their framework of what they perceive to be an Aboriginal woman. I have been asked, ‘What part is Aboriginal?’ I know as an urban Aboriginal woman that if I don’t fit the images that some people hold, I may be perceived as having no culture, as not being ‘real’, as ‘unauthentic’ or a ‘fake’. Sadly, some Aboriginal people feel this about themselves and others. What does the word ‘authentic’ even mean with regard to Aboriginal people in the historical context of urban Brisbane or in any other urban area?
Normally, the word ‘authentic’ is posed in a way that describes someone being more ‘tribal’ or ‘traditional’. These terms can set Aboriginal people within a timeless and static setting where we are generally represented in the bush, on a hill, or in a remote community. These images trap us and don’t represent the complex lives and situations in which we find ourselves as Aboriginal people. They also trap non-Indigenous people into a way of seeing us as Aboriginal people. In the trapping, the images and accompanying thoughts may keep us from honestly knowing each other.
There is no single urban Aboriginal experience or identity. The experiences are as diverse as the population and include a diversity of experience, need, prospects shaped by gender, education, religion, age and level of human security. Culture cannot stay the same, it is dynamic and there are many cultural configurations. Aboriginal people live in the contemporary world and weave in and out of two, three and even more cultural domains. We are part of colonisation, just as it is part of us. Aboriginal culture has needed to adapt, adjust and modify itself in order to survive within the contemporary world. This does not mean that our cultures are not, and that we are not, Aboriginal. You might have to look and listen more closely, but culture is always there in some form, always was and always will be.
Aboriginal people have had to work hard to build and sustain positive Aboriginal identities due to the influence of the dominant culture on our lives. The contacts and interactions we have with institutions, agencies and services are grounded in the world view of the dominant culture.
The constant exchanges, interaction and dialogue with non-Indigenous urban society can present challenges to our identity. It can be a struggle to live a life within the dominant culture, while at the same time trying to honour and protect our own heritage, institutions and worldview. Sometimes it can be difficult for Aboriginal people living in the city, trying to deal with issues such as having a troubled, or no, connection to land due to historical processes or being removed as a child, or your parents or grandparents being removed. For those that may not even know where they have come from, and where they belong, what then? It might be difficult for some people, for a range of reasons, to access ceremonies, language and Elders and they may therefore feel disjointed from what culture may mean. It is not easy for some Aboriginal people in the city. Life in big cities and other urban areas presents Indigenous people with many factors and interactions that create self-doubt, identity confusion and anguish–all of which can work to undermine one’s sense of Aboriginality.
Data
from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that over 50 per cent of
all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people now live in urban areas
including the big cities of Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. The statistics
demonstrate that living in urban centres is as much a reality for Aboriginal
people as living in a discrete Aboriginal rural, regional or isolated
community. This reality includes using a range of accommodation options,
buying goods and services, finding a job, participating in sporting groups,
clubs and organisations and sharing and interacting with people from a
diverse range of backgrounds. It also includes trying to find or make
space within the city for Aboriginal cultures, languages, individual and
collective expression, establishment and maintenance of Aboriginal organisations,
programs, services and other structures.
Just because we might work, go to school, TAFE or university, hang out, drink alcohol, smoke, play sport, be members of clubs and associations, shop for food and buy services, drive cars, have problems and issues, or live in houses in urban streets or on the streets, does not mean we are no longer Aboriginal. Urban Aboriginal people are not ‘hybrids’ or alienated from the Aboriginal experience. Aboriginal culture is dynamic and new Aboriginal identities have developed in response to urban life. Urban identities will keep developing and adapting as they did in the past and as they do in the present. This is about our survival.
Bronwyn Fredericks grew up in Brisbane and now lives in the Rockhampton region. Artwork by Pamela Croft.
current issue | about | subscriptions | advertising | previous issues | links
Reproduction of material from any Jesuit Publications pages
without written prior permission is strictly prohibited.
Copyright 2002 Jesuit Publications
PO Box 553 Richmond VIC 3121 Australia
Tel +61 3 9427 7311, Fax +61 3 9428 4450