” What will this do to individuals and the collective? What will this do to our health and wellbeing?
To grasp its impact, the definition of Aboriginal health needs to be understood. Aboriginal health encompasses “not just the physical wellbeing of an individual but refers to the social, emotional and cultural wellbeing of the whole Community in which each individual is able to achieve their full potential as a human being, thereby bringing about the total wellbeing of their Community”.
This debate is hurting our communities; therefore, we as peoples are not healthy.
Aboriginal people pitted against Aboriginal people; this is all playing out in public with very little to gain “
Divisive public debates about Aboriginal identity are causing harm, according to Summer May Finlay, a Yorta Yorta woman, public health academic, and contributing editor at Croakey.
” What is vexing is that through all the heat of debate, for all the claims and counterclaims, the only ones having their reputations tarnished, careers damaged and division sowed is within the Indigenous community.
Culture wars or identity politics are fertile ground for debate between commentators of various leanings, often burnishing their reputations, but for those in the line of fire, it can be a brutal arena.
Is that really the place the Indigenous community should be finding itself in at this time?
The Uluru Statement from the Heart was a laudable start to giving Indigenous Australians a voice in shaping their and the nation’s future.
The Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt is spending a year consulting with the Aboriginal community to help give shape to that statement in the form of a Voice to Parliament.
This seminal debate needs to be given the time and space to be fully understood, not buried by squabbling over issues that offer little in the way of common ground or further understanding of what is required to bring about reconciliation to this country. “
The Age Editorial 9 February Ancestry squabble damages Indigenous cause
” In light of the recent very public events around author Bruce Pascoe’s Aboriginal identity, leading psychologist and Njamal woman Adjunct Professor Tracy Westerman has raised some really important discussions around the impact of questioning mob’s identity and particularly lateral violence, on individuals mental health.
She had a yarn with @nitv_au that we think needs to be shared in order to emphasise how vital it is that we focus on supporting and lifting each other up, rather than tearing each other down or criticising the ways we express our identity:
“On a daily basis, I hear of identity struggles. Particularly from those who don’t know their history and cannot ‘prove’ connection as a direct result of assimilation policies. Robust identity formation is a complex and long term journey for Indigenous people as it is for any marginalised group.
Our best evidence tells us that a strong sense of cultural identity moderates suicide & mental health risk… [but] race-based trauma comes increasingly from lateral or within-group racism with around 95 per cent of Indigenous people experiencing it.
The great irony is that the people pushing for a so-called ‘test’ of Aboriginality are hurting the people they are arguing they are trying to protect.”
We are one mob, one family and we’re all on different journeys. Respect and love is paramount 🖤💛❤️
Additional comment from Tiddas 4 Tiddas Facebbok post ( added by NACCHO FYI )
Image from the cover of ‘Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice’, which details the importance of connection to culture and a strong identity for health and wellbeing
Aboriginal identity has hit the headlines again. Public debate about who is and is not Aboriginal is often a national pastime for non-Aboriginal people. This time, however, the debate has been reignited by an Aboriginal person.
And it’s raising some significant health concerns that merit discussion and investigation.
As has been widely reported, Aboriginal lawyer Josephine Cashman recently wrote to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton asking him to investigate Bruce Pascoe for fraud, alleging that the author of award-winning Dark Emu falsely claims to be Aboriginal.
Pascoe categorically denies this allegation.
Minister Dutton subsequently referred Pascoe to the Australian Federal Police for investigation, and news reports yesterday cited a letter from the AFP saying no Commonwealth offences had been identified and that they had closed the case.
Cashman also requested that an Aboriginal register be established to ensure that people cannot falsely claim to be Aboriginal.
Notable Aboriginal people – including Federal Minister Ken Wyatt, Federal MP Linda Burney, senior academics Professor Marcia Langton, Professor Gracelyn Smallwood, Dr Marlene Longbottom (see her tweets on related matters), Associate Professor Chelsea Bond and Amy Thunig – have rejected the register proposal.
Cashman also seems to support the confirmation of Aboriginality through DNA testing, a suggestion recently revived in the lead up to the NSW election by Mark Latham, a One Nation representative in the NSW Legislative Council.
Essentially, Cashman has opened a large can of worms for Aboriginal people. And while some support her calls, I do not.
I am a Yorta Yorta woman and grew up on Awabakal country (West Lake Macquarie, NSW). I have the privilege of being connected to my mob both in Lake Macquarie and nearby Newcastle and on Yorta Yorta country. My lineage is clear and indisputable. I know, however, that not all Aboriginal people have the privilege of such strong connections, due to no fault of their own.
I am disappointed, upset and angry that Cashman has used her privileged position to prosecute a cause publicly and politically. It has the potential to do little good and so much harm. If these issues are to be raised, it is a conversation that should be undertaken privately by Aboriginal people.
Firstly, a DNA test to confirm Aboriginality is absolutely not possible. An Aboriginal reference genome(s) has not been scientifically established, and there is no guarantee that there will be one.
History matters
The call for DNA testing is nothing but a divisive political tool used by the far-right, harking back to a time when the state controlled Aboriginal people during the time of the assimilation policy.
The assimilation policy aimed to destroy Aboriginal culture by integrating us into the broader Australian culture, which at the time was based on English values. This policy was multi-faceted and included the removal of children from their families as well as forcing people to deny their heritage and culture if they were to enjoy white privileges.
When children were removed, their skin colour determined their fate. Fair skinned children who could pass as white were placed with white families, never to know their Aboriginal culture. Remaining children were placed in group homes, trained for menial labour. Again, they were not allowed to maintain their connection to families and culture.
Adults were often forced to choose between their extended families and culture, and improved opportunities. For example, to be exempt from the NSW Aborigines Protection Act, under which the state controlled their lives, they were not allowed to speak in language, practise culture and associate with other Aboriginal people. They did what they felt was right for them and their families at the time.
The long-term impact today is that many of their descendants now have little to no connection to their Aboriginal community.
Additionally, Aboriginal people historically have experienced extreme racism and discrimination. Therefore, in the past, to protect themselves and their families, some people with fairer skin denied their Aboriginality. This has also meant that many of their ancestors have become disconnected from their mob.
All of this is well known in Aboriginal communities.
Cashman, of course, has her supporters, both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal, including right-wing political commentator Andrew Bolt.
She posted several messages of support from Aboriginal people on her Twitter account, demonstrating that as a collective of Peoples, we have not even come close to addressing the legacy caused by the assimilation policy and racism.
By attacking Pascoe, Cashman is continuing the mission of the assimilation policy against those who are most vulnerable in our communities.
We, as a collective of diverse Peoples, have inherited issues caused by past government policies. These policies have significantly impacted people, due to no fault of their own, by denying them their culture.
Health implications
What will this do to individuals and the collective? What will this do to our health and wellbeing?
To grasp its impact, the definition of Aboriginal health needs to be understood. Aboriginal health encompasses “not just the physical wellbeing of an individual but refers to the social, emotional and cultural wellbeing of the whole Community in which each individual is able to achieve their full potential as a human being, thereby bringing about the total wellbeing of their Community”.
This debate is hurting our communities; therefore, we as peoples are not healthy.
Aboriginal people pitted against Aboriginal people; this is all playing out in public with very little to gain.
We know that there is a clear link between past policies and health and wellbeing. We know the links between stress and health.
The Stolen Generations and their families have suffered poorer health than other Aboriginal people.
It’s clear through epigenetics, that what happened to our mothers and grandmothers, affects us even before we are born, impacting health during childhood and beyond. And we know that a strong connection to culture has a positive impact on a person’s health and wellbeing.
I have watched the struggles of friends and colleagues, who know they are Aboriginal but know little about their lineage. They have struggled to understand their place in the world. They often feel a sense of loss, as if part of them is missing.
They worry that if they publicly identify as Aboriginal without having ALL the answers to questions thrown at them that they may be further ostracised.
Cashman has made their fears a reality. Her pursuit of Pascoe could be used as an excuse to go back to the bad old days of Aboriginal identify being controlled by the state.
The outcome for Pascoe is uncertain; however, what is certain is the damage this debate has caused Aboriginal people across the country.
Pascoe is not the only person whose identity Cashman has attacked.
Journalist Jack Latimore wrote an opinion piece on the issues raised by Cashman, “Bruce Pascoe’s identity is no business of the Commonwealth”.
In response, she questioned his Aboriginality in a tweet since deleted.
What we can learn from this sorry episode is that efforts to divide Aboriginal people and to undermine our sense of identity are damaging for people’s health and wellbeing.
• Summer May Finlay (CSCA, TAE, BSocSC and MPHA) is a PhD candidate in Aboriginal national key performance indicators at the University South Australia, works for the University of Wollongong as a lecturer in Public Health, and is a research assistant at the University of Canberra. She is currently the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Vice President for the Public Health Association of Australia and is also the Co-Vice Chair of the World Federation of Public Health Associations Indigenous Working Group.
Follow on Twitter: @SummerMayFinlay