I’ve been asked to compile a list of appropriate terms/words when referring to Indigenous Australians.. So here goes!
As a little bit of back-ground info on us.. Indigenous people in Australia have the longest continuing culture/s in the world. With many different language groups, culture groups, similarities with cultures in certain parts of Africa, Indonesia and nearby countries/nations, Aboriginal Australia is indeed diverse, to say the least.
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Terms/words that are appropriate:
Indigenous Australian/s
Indigenous
Aboriginal
Aboriginal people/s
Torres Straight Islander person/s
Torres Straight Islander people/s
Native (though it’s not used as much here and more often heard to describe the Indigenous people of America, some will use the word)
Black (yes, we ARE Black.. the white settlers used the term “Blacks” which reduced us down to our skin color.. we’ve reclaimed that word and is often used like “Black-fella”)
ATSI – Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander/s (umbrella term for Aboriginal and Torres Straight Island people’s or for shorthand)
Terms/words that are NOT appropriate:
Aborigine/Aborigines (a big no-no and sadly many still use these terms today)
The Aborigines
The Aboriginal people
The Torres Straight Islanders
Blacks
Colored
The n word (pretty obvious, really)
Half-caste
Full-blood
Appropriate area-specific terms:
Murri – Qld, north west NSW
Nyoongah – WA
Koori – NSW
Goori – north coast NSW
Koorie – Vic
Yolngu – Arnhem Land
Anangu – Central Australia
Palawa – Tasmania
Ngarrindjeri – SA – River Murray, Lakes, Coorong people
Torres Strait Island Peoples
Murray Island Peoples
Mer Island Peoples
Also, words that are used to describe us as “less-advanced” when compared to European societies, are not acceptable. We are not less-advanced, or less-modern or a “primitive” people – we are just different. As is everyone.
this is a reminder not to support the australian government, not to ignore the australian government, and not to let major developed countries fall to a deeply fascist regime.
if you live in australia, please call up your local, state and federal members about this now.
Australia’s human rights-violating asylum seeker prison camps were cited as inspiration by senior Republicans, and they’re supported by both sides of politics. Calling representatives won’t achieve anything because Australia is already a proto-fascist nation comparable to Trump’s America as much as we like to deny it.
so first off id like to say that fuck this and fuck the australian governments immigration policies, for years they have been horrific and bipartisan and it really needs to change (the pregnant woman in detention who was being denied medical treatment in australia being the most recent horror in the detention of asylum seekers god its disgusting)
but i think a lot of people who are commenting on this misunderstand the way the system in australia works. we operate under the westminster system which has a few elements that are needed to produced stable governments, and one of these is the party system. australia has two major political parties, the Liberal party (currently holding a one seat majority congratz on that one lol) and the Labor party. i seriously cannot stress how these parties are not ideological. like they have policies that lean right and left but they are pragmatic mainly and therefore need to appeal to the widest voter base possible. so like. top down theres not gonna be anyone really winning favour with the libs or labor by being all fascist-y?? if fascism appealed to a large majority of australians then maybe but history suggests that fascism is more top down than a widespread movement.please remember also that australia is one of like two countries in the world which has compulsory voting. our voter turnout is like 94% im wildly proud of that. australia definitely doesnt have a system that could even be considered a “proto-fascist” country. right wing extremism is happening all over the world and its scary man, but drumkldee turnip was able to get into power thru hateful rhetoric but also like the united states system is really fucked up like thats a post for another day but wow thats some shit did u know they dont have an independent electoral commission?? fucks me up daily.
now pauline hanson and her party one nation is a fascist party. like i truly believe that and i want her and that climate change denier out of the senate immediately. but one nation is a minor party and the australian system tends to freeze out minor parties in the lower house, so the goverment for the forseeable future is either labor or liberal. in the senate the party has 3 seats, and the senate has equal power to the lower house (which whew thats a can of worms lemme tell ya god), but with 3 seats, any extreme legislation is bound to be shot down by like, everyone else, and while they might have some sway if they happen to hold a balance of power over some piece of legislation its… just unrealistic to call the australian parliament fascist.
i dont want to make light of one nation. i think its extremely concerning that this party exists. i think this represents the kind of extremism that australia is vulnerable to and it can also be seen in the reclaim australia movement, which.. is exactly what it sounds like.
and the response from that invertebrate turnbull and the libs abt dungle truffles racist ban has been disappointing and spineless (fuckin typical australian govt and its US arse kissing, one time during the cold war australia was like hey china were not just US puppets we wanna be bros with u and australia put so much effort into foreign policy with china and there was a visit from pres nixon or someone idk and good ole johnny gorton told him “we’ll go a waltzin’ with you” and undermined all diplomacy with china. fucking auspol,).
anyways so no one is safe from extreme racism and fascism at the moment. but seriously, calling australia a proto fascist country is just wrong, like i wont say “it wont happen here” but the united states as a democracy has been fucked up for a really long time and fascism gets into power thru exploitable systems, and australia at this very moment has stable foundation at least, like were having some shit issues with balances of power but if anything that means nothing is getting done in parliament, not that pauline hansons gonna become prime minister or some shit. its really important to me personally that people understand the australian system because i read up a lot about it and god its boring please for my sake if u have any questions please humour me and jump into my ask box
also please. PLEASE call your local member! find them here just type in ur suburb or postcode and click thru, send them letters, petition in ur local area. i live in bill shortens electorate and guess whose gonna #wastehistime2017 its me get ready william. ATTEND PROTESTS please attend protests, stay away from the socialist alternative, probably best to stay away from anything that says socialist unless uve done some research. JOIN AMNESTY here theyre doing some good work you can volunteer your time if you have it! stay vigilant, understand the system, dont buy the hearld sun
so today, january 26th, is australia’s national day. but actually, it’s better known to indigenous or aboriginal australians- australia’s first peoples- as invasion day. and here’s why:
january 26th 1788 was the day britain first claimed australia for the british king with no regard for the people already living on the land. what followed were the frontier wars, containing a series of massacres of indigenous australians by white settlers.
did it get worse? yeah, obviously. the australian government implemented a series of policies over a decade that aimed to literally turn aboriginal people white and “breed out” their colour until their cultures died out. in addition to this, thousands of children were taken from their loving families and put on white christian missions where they were disconnected from their culture and in most cases abused. many still haven’t come home.
and this bullshit continues today. indigenous australians form a large percentage of our prison population and are often abused in custody. just today, I was at an invasion day protest where indigenous people and supporters were shoved and sprayed with fire extinguishers by riot police- all because one indigenous guy was burning an australian flag in hurt and anger, which is NOT a criminal offence here.
a lot of people in australia want to move on from this and use australia day to celebrate unity- but we just can’t when the very day marks division and aboriginal australians are STILL not being respected in australian law.
this day, january 26th, marks the beginning of genocide, and australians celebrate it.
I’m white, but I recognise that I live on the land of the dharawal people of new south wales. one of my ancestors was a proud wiradjuri woman of western nsw. they take care of this land.
australian land is, was, and always will be aboriginal land.
this is the australian aboriginal flag, and below it is the torres strait islander flag. don’t forget them.
“POC” is a popular term thrown around on tumblr but you guys are really happy to use it to make everything about america and group all ~people of colour~ together when they have different experiences and cultures. keep this day in mind, and speak out with people in australia.
don’t let the australian government get away with invasion day.
