Exploring Indigenous Stereotypes
By Damian Amamoo
damian@inceptionstategies.com

“Free David Hicks!” was the phrase I saw on the sticker on the back window of the car that went before my sight, which I noticed when I focused as I was waiting to make my right hand turn out of the Adelaide Aquatic centre.

I wondered about David’s predicament as my eyes ambled over the geometric lines of the car almost searching for the answer. Finally my eyes came to rest on “freedavidhicks.org.au” the website advertised on the base of the sticker and with a surge of deliberate concentration I punched the address into my mind as the car drove away. Leaving me wondering how impressive it is that people around Australia have mobilized to a cause and how important it is that Australians support other Australians who are in trouble abroad.

It is of course important that Australians also care for the destinies of people of other races and cultures who live abroad. And there a very clear evidence for this, one needs only to look as far as our national response to the Tsunami disaster in Aceh or the millions we pour into federal government agencies like Ausaid.

On another level, it is still important that Australians care to about what is happening to cultures and communities right here in Australia.

It is true that we all can’t all be everywhere so perhaps most of us work to support those areas where we feel we can be of the best assistance.

As a black Australian born of a Ghanaian father and a white English mother, the place that I have chosen to direct my own energies is Australia’s “Indigenous People”.

Working with Aboriginal people is exciting, rewarding and also challenging for aboriginal and non-aboriginal people. And there are many thousands of people who are applying their life energies to improve outcomes for aboriginal people in Australia. But still there are many more tasks to be done.

Sometimes people say to me that they would like to help, but they just don’t know how. While others say that they don’t understand enough about indigenous people to begin trying. The worst I have heard is people who are afraid of offending them. So as a useful exercise I will dedicate the rest of this article to exposing some of the most common myths about aboriginal people.

I would like to qualify that what appears next is written by a non Australian aboriginal person and is the result of experience and knowledge that I have gained over the last 10 years working with a rich and vibrant culture, but is by no means an authoritative account.

The most common mistakes people make about Aboriginal Australians:

1. People mistakenly assume aboriginal people are all the same. Of course they are not. There are over 200 different languages and cultural groups that are fiercely proud of their individual identities. One positive upshots of this is that aboriginal people are also very interested in where you come from, and in your own cultural heritage.

2. Some people have “protocol fright” and believe that they can’t just walk up and talk to aboriginal people. The truth is that Indigenous people are people who like to be treated equally like any others in the community. Be honest and sensitive and you’ll be surprised at how easy it is to cross “the cultural divide”.

3. People mistakenly think if an aboriginal person is not looking at them directly in the eye then that person does not respect them. The real reason could be question of familiarity, or maybe their rules about kinship, or even in some cases, deference and respect. So don’t be offended.

4. Some people mistakenly believe that aboriginal people don’t aspire to the same things other Australians do, such as owning their own houses, etc. The truth is of course that they do want to work and own their own places, but for some of them there are barriers such as location, skills and other obstacles that can make it more practically challenging for indigenous people to achieve. All are more reasons to step forward and assist where you can!

5. Some people mistakenly believe that aboriginal people are not inventive or innovative. Many of you will be aware of the aboriginal man on the $50 Australian note. His name is David Unaipon. David was an inventor, as he invented an efficient mechanical sheep shearing hand-piece. The keen engineer, David, also envisioned the dynamics of helicopter flight over hundred years before the first helicopter was built. And there are other numerous examples.

6. Some people believe that indigenous people are just interested in land rights. While aboriginal people do have a strong sense of identity to their land many are very interested to learn about economic development, business and aspire to running successful enterprises. There are already many positive examples of established, growing indigenous businesses around Australia, but there is still room for more.