Identity (noun)
The individual characteristics by which a thing or person is recognized or known
When it comes to explaining what my Indigenous Identity and Heritage means to me? It’s something that requires deep thought.
When I ask myself this question the following words come to mind.
Pride, Strength, Spirit and Connection.
I am proud of my heritage that represents the oldest surviving culture in the world. I am proud to be apart of a society that has fought for their Survival, their Culture and their Land. My ancestors who have walked on this land before me were strong, passionate, and very spiritual people. I know this not just from books about the History of Australia; but I know this because of who I am, and who my people are today. As I look at my family, at different Aboriginal communities in which I have a connection too, they are all such strong, determined people, still fighting for what our ancestors have been fighting for; for so many years.
Strength is an understatement when it comes to speaking about my Indigenous Identity and what my ancestors have been through. The feeling I get thinking about the pain and suffering that they have gone through is hard to explain. The History of my people and Indigenous Australia plays a huge role in identifying my Aboriginality.
The Aboriginal people of Australia were apart of the most unrecognized WARS in our History. When Captain Phillip raised that Flag at Sydney Cove, my ancestors were slaughtered. My ancestors fought for their lives, fought for their families and the place they called home. These so called “Massacre” sites that are all around Australia, shouldn’t be called Massacre sites, they are WAR grounds, and as apart of who I am and my Identity, I make sure that people understand that we ‘Indigenous Australians’ are strong, determined people who have been to WAR and continue to fight for our rights and for justice for the first peoples of Australia.
My Indigenous Identity isn’t determined by the colour of my skin, the language I speak, by the clothes I wear, where I live, the people I hang out with, my career, my hobbies or the music I listen to. It is about the connection I have to my culture, my family, my community and the Traditional Land where my people are from.
I do have a connection to my people; I am accepted in my community and among my peers as an Aboriginal person. My Indigenous Identity is a major part of who I am and is very dear and scared to my heart.
My Definition
Indigenous Identity
Sacred distinctiveness, Strong Culture, Connection to Land, Acknowledgement of those ancestors who walked before us on this land, Equality and Justice.
