A prominent academic and self-described ‘part-Aboriginal n’ insists there is nothing offensive about the word ‘Aborigine’ and he will go on using it.
Anthony Dillon, a well-known commentator on Indigenous affairs, said no one had been able to explain to him why the term was now considered insensitive.
He believed some ns who identified as Indigenous might not feel comfortable that ‘Aborigine’ could evoke an image of a person who was ‘clearly and unmistakably a full-blooded Aboriginal person’.
‘I have no problem with the word,’ Dr Dillon told Daily Mail .
‘Twenty, 30 years ago it was fine but then overnight someone said you’re not allowed to use that word. I said, “Why?” and a reason was never given.
Anthony Dillon, a ‘part-Aboriginal n’ academic and commentator on Indigenous affairs, insists the word ‘Aborigine’ is not offensive. He is pictured with Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, the federal shadow minister for Indigenous affairs
‘It was like the term “part-Aboriginal” – that was fine for many years and then overnight someone said, “Oh, that’s offensive”.
‘Now, I’m open to hearing the reason but no one has offered me a reason yet.’
Human rights group Amnesty International advises on its website against calling someone an Aborigine, even if they are Aboriginal.
“‘Aborigine” is generally perceived as insensitive because it has racist connotations from ‘s colonial past, and lumps people with diverse backgrounds into a single group,’ it states.
‘If you can, try using the person’s clan or tribe name. And if you are talking about both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, it’s best to say either “Indigenous ns” or “Indigenous people”.’
Dr Dillon, an honorary fellow at the n Catholic University, said there was nothing offensive about calling someone an Aborigine.
‘I think it was just arbitrary,’ he said. ‘Also, perhaps “Aborigine” conjures up images like the guy on the $2 coin, that sort of thing.’
Anthony Dillon believes some ns who identify as Indigenous might feel ‘Aborigine’ conjures an image of someone like Bwoya Jungarai (above), who appears on the $2 coin, and that is not how they see themselves
Gwoya Jungarai, who survived the 1928 Coniston massacre in Central , is depicted on that coin with traditional headband, flowing beard and tribal scars across his chest.
The picture of Jungarai, or someone like him, might not fit with how the increasing number of light-skinned ns who identified as Aboriginal saw themselves, Dr Dillon suggested.
Gwoya Jungarai appeared on a postage stamp as well as the $2 coin
‘We know in the last 10 or 20 years more and more people are identifying as Indigenous on the basis that they have some indigenous ancestry,’ he said.
‘I’m not saying they can’t. I’m just saying we don’t have to change the language, or at least don’t tell me what language I can use and not use.’
At the 2021 census, 812,728 ns identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, up from 649,171 in 2016.
‘Someone can have one drop of Indigenous ancestry,’ Dr Dillon said. ‘If they want to identify, that’s their business. But I see nothing wrong with calling them an Aborigine.’
Dr Dillon also believed some people just enjoyed taking offence.
‘Because to be offended is to feel important and people love to take offence,’ he said.
Human rights group Amnesty International advises on its website against calling someone an Aborigine, even if they are Aboriginal. ‘Invasion Day’ protesters are pictured in Sydney on January 26
‘They like to be the gatekeepers. People either like to be the offended or the rescuers. The thought police.’
Dr Dillon had no problem with language changing and gave the example of preferring to say ‘a person with diabetes’ than ‘a diabetic’.
‘There’s a rationale behind that,’ he said. ‘We’re talking about the person, we’re not defining them in terms of the illness they have.
‘But no one has been able to explain to me why the term Aborigine is not allowed.
‘Having said that, I will often say “Aboriginal people” because I don’t go out to deliberately provoke. But I will at times say ‘Aborigine’ and I won’t apologise for it.’
The Macquarie Dictionary defines an Aborigine as ‘a member of a tribal people, the earliest known inhabitants of ‘ or ‘a descendant of this people’.
It also warns the word can cause offence and suggests using other descriptions.
‘The nouns Aborigine(s) and Aboriginal(s) are considered by some to carry negative, even derogatory, connotations,’ the Macquarie states.
Aboriginal people have increasingly identified themselves by language groups, using phrases such as ‘Bundjalung man’ or ‘Noongar woman’. Protesters gather in Melbourne on January 26
‘The use of Aboriginal as an adjective, forming noun phrases such as Aboriginal people, Aboriginal woman, Aboriginal n etc is preferred by many.
‘The adjective Indigenous can be used to encompass both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
‘Indigenous ns from particular regions of are also sometimes referred to by names from Indigenous languages.’
Aboriginal people have increasingly identified themselves by language groups, using phrases such as ‘Bundjalung man’ or ‘Noongar woman’.
The Creative Spirits website, which provides research material about Aboriginal culture, recommends using ‘First Nations people’.
‘People have used many terms for ‘s First Peoples,’ it states. ‘Early terms were utterly racist and remain offensive.
The Creative Spirits website, which provides research material about Aboriginal culture, recommends using ‘First Nations people’. Protesters are pictured in Adelaide on January 26
‘Then “Indigenous” was very popular before the politically more correct “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander” replaced it.
‘But all these terms were coined by non-Indigenous people. The new term that is emerging in now is “First Nations people(s)”.
Creative Sprits says that term should be preferred because Aboriginal people inhabited before anyone else and formed nations rather than small groups.
‘Each nation, just like any other nation on the planet, has its own culture, history and language,’ it states. ‘The plural, nations, alludes to the diversity of all nations within .’
Creative Sprits does not like ‘Indigenous’ because it ‘generalises mainland and islander cultures into one, ignoring the many different cultures that exist’.
READ MORE: The troubling case of ‘s ‘first Aboriginal attorney-general’, his mysterious initiation… and the evidence casting doubt on his black ancestry
