Lucinda Aberdeen - Black, White and Exempt: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lives under Exemption

Black, white, and exempt: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lives under exemption offers a new and important way into understanding Indigenous experiences in Australian history. Exemption policies have had a profound and often damaging impact on the lives of Indigenous Australians and Indigenous communities. The editors have brought together a collection of essays on this topic that are as diverse as they are intriguing. They range from the meaning of exemption in a segregated society to the multiple pathways that Indigenous people forged to escape the harsh legislative restrictions imposed upon them around the country throughout the twentieth century. As a collection, they show the interactions between the personal stories of individuals and the larger patterns of settler colonialism, and offer insightful and thoughtful analysis of exemption histories. Drawing upon archival records and oral histories, this edited collection reveals the full complexity of the lived experience of exemption for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, with vibrancy, sensitivity and compassion.

Victoria Haskins, Professor, Purai Global Indigenous History Centre, University of Newcastle

An Exemption from the Aboriginal Acts declared that its holders ceased to be Aboriginal. Far from a step towards emancipation that it might have been, such Exemptions were couched in patronising and paternalistic frameworks of oppression and segregation. In this book, black and white writers link arms to explore the genealogy of that paradoxical instrument of assimilation; the lived experiences of people who took this poison chalice, and of their many descendants who became disconnected from their Indigenous ancestry as a result. Like countless descendants of Jewish ancestry all over Europe, Australians are awakening to personal histories that have been suppressed due to racism.

Regina Ganter, Professor Emerita, Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities

Uncovering all truths from Australias dark histories is critical in healing, for Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. The stories of exemptions are a part of this nations history that needs to be told. This book provides detailed insights into the impact of the certificate of exemption on our people and indeed all Australians, making this a key historical text in understanding this aspect of our history for future generations.

Marnee Shay, Senior Lecturer, School of Education, Senior Research Fellow, University of Queensland

To Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander elders past present and emerging.

We also dedicate this book to those impacted by exemption, including Alfred Kelly and Roy Smith and their granddaughters, Kella Robinson and Judi Wickes.

BLACK WHITE AND EXEMPT

ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER LIVES UNDER EXEMPTION

Edited by Lucinda Aberdeen and Jennifer Jones

Contributions by Lucinda Aberdeen, Katherine Ellinghaus, Ashlen Francisco, Jessica Horton, Karen Hughes, Jennifer Jones, Beth Marsden, John Maynard, Kella Robinson, Leonie Stevens and Judi Wickes

First published in 2021

by Aboriginal Studies Press

An AIATSIS Research Publication

Lucinda Aberdeen and Jennifer Jones, in compilation, 2021

in individual chapters is held by the contributors, 2021

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or 10 per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its education purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act.

The opinions expressed in this book are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect the view of AIATSIS or ASP.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are respectfully advised that this publication contains names and images of deceased persons and culturally sensitive information.

Aboriginal Studies Press is the publishing arm of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

GPO Box 553, Canberra, ACT 2601

Phone: (61 2) 6246 1183

Fax: (61 2) 6261 4288

Email:

Web: www.aiatsis.gov.au/asp/about.html

9781925302332 (pb)

9781925302356 (ePDF)

9781925302349 (ePub)

Printed in Australia by Ligare Printers.

Design and typesetting by Peter Long.

Cover photograph of Daisy Smith with her daughter Valma, circa 1950, courtesy of Judi Wickes.

Contents

List of Illustrations

Acknowledgements

The inspiration for this volume arose from the presentations given at the Rethinking and Researching 20th Century Aboriginal Exemption in Australia symposium led by community Elders, Aunty Kella Robinson and Aunty Judi Wickes, and held in October 2018 at La Trobe Universitys Shepparton campus, on Yorta Yorta and Bangarang country in regional Victoria. We would like to thank the keynote speakers and presenters for contributing to this volume; which would not have come into being without their steadfast enthusiasm and commitment. We are equally indebted to the two anonymous reviewers of the book manuscript and the encouragement and professional support and guidance of Aboriginal Studies Press, particularly, Frances Glavimans (Publishing Manager) and Christine Bruderlin (Editorial and Production Officer). Indexing of the volume was expertly undertaken by Bronwyn Hislop with funding assistance from La Trobe University.

The planned nation-wide scope of this volume included a contribution by participants from Western Australia. Unfortunately this is absent due to unforeseen circumstances which arose prior to the Symposium. We are hopeful that this will be addressed in future publications emanating from the second national Aboriginal exemption symposium scheduled for 2021.

Lucinda Aberdeen and Jennifer Jones

November 2020

About the Contributors

Ash Francisco is a Wiradjuri woman born on Wurundjeri Country in Naarm, Melbourne. Her interests span from historically guided restorative justice to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership and entrepreneurship. She is a PhD candidate in Aboriginal History at the University of Newcastle and works at the University of Melbourne in Indigenous economic development and engagement. Currently she is based on Taungurung Country in North Central Victoria and has an ongoing interest in decolonising the centrality of knowledge institutions by bringing information and resources to where people need them for practical application.

Beth Marsden is a non-Indigenous researcher and history PhD candidate at La Trobe University living and working on the lands of the Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri people. Her PhD research focuses on how Aboriginal children and families engaged with different school systems in Victoria in the twentieth century. Beths research interests include histories of Aboriginal education and political activism, archival methodologies and contemporary education policy.

Jessica Horton is a settler historian who grew up on Yuin country in southern New South Wales and who now lives in Naarm, Melbourne. She completed a History PhD at La Trobe University on Aboriginal peoples letter writing to the authorities in Victoria. Her research interests include political activism, gender, race and colonial histories and she teaches in Indigenous studies and Australian history.