Visitors should be aware that this website includes images and names of deceased people that may cause sadness or distress to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
There are two Indigenous peoples in Australia: Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders. We look different, we think differently and we act differently. Yet, who we are is central to our identity.
Some important things about our identity include:
how we identify and communicate as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders particularly when dealing with others.
having a say in how we are represented in mainstream society. This is crucial in order to maintain our identity.
Environment is identity
Since colonisation, many Indigenous people have moved into towns, fringe camps and cities, and onto cattle stations and reserves. People have embraced new opportunities such as pop music and film to assert their new identities.
Explore these links to discover how different life experiences shape who we are today:
What's it like to be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander?
We identify in many different ways. See what some of us have to say.
Fighting for Framlington
Herbie Harradine in his Cultural Heritage Officer uniform Photo: George Serras
We fought for years to get all that land back.
Mary Clarke, 1994
Framlington Mission was set up by the Church of England for the Giraiwurung people of south-west Victoria in 1865. Within a year, the government took control and administered it until 1889. People continued to stay there, although they no longer received rations.
The Framlingham land was returned to the community in 1971. In 1980, after a long struggle, Framlingham forest was also returned and the story made front-page national news. Aboriginal residents are now involved in planning and managing the property through the Framlingham Trust Council and the South West and Wimmera Cultural Heritage Program.
Framlingham Trust Council 2000
The Framlingham Trust Council currently manages the community's affairs and maintains the surrounding and adjacent forestlands. Community members are represented on the council. Herbie Harradine is a cultural heritage officer working at Framlingham. His family has resided there for generations.
My family have been at Framlingham for a long time. As a young man from Framlingham I'm proud to be a spokesperson for my people and in my role as a ranger where I get to work on the community lands.
I feel that my job is important because I'm protecting sites and looking after them for future generations to be proud of. But I wouldn't be able to do my job without the elders from the community. I'm also bridging the gaps between non-Indigenous and Indigenous people in relation to the land.
Herbie Harradine, 2000
Listen up!
On Framlingham Mission, Aboriginal families lived in small huts made from corrugated iron and gum trees. Often, the inside walls were lined with hessian and newspaper.
Religion, recreation and rock 'n' roll
The Aboriginal Entertainers' concert about 1930, from Gulgong in the Roaring Days, 1982 National Library of Australia
Religion, sports and music have offered a way to express Aboriginal identity and experiences, both within the Aboriginal community and to the wider community. This has strengthened identity and family ties, and helped many cope with sometimes difficult times. For a few, it has been the road to material success and fame. Sport and music remain central to our cultural identity.
Aboriginal people adapt European music
Only a few missionaries allowed people to practise parts of their traditional culture. Most missionaries suppressed Aboriginal cultures and punished people for speaking their languages, performing their music, and passing on cultural traditions to their children. However, hymns were often translated into local languages and Christian stories were sometimes incorporated into traditional ceremonies.
Old skills new music
Everyone could sing and many people quickly learned the guitar, piano accordion and banjo. Some played religious tunes during church and at other times for recreation. Others added bush ballads and dance music to the repertoire and created new musical styles.
Come and see the band
In the past, men would often travel to earn money for their families by boxing or playing in touring bands. During the 1930s Wallaga Lake musicians joined forces with the Cummergunja Vaudeville troupe. Under the leadership of Pastor Eddie Atkinson, they toured the Goulburn Valley and Riverina districts to raise money for hospitals and charities.
Jimmy Little: a living legend
Jimmy Little was born into a community with lively church choirs, gum leaf bands, dance bands and vaudeville acts. His father was a gum leaf player from Wallaga Lake and his mother was from Cummergunja. Little grew up singing and playing the guitar.
Jimmy Little has won many awards including two gold records and a gold album for Royal Telephone (1964), NAIDOC Aborigine of the Year (1990) and the Mo award (1997). In 1999 he was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
When we sing and play music, we connect with each other and with our ancestors. The songs we play may change, what we wear may change, but the spirit of our people remains strong.
Jimmy Little, 2000
Bringing Christianity into our lives
Marianna and Lisa Babia, 2000 Photo: Amanda Reynolds
You had to sit up like little ladies and gentlemen and not even sneeze.
Zelda Mavis Couzens, 1997
I used to love the church, love the church.
Mary Clarke, 1994
Aboriginal people on missions absorbed Christianity into their lives in different ways. Some were forced to practise it, while others embraced it wholeheartedly. Many Aboriginal people strongly identify with their mission past. Some have used the cultural, family and language records kept by missionaries to rebuild links with their families and learn about their family history. At places like Framlingham, strong new communities are being built.
Beating the drum of religion
Cath Solomon is a community drug and alcohol worker, and member of the Baptist Church. She lives in Victoria. Cath says that Christianity is central to the work she does with our community.
I had a wonderful Christian mother who taught us Christian values ... I find my position as community drug and alcohol worker fulfilling because of the detrimental effect alcohol had on my life ... I asked Jesus Christ into my life, he broke the hold alcohol had on my life. I believe it is only Jesus Christ who has the answer for our people.
Cath Solomon, 2000
Facing our futures
Patrick Johnson, 2000, National Sport Information Centre Australian Sports Commission, no. 985_001
Keep the past strong
Do honour to themselves
Increasing pride
This is what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have to say about our future:
As a descendant of the Gunditjmara Nation in Western Victoria, my vision for the future is that we continue on protecting and maintaining our land, cultural heritage and practising our traditions which is then passed onto our future generation as we have done since the beginning of time.
Joe Chatfield, 2000
We need to keep the past strong and the future positive. Positivism and vision on our part will create hopes and dreams for our people.
Patrick Johnson, 2000
Happiness is important to me like having a good job and having a family.
Semah Heinemann, 2000
Being the best at what I do is important to me.
Ben Hodges, 2000
Believe in yourself and do the best of your ability to achieve your goals in life; have dreams because it pulls you closer, anything is possible but believing in yourself is the base foundation.
Lisa Babia, 2000
In singing, songs are forever, it is ageless. We know, we're listening to it in this millennium. Our music is forever and dancing and songs will never change its meaning.
