Indigenous women in power

When talking about Indigenous Women in

power in Australia, we need to take a step

back and look at how Indigenous women

started reclaiming their identity post

colonization before they could start

fighting for social, economic and political

rights.

European colonization took away

Indigenous people’s land and personal

autonomy and restricted the economic,

political, social, spiritual and ceremonial

domains that existed prior to colonization1.

Australia was one of the first countries to

allow women to run for parliament in 1903,

but Indigenous Australians were not given

the chance to vote until 19622.

While feminism has been very important

for the women’s movement in general,

Australian Indigenous women’s starting

point was very different to other Australian

women. It is important to understand they

were not just discriminated against on the

base of gender, but also ethnic

background. They were fighting not only to

be recognised as equals to men, but as

equals to white Australians.

1 Fredericks, Bronwyn L. (2010) Reempowering ourselves : Australian Aboriginal women. Signs : Journal of Women In Culture and Society, 35(3). pp. 546-550. 2 http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/fact-sheets/fs150.aspx accessed online 4th of October

An important year to look at is 1967 and

the female forces behind it.

Referendum3 1967 - ‘Vote yes’

During the civil rights movement in 1950’s

and 19060’s, two women had an

immensely large impact on civil rights for

Indigenous Australians.

Indigenous Australian Faith Bandler met

non-Indigenous Jessie Street in 1949 and

they struck an immediate friendship. They

worked together on a number of

occasions, fighting for Indigenous people’s

civil rights. In 1957, Jessie Street stated

she thought there should be a change in

the Constitution to recognize Indigenous

Australians as Australian citizens.

Rallying for change through the 1950s and

1960s, a breakthrough finally happened in

1967 through an important referendum.

Faith Bandler became the elected director

for the ‘Vote Yes’ campaign when the date

was set for the referendum. On 27 May

1967, the ‘Yes’ was a resounding one,

with 90.77 per cent of voters supporting

the Constitutional changes. Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander people were

recognised as Australian citizens in the

3 A referendum is a vote by Australians over the age of 18 on a specific change to the text of the Australian Constitution.

national census for the first time4.

After the change of constitution, a new

movement of political activists for

Indigenous rights evolved, focusing

especially on land rights. Faith Bandler

was also an active supporter of this.

She has since written six books and has

been a founding member of the Australian

Republican Movement. In 1994, she

received an honorary doctorate from

Macquarie University for her

achievements.5

There are many examples of Indigenous

women who have succeeded in Australia

despite the segregation they have faced.

Below are a few more examples.

One example is Lowitja O'Donoghue. She

was removed from her mother at the age

of two as a part of the ‘stolen generation’.

Growing up in South Australia, she dreamt

of being a nurse but faced difficulties

getting accepted to nursing school due to

her Aboriginality. She was admitted and

finally became the first Indigenous nurse

in Australia. In 1976, O'Donoghue was the

first Aboriginal woman to be awarded an 4 http://www.reconciliation.org.au/home/resources/school-resources/1967-referendum/women--1967-referendum accessed online 4th October 2013

5 http://www.abc.net.au/schoolstv/australians/f.bandler.htm accessed online 4th October

Order of Australia. In 1984 she was made

Australian of the Year. In 1990 she

became the founding chairperson of the

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Commission6. She is a fantastic example

of success.

Another example is Dr. Hannah McGlade,

who has specialised in human rights law.

Her work has been the subject of many

publications concerning Aboriginal human

rights. In 2011, Dr. McGlade was named

the recipient of the prestigious Stanner

Award for her PhD thesis on Aboriginal

child sexual assault and the justice

system. Dr. McGlade is currently a

member of the Migration and Refugee

Tribunal.7

In 2013, the federal parliament inducted its

first Indigenous woman. Nova Peris, who

also was the first Indigenous Australian to

win an Olympic Gold Medal in 1996,

represents Labor in the Northern Territory.

Other Indigenous women that have

achieved some great accomplishments

are:

Margaret Williams, first Aboriginal

university graduate in Australia in 1959.

Cathy Freeman, the only person to have

won both the Young Australian and 6 http://dl.nfsa.gov.au/clip/odonreu/ accessed online 4th October 2013

7 http://healingfoundation.org.au/dr-hannah-mcglade/ accessed online 6th October 2013

Australian of the Year Awards.

Rebecca Richards, the first Aboriginal

person to be awarded a Rhodes

Scholarship in 2011.

Carol Martin, elected to the Western

Australian Legislative Assembly in 2001,

becoming the first Aboriginal woman

elected to an Australian Parliament8.

Movies

There are also some great Indigenous

films available. The following films are

directed by and/or starring Indigenous

women in leading roles.

”My Survival as an Aboriginal” (1979) is a

documentary directed by Essie Coffey and

made in collaboration with non-Indigenous

filmmaker Martha Ansara. The film was

the first documentary directed by an

Indigenous woman and one of the first

films where Indigenous people had a

determining role in how they and their

community were represented9.

“Yajilarra” (2009) is a film about a group of

Aboriginal women from Fitzroy Crossing in

remote northern Western Australia. They

are determined to save the town from the

8 http://reconciliationaustralia.createsend1.com/t/ViewEmail/r/0B63B3D20774A290/3A71D405A133CA69D8E2A916412CAE5B

9 http://aso.gov.au/titles/documentaries/my-survival-aboriginal/clip1/ accessed online 6th of October

scourge of alcohol abuse, domestic

violence and foetal alcohol syndrome10.

“Here I am” (2010) revolves around Karen,

a beautiful young Aboriginal woman with a

dark past. Fresh out of prison, she finds

herself on the streets with a burning desire

to turn her life around but no one to call for

help11.

“The Sapphires” (2012) is set in1968. It

shows four young, talented Australian

Aboriginal women learn about love,

friendship and war when their girl-group

The Sapphires entertain the US troops in

Vietnam12.

Questions

1) Why was it so much harder for

Australian Indigenous women to

gain equality than other women in

Australia?

a. Australian women

participated in home life as

home makers and didn’t

participate in political life

b. There were far fewer

10 To order a copy of the movie, contact Jen Sharman at the Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre on (08) 9191 5284 or at projects@mwrc.com.au

11 http://www.creativespirits.info/resources/movies/here-i-am acessed October 6th, 2013

12 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1673697/ accessed online October 6th, 2013

Indigenous women and

made it harder for their

voices to be heard

c. Because they were fighting

for both gender and racial

equality, against double the

discrimination

d. They faced lack of

education and language

and were denied

opportunities

2) What did Indigenous Australians

achieve through the referendum?

a. Recognition as citizens

b. Equal rights as all

Australians everywhere

c. Constitutional recognition

as the first Australians

d. Land rights

3) Who was the first Australian

Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander

elected into any Australian

Parliament

a. Nova Peris

b. Carol Martin

c. Lowitja O'Donoghue

d. Faith Bandler

4) What was so groundbreaking

about the making of ‘My Survival

as an Aboriginal’ (1979)?

a. It was the first documentary

that showed Indigenous

women.

b. It was the first film in which

Indigenous people had a

direct say in how they were

represented.

c. It was one of the first

documentaries on

Aboriginal people.

d. It was an early film on

Aboriginal survival

techniques.