It’s only when we are completely removed from our own culture
or see someone breaking the ‘invisible’ rules in own system, that we stop and
think ‘that’s different’. We must remind ourselves, ‘if I’m thinking this, they
are probably thinking the same about me,’ and that there is no ‘right’ way of
doing something. After all, rules and laws are all man-made and therefore have
been derived by an individual, or group of individuals who are of a certain
opinion or belief. With millions of people following and adopting these
man-made rules, who is to say that one makes more ‘sense’ than the other. The
one that makes ‘sense’ is the one that you have been conditioned to follow from
birth.
Mainstream Australians often identify themselves as
anti-racist and make remarks like “I don’t care if someone’s black or white, I
treat everyone the same.” Whilst this sounds great and I hope it to be true, Grant Burgoyne, resident of Angurugu, suggests that in most cases, this common statement should be
interpreted as “…I treat everyone the same…as long as they’re like me.” In
saying this, most of the people making these declarations do so with good intentions and
would be horrified to think that they are judging others for being dissimilar
to them. But the sad truth is that most of us are in-fact unfairly, and to some
degree, unconsciously judgemental towards the behaviour of other cultures. And I
use the word ‘us’ because just like you, I too, am hard-wired to believe that my way is the
‘right’ way. Please join me in recognising that we all (mainstream Australians
and Indigenous Australians) must adopt a bi-cultural outlook in order to
respect each other’s differences and let all cultural groups live free from
inference and judgement.
For mainstream Australians to begin this process, they need to
be aware of the vast differences between their culture and the Indigenous culture.
The below table is based on the culture of the Warnindilyakwan people (Groote
Eylandt inhabitants of the past 8,000 years) and the Nungubuyyu people
(originally from the mainland). The two combined groups are referred to as the
Anindilyakwan people.
Please share this table with everyone you know to help make
Australia a bi-cultural nation.
Majority of my information has been sourced from 'An Open Mind, Common Decency and Patience: A Handbook of Information for Visitors Living or Working With the Aborigines of Groote Eylandt' written by N.D. Lalara, Grant Burgoyne & Phil Elsegood.
Grant Burgoyne is a "Mainstream Australian" who is married to Nancy Lalara, a Anindilyakwan woman who was born and raised on the island. Together, they run a cross-cultural course for all GEMCO employees and on a number of occasions have spared their time to answer many of my questions; to which I'm very thankful.
Majority of my information has been sourced from 'An Open Mind, Common Decency and Patience: A Handbook of Information for Visitors Living or Working With the Aborigines of Groote Eylandt' written by N.D. Lalara, Grant Burgoyne & Phil Elsegood.
Grant Burgoyne is a "Mainstream Australian" who is married to Nancy Lalara, a Anindilyakwan woman who was born and raised on the island. Together, they run a cross-cultural course for all GEMCO employees and on a number of occasions have spared their time to answer many of my questions; to which I'm very thankful.
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