Hi Joe,

I am staggered that you would say " that the only 'true' Aboriginal people were those who had as little 'white' education as possible, etc."
That simply puts indigenous people in some kind of time warp, where to be "cultured" one has to fit an unchanging fixed model. Culture is not static but dynamic, and is forever changing as external influences and internal attitudes bring about change. European is a forever changing culture as it grows and develops, as is Aboriginal culture.
Ones culture is far more than the outward appearance which manifests itself through language, dress, art etc, which can be confused with a traditionalist consept, as in traditional dress. Although those outward appearances are important in helping to identify with culture, they are not the be all, and end all, So many abstract considerations also help to make ones culture, the concepts of family, love, kinship, respect, understanding of traditions, practices, beliefs, protocols, socially accepted norms all go to formulate ones culture,

Can you describe what is Australian culture? I have some difficulty with it, although I believe I can pick up on the abstract qualities of it, but the physical features are a bit harder to identify with, what ever they are.

Hi Steele,

I can just as easily turn that around, that " .... you obviously have an enormous amount invested in maintaining the journey was NOT a myth".

How does one tell the difference between myth and fact ? [After all, that's part of the theme of this thread.] You say, story, I say, evidence. You say, sincerity and passion, I say corroboration and back-up. Potato, potarto. "Let's call the whole thing off"

No, let's keep going, keep looking, keep exploring what evidence is there, what evidence should be there that isn't, which aspects of the story not only ring true but have some backing. Anything. Any report in newspapers, letters, documentation, memoirs, reports, diaries, police overtime applications, hotel records, invoices sent from the Police Department for work done to the Aborigines Department, parliamentary questions, mentions in Hansard.

Presumably there would still be records of the Rabbit Department: with 150-200 employees out on the various Fences, blokes who know their stretch of territory and can see three little kids coming up the Fence - surely not much would get past them ? They would have been glad of the conversation. And if the little girls hid until each one was gone for the day, how much longer would they have taken - not ten weeks or three months, from August to November, but six months, right through summer ?

On the other hand, if Jesus could survive in the wilderness for forty days, why not three little girls in the Western Desert ?

Cheers,

Joe

Dear Loudmouth,

Perfectly valid points my friend. We will just have to be prepared to live with the knowledge that each of us have a different view of what might or might not have occurred which is perfectly okay. All good at this end

Hi Nick,

The great majority of Indigenous university students are enrolled in mainstream courses, not Indigenous-focussed courses, and at degree- and PG-level. Can you get your head around that ?

Hi Paul,

Good trick: you know very well I'm not suggesting that, but that I suspect many white racists, on both the Right and the Left, believe it. They would approve apartheid, by any other term, in the name of supporting 'traditional culture'. As I said, "Thank Christ they're not in full control."

And as I said, in relation to Indigenous participation at universities, "I think it's wonderful."

What don't you understand about that point of view ?

But I fully agree with what you write in the rest of your post. Thank you.

Cheers,

Joe

Joe
Ah jest noo you'd be illogical.
"And Indigenous elites rarely seem at all enthusiastic about large Indigenous numbers - currently around two age-groups at any one time - participating in higher education."

' Nura Gili provides pathways for prospective Indigenous students to study in all UNSW faculties and programs.' That is , mainstream and cultural . Both .
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Back on the fence : if the kids were running from whites and expecting to be caught then maybe they'd avoid the fence men . Walk behind trees and stuff . Without mobiles, any sighting of Aboriginals ( in the bush of all places ! ) would rarely make it into news papers .

Hi Joe,

We are off to NZ this weekend for 2 weeks, fly into Auckland Saturday, pick up a rental, drive down to Rotorua to catch up with a special auntie and some of the clan, for a few days before heading up north to see the whanau, been promised heaps of seafood, all the good stuff according to the nephew, "T" wants her rotten corn, but its not for me. While in Roto will probably take in Tamaki Tours, maybe Sunday night, always an interesting cultural experience for tourists and alike, about $100 plus, includes a show and a hangi, good value.

http://www.tamakimaorivillage.co.nz/