‘I’m using the coloniser’s language to
write about what they’ve done to us!’ raves Anita Heiss, Aboriginal writer and
novelist when asked why she - an Aboriginal writer – resorted to writing in
English – the language of the colonizer!
She opines furthermore, on the USPs of
Aboriginal writers and their distinctive writing style – and I quote from Anita
Heiss herself –
For
Aboriginal writers, writing is a form of catharsis, and as a means to make sure
their voice has a place in Australian literature, as a means of having a
political voice, in a country where we are still voiceless in the political
system, where the arts is the only political platform we have, where literature
remains a highly political tool!
 |
| ANITA HEISS |
There’s
such a huge difference between aboriginal stories on the page, and
non-aboriginal stories on the page! When you read works of aboriginal writings,
you will see that there’s very little difference between the spoken word and
the written word, and literally, the conversational style or the oral form is
just digested onto the page, whereas the non-aboriginal writing is edited to
conform to a particular literary style! I prefer to read conversationally!
That’s Anita Heiss, Australian Aboriginal
writer for us all!
Well, while doing some research on
Aboriginal writing, I personally chanced upon a precious read that was edited
by Anita Heiss, titled, Growing Up Aboriginal
in Australia!
This book has a wonderful collection of
thought-provoking essays that serves to enlighten our understanding on the
Aborigines, coming as it does from very high-profile scholars in the field!
The diverse voices, the multifarious experiences
and the myriad stories of more than fifty scholars in the field, reveal to a
great extent, as Anita would say, ‘the impacts of invasion and colonisation –
on language, on country, on ways of life, on how people are treated daily in
the community, the education system, the workplace and in friendship groups.’
The very first chapter opens before us
the readers, in the form of a very profound and enlightening conversation
between two sisters Susie and Alice Anderson, who discuss among other things,
what it means to be an Aborigine in Australia, with special focus on family
life, school life and the ‘white’ society around them!
Brings out to a tee, the angst and the
dread, the pain and the embarrassment of being an Aborigine in their own land
and soil!
Just a little excerpt from this chapter
to bring out the angst of the Aborigine in a nutshell for y’all –
I quote –
Alice: There were a lot of things within our school, or just that
small-town community environment, that I just wish would have been different.
But probably still aren’t. There was a yearly scholarship for Indigenous
students at our school, and my class coordinator would always try to get me to
enter. One year I didn’t and at the end-of-year presentations they read out my
entry from the previous year and gave it to me anyway. I was so angry and some
people in my year made me feel shit for accepting it because I ‘wasn’t really
Aboriginal’. There was another time the health teacher addressed me in front of
the entire class about personal experiences with alcoholism, since I was
Aboriginal. I told her she was a bitch and I got suspended.
I
spent a lot of high school, and my time living in Horsham, feeling angry and
frustrated and denied. I never once felt ashamed of who I was. I felt
displaced. White people didn’t accept me as black, and I felt like only my
family knew me as black. Sorry to spew all of my pent-up high school
frustrations into one long-winded reply. But there’s one more thing I remember.
My
Year 12 Studio Arts teacher was one of the only ones I liked at my school. She
actually talked to us as people. We were studying Tracey Moffatt and she was
reading aloud from a pretty outdated-looking textbook. Out loud rang the words
‘half-caste’. I remember my stomach dropping and that weird knot in your throat
that forms but you can’t swallow. I expected to look up from my book to a sea
of eyes staring at me in the classroom, but everyone was carrying on, unfazed.
I went home and cried.
Susie: I’m so sorry you had that experience, my darling. There is
a lot of power in those words ‘half-caste’ and ‘quadroon’. Those are terms that
were used so carelessly but defined identities and the existence of our dad,
uncles, aunties, grandmother. A lot of the time I have feelings about how my
appearance, for some people, excludes me from my Aboriginal identity. It’s a
battle that I have internally all the time. It’s social conditioning. I will
never get the inclusion and membership to community simply from my looks. A lot
of it is a white thing, sure, but that’s also the culture we were brought up in
and that takes a lot of mental and emotional undoing.
Alice: Slightly off topic, really, but I just remembered that an
Aboriginal woman used to hang around the Preston supermarket when I lived
there, and she would ask people for money, but she used to call me ‘sis’, so I
would give her coins even though I could not afford to, because it made me
happy to be recognised for who I am, but also because I wanted to help her.
Then I told my friends and they were like, ‘she probably just says that to
everyone so they give her money’. So the next time I saw her I asked her who
her mob was and she asked me back.
Susie: Yeah. I know identity is nothing to do with skin colour and
it goes much, much deeper than that. But it’s so hard when that’s how
mainstream Australia thinks about ‘what an Aboriginal person looks like’!
Well, the book is available on Amazon and on flipkart as well, and is a high-value primer for scholars doing their research
on Australian Aboriginal Studies.
This apart, Anita Heiss has also given
TED talks, where she’s in her elements! All through her enlivening talk that kept
the audience spell-bound and hooked hard to their seats, Anita comes out spontaneous,
and poetic, offhand, with such timing and such a sense of amazing humour on
her!
Just a few excerpts from off her TED talk
for us all –
The TED talk of 18 minutes, is easily accessible
on YouTube also!
I quote from her TED talk -
 |
| Anita on TED | Brisbane |
I'm
from the origination and without hesitation I pay my respects to the traditional
owners of land and I think by army for all that I am I tell stories through
literature you'll soon get the picture but I also hunt for kangaroo and I turn
it into yummies do or sometimes I'll make a rookery but if I'm in a hurry i'll
throw some room in the wok with some bok choy oh boy I make a delicious rooster
fry you should try it's called culinary fusion there's no delusion all peoples
do evolve we have not dissolved because of colonization or assimilation it's
called integration our diverse nation and just so you know I don't go walkabout
and I don't you catch trout i drive a silver sports car it's the best by far sunroof and leather seats it
can't be beat when the roof goes down I go Brown but I don't get burned because
I have learnt that some cancer is not cool and yes and black fellas can get
some cancer some cancer is not cool and I'm no fool because I went to uni I did
a PhD i graduated in a fancy hat and robe without the strobe lighting i had
snow white hair then it was frightening nobody told me they said blondes have more
fun I didn't get a date anyway clocks on I look like a clown it's much more
normal brown I don't tell time by the Sun and like summer wear and I swatch and
I don't drink scotch I don't wear oka and I don't throw a spear and I don't
drink beer
I
love going to the beach
and
into the classroom to teach Indigenous Studies
for
my students are my buddies
and
I tell them about Aboriginal life in Sydney Town
and
although my skin is brown
they
shouldn't frown
because
we were all the same
I
want to tell you about my writing
how
exciting
I
hear you say so
with
no delay
I
wrote a book called token Corey
some
call it poetry
I
call it social observations
my
own translations of conversations with white fellows and me
it's
about being invisible because
racism
is divisible
it's
about pride in identity
what
it means to be me
it's
about reconciliation
survival
of the aboriginal nation
and
my own self determination
it's
about defining who we are
which
is by far something others have done too much
in
a rush to make us different
but
a name can make us the same
and
that name is human
it's
about being lonely
if
only I had someone to love
but
don't fret because
I
bet I just need to look
in
the meantime here's my next book
I
wrote a book ordinary talents about a young Aboriginal girl
who
not by chance had a life of misdirection
under
the active protection
she
was one of the stolen generations
without
hesitation
without
explanation
her
family and identity taken
fears
awakened
she
grew up in a place called bomaderry
which
wasn't like life with her own family
she
was fostered by the berks
a
new brother Sam was a jerk
but
she made friends with Tony and dot
and
that meant a lot
but
a cruel boy Johnny Jones called her names
and
she had no games
but
she could sing and play the guitar
which
got her far in dealing with life of not being white!
Yesss! this legendary Aboriginal Writer, Novelist
and Expert on Australian Aboriginal Studies, is in Chennai, on 30 January 2019,
at 10 am, with the Department of English, Queen Mary’s College. She’ll be so
glad to take questions from students! This rare-o-rare ‘one of its kind’ programme
is open exclusively for PG students in English Literature! Others are also most
welcome! There’s no entry fee! But make sure you book your seat wll in advance
with Dr. Maria Preethi, as this is a ‘limited-capacity’ auditorium! You may kindly contact Dr. Preethi @ 9444067051.
Image courtesy: blackincbooksdotcomdotau, penguindotcomdotau, youtubedotcom
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