Bolt: No, you’re not Aboriginal unless you can prove it
Surely it’s time to demand proof before handing forests, race-based rights or even newspaper space to people claiming to be Aboriginal, especially when there are no ancestry links.
Surely it’s time to demand proof before handing forests, race-based rights or even newspaper space to people claiming to be Aboriginal.
Surely, now that Victoria has signed a treaty with Aboriginal people, and the NSW government is handing over another forest — the Bungabee State Forest — under a native title claim.
Yes, these lucky tribes may all have some Aboriginal ancestors, but then I read about contractors on the disastrous Snowy pumped hydro scheme finding 38,519 stones used as tools by Aboriginal people, including chips knocked off by them.
The Australian reports that some Indigenous Australians apparently think 38,519 stones and chips are still not enough to save, and more should be done to restrict big projects.
Indeed, “University of Sydney anthropology professor and Ngarigo woman Jakelin Troy” told the paper her ancestors had passed down stories about these stones through her mother, and if project bosses “had spoken to us, the people of that area, we could have told them”.
Ah, Professor Troy, the linguist who’s also worked on a new periodic table of the elements, from hydrogen to nitrogen to oganesson, but this time using Aboriginal names – like “sickness rocks” for “uranium”. Useful! Not.
But shouldn’t Troy prove she’s Aboriginal before being asked to pontificate on Aboriginal matters?
See, professional genealogists from the website darkemuexposed.org have traced all her relatives on her mother’s side and found not one with Aboriginal ancestry.
Of course, they may have made a mistake, so they asked Troy two years ago to correct them, but she failed to respond. Nor has she responded since, when I or darkemuexposed.org have identified her in our long list of academics claiming to be Aboriginal when their genealogy suggests they’re mistaken.
In fact, Suzanne Ingram, of the NSW Aboriginal Housing Office, has said 300,000 of our 800,000 Indigenous Australians actually aren’t.
But should we go further and set new rules so Aboriginal rights and benefits – if we really must have this new apartheid – go only to people with substantial Aboriginal ancestry and culture?
Senator Lidia Thorpe identifies as Aboriginal although just one of her eight grand-grandparents have Aboriginal ancestors. Should that be enough?
One of the 11 people now claiming native title over Melbourne is Muslim. Should adopting non-traditional beliefs and cultures limit claims to “traditional” rights and culture?
Imagine another century of intermarriage and cultural change. How ridiculous then to insist on this racial division. How many more will exploit it?
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Originally published as Bolt: No, you’re not Aboriginal unless you can prove it
