Exploring Aboriginal and Chinese cultures’ shared history in Australia

Researchers are exploring the relationship between two of the world’s oldest cultures in Australia, in a first-of-its kind project.

Chinese-Australian artist Zhou Xiaoping, right, during a trip to South Australia to study the origins of Aboriginal Chinese people. Picture: Supplied

A little over 30 years ago during a trip to Western Australia’s Kimberley region, artist Zhou Xiaoping was caught off guard when he greeted someone he thought to be a fellow Chinese countryman.

“Ni-hao,” he said.

“Aboriginal,” Ah Lee returned. “We all Aboriginal. But everyone tells me I’m a Chinaman.”

“I asked him, ‘How did you get that name?’ ” Zhou asked.

“My grandfather is Chinese,” Ah Lee replied.

Encounters like this at Halls Creek, 2800km northeast of Perth, would be the start of Zhou’s abiding interest in the rich, complex history between two of the world’s oldest civilisations.

“I asked him, ‘What do you know about your background?’ but he couldn’t tell me much. He only knew he looked different to the others,” recalls Zhou, who is also an art curator and researcher.

During the same 1989 trip, Zhou met acclaimed Aboriginal playwright James (Jimmy) Chi, whose father was Chinese and Japanese and mother Aboriginal and Scottish.

Chi didn’t have a great connection to his Asian roots, Zhou said, but he instantly enjoyed hearing Mandarin.

Aboriginal singer and playwright Jimmy Chi.

“In that moment, when I spoke it for him, I could feel he was happy – he felt a kind of spiritual connection with his heritage.”

Zhou continued his research into the relationship between ­Aboriginal Australians and Chinese Australians and in 1996 co-presented the first Aboriginal exhibition at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing with Aboriginal artist Jimmy Pike.

More than 25 years later, Zhou’s exploration of Aboriginal and Chinese history is showcased at the Museum of Chinese Australian History in Melbourne’s Chinatown.

On Saturday, Aboriginal Chinese leader and academic Peter Yu delivered a lecture based on a 35,000-page volume compiled by Zhou and a team of researchers.

Professor Yu, the Australian National University’s vice-­president First Nations, detailed the rich and complex history between two of the world’s oldest civilisations.

The distinguished land rights leader also announced the next phase of the project, which will take the research team across Tasmania, Western Australia, Queensland and the Northern Territory over a two-year period to expand the storyline. “For a long time, I have been interested to understand the study of this history,” Professor Yu said.

“The project led by Zhou Xiaoping provides a unique opportunity for this to occur whilst providing a greater clarity and insight into the relationship and impact on local communities and the development of the nation as a whole.”

The research will live on past the exhibition and find a per­manent home in the museum as it undergoes a once-in-a-­generation change, museum chief executive Mark Wang said.

“This exhibition will underpin a massive transformation of the museum which is due in 2026.

“The relationship between Chinese and Aboriginal people is one of the aspects we’ll integrate into the foundation of the ­museum’s makeover.”

Mr Wang said the research also shines a light on the marginalisation Aboriginal people and Chinese people faced and how it brought them together.

“In the late 19th century, there were quite a few communities who were marginalised from the colonial government and people at the time, and amongst them were Chinese gold seekers and Aboriginal people,” he said.

“Even the Irish were marginalised, sitting on the outskirts of ­society. Chinese people came together with both of those communities and today there are many descendants of those groups.”

WA researcher Christine Choo said she had been excited to help uncover a largely undocumented relationship between the two groups.

“The social and family connections between Chinese and Aboriginal people living in WA have been hidden from the gaze of the wider audience of mainstream Australia and the world, yet these are stories that are embodied in the flesh and blood and hearts of the descendants of the inter­marriage or cohabitation of Chinese and Aboriginal people,” Ms Choo said.