I have read with some amazement how various people have interpreted what I wrote
earlier. I am beginning to see how risky it can be, not because it may draw
criticism, but in the various ways that people have decided what you have said
based on their own life-view. It seems that the whole is not understood but each
one uses the bits that suit them.
First, let me say that the State did not decide who I am, where I came from or
who my ancestors are other than in a superficial sense. My religious beliefs are
not taken from any other people whose beliefs have been a defining part of them
for eons because they are not mine to adopt. That does not mean I cannot
appreciate and respect them.
For me, and I have met others who feel this way, meeting Indigenous peoples with
their secure, long histories rooted in their religious and cultural ways made me
curious about my own roots. [I have met many people who like Indigenous
religious beliefs and practices whether North American, Far Eastern or
Australian. They are a part of invading peoples who have lost the connection to
their past and envy the spiritual security of Indigenous peoples. They try to
incorporate these beliefs into their own lives - which is not for me to judge
but I do know that many Native Americans feel that this sort of thing is a
further theft of who they are and they are very angry about it.]
It was this curiosity about the Indigenous European tribes and who they were
before they were invaded and conquered by an alien people with an alien religion
that made me look for what I could find. The bits and pieces that are findable
are not only very interesting in light of how Europeans are seen today but also
underscore the universality of some (I stress 'some') Indigenous beliefs. This
just reinforces how closely we are all related.
When I spoke about my ancestors and my past I did not mean to convey that this
is where I am and that human relationships in the present are not the most
important thing. I don't know why anyone would interpret it that way. Our past,
our ancestors, are a part of us. They are a part of who we are today. It is my
belief that knowledge of ourselves, of who we are, helps us achieve better
relationships with others.
I am an non-Aboriginal Australian with a history and religious heritage rooted
in a different land - just like other non-Aboriginal Australians. It colours my
present but it does not mean that this is where I live.
When Irene said that we should find our own aboriginality, I understood it to
mean that which I had been doing and decided to tell the list about it. Maybe it
is not what she meant but there it is.
Trudy
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