Decolonising the Migration and Urbanisation of Torres Strait Islanders (Ailan Pipel) from the Torres Straits to Mainland Australia Between the 1960S and 1970S
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Decolonising the Migration and Urbanisation of Torres Strait Islanders (Ailan pipel) from the Torres Straits to Mainland Australia between the 1960s and 1970s John Doolah Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy Umulliko Higher Degree Research Centre The University of Newcastle Callaghan, NSW 2308 Australia DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY This work contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text. I give consent to this copy of my thesis, when deposited in the University Library, being made available for loan and photocopying subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I hereby certify that the work embodied in this Thesis is the result of original research, the greater part of which was completed subsequent to admission to candidature for the degree. Signature: …………………… Date: …….. ii DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to my Nene (Grandmother) Charlotte Buri Doolah (née Reuben) who provided me with the values of life in my childhood and who demonstrated her unconditional love, which became the basis for my adult learning experiences. In writing this thesis, I came to understand and accept that Nene Charlotte was the first person who believed in me and was blind to all the negative things of my character. She sheltered me and provided a nurturing and protective environment for my early childhood growth and development within the Ailan society. Later in life, my early experiences with Nene Charlotte, of growing and developing in a nurturing and protective environment, allowed me to understand self-determination through my tertiary education experience. Nene Charlotte gave me the opportunity to believe in myself. Like most of my people and our Aboriginal brothers and sisters, we are given opportunities but never allowed the support and protective environment to allow us to be ourselves, because in the broader society we are always measured or expected to measure up to the Kole, Migloo or Gubba (white man) standard(s). I have come to understand and experience the meaning of Indigenous self-determination in relation to my tertiary education journey and struggle as a social reality otherwise like most of our people without the support and opportunity self-determination might have just been a word printed on paper. I dedicate this thesis to all my parents, beginning with my Dad Gara Doolah, and Mum Harriet Doolah (née Bourne), my Big Daddy Harry and Big Ama Akazee Whaleboat (née Tapim), my Big Daddy Eila and Big Ama Perina Doolah (née Cowley), and also to my extended pamle (family), all my dads and mums, uncles and aunties, grandfathers and grandmothers, my Doolah, Whaleboat, Reuben, Cedar, Pensio, David, Cloudy, Sailor, Seden, Cowley, Bourne, Geas, Wasaga pamle and to my whole Ailan and Kaurareg Aboriginal pamle. I also dedicate this thesis to my Ata (Grandfather) Marou Mimi, former elder of Mer. I was too young to remember Marou Ata but I have known him through the compassionate and respectful words and stories told to me by my parents Gara and Harriet Doolah and related by people in the Ailan community. Marou Ata was schooled in the Kole way he was an intellect (as all Ailan elders), a man of great wisdom and an inspiration to me and my people. I also iii dedicate this thesis to Mani Ata (my Grandfather John Bourne) after whom I was named. I also dedicate this thesis to Abu Daddy (Uncle George Mye) who was an Ailan elder and Ailan statesman. Finally I dedicate this thesis to my wife, Julia Alekseyevna Doolah, (née Litvinenko), and our three-year-old daughter Maria Johnovna Doolah. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Based on my Christian beliefs I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for His blessing. Without Him in my life I would not have begun and continued in my education journey and completed this postgraduate study, thank you Lord Jesus. Respect is always first and foremost in our Australian Indigenous culture pre- and post- invasion. Since I am an immigrant from the Torres Strait living and working on Aboriginal land, I first acknowledge The Pambalong Clan of the Awabakal Nation (and elders past and present) in whose lands the Callaghan Campus of the University of Newcastle where I study is located. In reinforcing the Ailan kastom (Island custom), social obligations and community acknowledgment, I am very grateful to the Ailan elders for their consultation and to my pamle (family) for providing me with all the information and the photos I have used in this thesis. Just to name few pamle, au esuau (a big thankyou) to my son Morris Cloudy, my bala (brother) Kas Seden, and my Doolah sisters Margret, Nancy, Elizebeth and Tarita and also au esuau to all Ailan people. I respectfully acknowledge Koiki Aua (Uncle Koiki Mabo) for putting Ailan people on the national and global map in regards to the indigenous struggle and for the information and examples of him I used in my thesis, au esuau Koiki Aua. Au esuau to my balas (brothers) Father Dalton Cowley and Mua Sailor, for the time they gave me to discuss the Ailan culture and our Erubam le and Meriam le families and social connections. Regarding my studies and academic life, au esuau to Tracey Bunda and to Dr. Joe Perry for their support and for believing in me and providing me the chance to realize the potential I did not realise I had. I enrolled at the University of Newcastle to do an Aboriginal Studies bridging course in 1990 within the first few weeks of our semester classes, Tracey saw my potential and encouraged me to enrol in the Diploma of Aboriginal Studies instead, for which I did and my high marks in the Diploma reflected how interested and motivated I was. Similar to the support I received from Tracey, from what I understand after graduating with a double degree it was Dr. Joe Perry who recommended me for a lecturing position at the University of Newcastle in 2006 to teach Aboriginal Studies. From Dr. Joe Perry’s recommendation, my tertiary learning was extended through my teaching and my experiences v with the Indigenous and non-Indigenous, local, national and international students I taught in my semester classes for more than seven years. Au esuau to the former and current staff, my sisters at the Wollotuka Institute of the University of Newcastle for their support towards me as a student and continued to support me as a lecturer during my time at Wollotuka. The help and support they provided me for the little things as well as the big ones are of equal importance to me during my 14 year journey of learning at university. To those who helped and supported me au esuau (big thankyou) to Deirdre Heitmeyer, Denise Emmerson, Cheryl Newton, Mandy Kelly, Adelle Grogan and Renee Chambers. Renee I have not forgotten about the time you bounded copies of my research thesis before I took them over to the Office of Graduate Studies for submission. I promised I will bring you a present and I will drop it in to you when next I visit Wollotuka. Au esuau to my research supervisors Dr. Greg Blyton and Dr. Joe Perry of the Wollotuka Institute for providing me the academic as well as the Indigenous support I needed at the University of Newcastle, especially at the end of my thesis. I felt their support was directed first toward me as an Indigenous person and second as a postgraduate student. I consider without the first I could not successfully have functioned as a postgraduate student. I understand that our Indigenous identity can also present a challenge particularly for the support of Indigenous students and staff at the university. Regarding my situation Dr. Greg Blyton is to be commended as an example of how he managed the challenges he faced and at the same time provided the support I needed from the time I began my postgraduate studies, to jump the hurdles together with me in the situations I faced in my research until its completion, thanks brother. vi ABSTRACT The migration of the Ailan pipel (Island people) from the Torres Straits to mainland Australia presents specific challenges to contemporary Indigenous cultural practices and the unique Ailan Kastom (Island Custom). Factors relating to the nature of indigenous migration will be discussed because of the indigenous context of the Ailan (Island) migration account. The indigenous storytelling account and secondary sources re-interpretation and re-analysis will provide a valuable insight of the Ailan Kastom (Island custom) and Kole (white man) economic migration reasons from the Ailan cultural practices in the pre-and post-invasion period right to the present, covering topics of Ailan sharing and socio-cultural relationships, urbanisation and self-determination in tertiary education. The thesis will emphasis, highlight and elaborate on the reasons for the Ailan migration from an indigenous decolonising viewpoint with the application of the indigenous research methodologies in adherence to indigenous research protocols. Historical analysis provides an overview of the affect and progress of colonisation and the shift of Ailan and Kaurareg Aboriginal communities from their homeland (countries). This research is focused on the migration and urbanisation within the 1960s and 1970s timeframe by critically discussing specific events of Ailan (Island) and Kaurareg Aboriginal people in the Torres Strait regions of Australia and in the Australian mainland urban setting. vii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF ORIGINALITY ...................................................................................... ii DEDICATION ......................................................................................................................... iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................