i Indigenous internal self-determination in Australia and Norway by Pia Solberg A thesis in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Humanities & Languages Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences The University of New South Wales October 2016 iv Table of Contents Acknowledgments.........................................................................................................vii Language and terminology.............................................................................................ix Abstract..........................................................................................................................x Introduction.................................................................................................................11 Approaches to the problem.............................................................................13 Why compare with Norway and the Sami?.....................................................17 My approach..................................................................................................20 The structure of this thesis..............................................................................24 PART ONE: HISTORY MATTERS.............................................................................26 Chapter One. Early Colonisation...........................................................................27 Introduction........................................................................................................27 Sapmi: co-existence and gradual colonisation.......................................................27 The origins of Sami society.............................................................................27 Co-existence with the neighbours....................................................................29 Gradual colonisation......................................................................................31 From hunting to herding.................................................................................32 Dispossession and adaptation.........................................................................33 Recognition....................................................................................................36 Australia: destructive invasion.............................................................................39 Pre-colonial Aboriginal society.......................................................................39 Relations with the outside world.....................................................................41 Invasion, diseases and warfare........................................................................42 Dispossession and adaptation.........................................................................44 Recognition....................................................................................................47 Summary.............................................................................................................48 Chapter Two. The Second Phase of Colonisation...................................................50 Introduction........................................................................................................50 Sami inclusion and attempted assimilation...........................................................50 Geopolitics and the Nordic colonial project....................................................50 The partition of Sapmi....................................................................................54 Attempted assimilation...................................................................................59 v Australia: exclusion and attempted assimilation...................................................64 The British-Australian colonial project and land.............................................64 Conservation and destruction of Aboriginal society........................................69 Discrimination and attempted assimilation.....................................................73 Summary.............................................................................................................77 PART TWO: POLITICS MATTERS............................................................................79 Chapter Three. Early Indigenous Resistance...........................................................80 Introduction........................................................................................................80 Historical origins of ªself-determinationº............................................................80 Norway...............................................................................................................82 North Sami Resistance: class and Indigeneity..................................................82 South Sami resistance: the idea of separate development.................................89 Australia..............................................................................................................91 Aboriginal resistance in the south: land and equality.......................................91 Aboriginal north: the idea of a separate state................................................100 Summary...........................................................................................................102 Chapter Four. The Post-war Decades...................................................................104 Introduction......................................................................................................104 Norway: back to country, regional development and recognition.......................105 Back to country............................................................................................105 Cultural-linguistic recognition, poverty and discrimination...........................109 The idea of a Sami core area.........................................................................113 Australia: assimilation, equal rights and government neglect..............................117 The policy of assimilation.............................................................................117 Equal wages and land rights.........................................................................121 Invisibilisation, Freedom Rides and the 1967 Referendum............................125 Summary...........................................................................................................129 Chapter Five. Into the Political Mainstream..........................................................131 Introduction......................................................................................................131 Indigenous "self-determination"........................................................................133 Australia: the Whitlam to Keating era................................................................137 Aboriginal activism and the policy of "self-determination"...........................137 Aboriginal Australia and the rural crisis........................................................146 vi Labor©s unfulfilled promises..........................................................................150 Norway: the emergence of Sami politics.............................................................156 The Sami as a regional minority....................................................................156 Two factions of Sami activism......................................................................163 The Alta Affair as a turning point.................................................................169 Summary...........................................................................................................174 Chapter Six. Divergent Paths in the Era of Neoliberalism.....................................176 Introduction......................................................................................................176 Norway: the ªtwo peoplesº approach................................................................176 The Sami Parliament.....................................................................................176 The Finnmark Act.........................................................................................183 Regional dimensions of the Sami question.....................................................189 Australia: conservative backlash against ªself-determinationº............................195 The abolition of ATSIC................................................................................195 Neoliberalism and the conservative backlash................................................200 Regional dimensions of the Aboriginal question............................................207 Summary...........................................................................................................215 Conclusion.................................................................................................................217 The role of the state...........................................................................................217 The need for alliances........................................................................................220 Equality and political representation..................................................................222 BIBLIOGRAPHY.......................................................................................................225 Appendix....................................................................................................................268