Thanks got that. It can sometimes be a tad hard to find topics which are worth reading
The last post in that link is interesting because it highlights a few current issues/tensions 👇
Dr Hagan said the widely accepted method test of “descent, self-identification and acceptance” by the Aboriginal community had already been abused to support fraudulent claims.
He said the only real test was for a person to name and prove their links to a tribe and an “apical ancestor” — a tribe’s common ancestor who can be demonstrated to be at the apex of the Aboriginal lineage of a group.
READ MORE: ‘23 detainees claim ‘I’m indigenous’ | High Court rules indigenous people cannot be deported | This split decision raises issues of race and privilege
“The existing three-part test is as useful as an ashtray on a motorbike if it does not specify links to an apical ancestor,’’ he said.
“Anyone can do an internet search on a tribe and spin a good yarn to get around the definition, provided they can convince a gullible Aboriginal leader to say, ‘Yeah, I know him/her’, and then sign off on a confirmation of Aboriginality certificate. Naming a tribe as proof of Aboriginality is no more than a geography lesson.
“An easy test to eliminate deceitful claims to Aboriginality, including those coming from detention centres of late, is to apply the apical ancestor test by going back a minimum of three generations. Ask claimants to do that and you’ll soon put a stop to fraudulent claims.”
Ms Weldon said she had seen widespread fraud by people claiming to be indigenous so they could access Aboriginal-identified government jobs, university scholarships or public housing.
An elder of the Wiradjuri people from central-west NSW, she said “self-identification” by a statutory declaration — despite no evidence of Aboriginal lineage — was often accepted as proof.
“People are self-identifying with no proof, no links to Aboriginal community or culture, by ticking the box and getting statutory declarations signed by a JP,’’ she said. “There are individuals and organisations that are handing them out like lolly paper.”
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/indigenous-anger-over-rise-of-fake-abori...Today's Aboriginal identity news was brought to you by the letter B:
Bogus, bollocks, BS. 
Forum
Pages: 1 
