■2021/03/26
Dr. Gaynor MacDonald（University of Sydney）, ‘Race-shifting in Australia: how the movement that encourages non-Aboriginal people to identity as “Aboriginal” shifts the relations between indigenous peoples and the settler nation state’
On the 26th of March, our Academic Project held an informal Seminar with a presentation by Dr. Gaynor Macdonald, Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney. Dr. Macdonald gave a presentation on Race-Shifting in Australia, where those who have not grown up in Aboriginal Australian communities claim an Aboriginal Australian identity. This phenomenon reveals the complex situation surrounding Indigenous identity, community, and the impacts such claims have on grassroots Aboriginal people’s actions in regard to Aboriginal culture and law. ‘Race-Shifting’ is occurring in predominately urban and high-income areas of Australia. While difficult for non-Aboriginal people to recognise, it is easily identifiable by grassroots Aboriginal people, and has significant impact as a new form of colonisation. It impacts population, income, education, and residence statistics which in turn influences the allocation of resources and programs designed to address disadvantage away from those who need it. In addition, the ability for one to race-shift brings to light the ways in which dominant legal definitions and policies of recognising Aboriginal identity do not necessarily reflect the laws and modes of recognition used by Aboriginal people themselves. This enlightening Seminar presented a case in which ongoing impacts of colonial attitudes and colonising processes are still occurring, despite attempts to address them.（文責：Estelle）