I'm Not Entirely Sure.

yeah eh.....pfft.....i've kinda immuned myself to these type of ignorant and sometimes hateful comments....i used to get really hurt then mad but when fellas like you come in and shoot them down with your understanding ...it disperses that rage... thanks

the caste system was pretty bad..they brought that in trying to breed the aboriginality out...they sterilised full blood women at 16...i know women in their 60s-70s who were

the kids with white blood were taken away to seperate them from their cultural teachings...assimilation...but it didnt work cos most of the children came back ...

Thanx Jinda :)

Yeah i dunno wot is meant by 'so called blacks'.. must be referring to the outdated caste system! pfft !



Dusty 'abo' is very derogatory, I would explain it as similar to the N word .. and i cringe when i hear it!

coco really has no idea about aboriginal australia...its the mentality of most aussies im afraid..and to say abo today is virtually unheard of ...she obviously got that from her mother..

dusty you and bekkylou understand and thanks for your intelligent comments

there are not a million tribes ...there are around 250 nations and yes they do have their own language..but the dialects, phrasing and pronunciation are quite similar...

the statistics of child abuse are much higher in white society

coco you should explain yourself what do you mean by these other so called blacks

Ok. Sorry for the misunderstanding then.. If you don't mind me asking, why is "abo" so insulting? People call me white and there are a ton of other nicknames for races, does it mean something derogatory? I'll look up the stories... Thanks for letting me know...

I admire your attitude dustygirl, but i think you have misinterpreted my comment, i did mention abuse happens in both races, but my point was 'do not just assume that it is entirely perpetrated solely by one race to its own people.

I have to admit, i was deeply offended by the ignorance of cocogypsy, so i will apologise for my comment that it is 'more prevalent in white communities'.

I am in agreement with you that it is influenced by environment not genetics.

Umm i also suggest you should read up on the Stolen Generation in Australia and the abuse that went on. This may enlighten you a little more. I know these are stories which can be painful to read, but i believe it is better to know the whole truth rather than just the one you 'want to see'.

Can we not play the race card please? Every ethnic group has some type of abuse, drug addiction, gambling problem, etc. with at least one person in their culture. There is no point in classifying the sexual abuse as to mostly whites, because I the only person I know who has been sexually abused is actually from Mexico... Human nature and personality would be the same in a person no matter what culture they were from, people are who they are despite where they were born or what color they are. As far as I know, most personality traits are not passed down through genetics, but the way a person is raised and how they view the world, which varies from parent to parent, not race to race....

cocogypsy, using the term 'abo' is very disrespectful. And 'abuse within the family' im guessing you assumed to be prevalent because of all the NT intervention debate which was portrayed in the Australian media last year.. Im not denying that there may be child abuse going on in some of these communities, but not all Aboriginal people do this, or condone this. Also if you're a white fella, you should also acknowledge that sexual abuse is more prevalent in your race, and that these acts of abuse have also been perpetrated against Aboriginal children by in most cases 'White men' .

I'd love to be classified as Aboriginal. I'm white too (kind of =P) My skin is naturally a tannish, copper color but it gets so cold up here that I get very little sun in winter and it turns whiter, in summer I am dark. I guess most know how to speak English but I would still like to learn one tribes language at least, lol. I say the welfare should do to whoever needs it, cause some people do. Around here they give blacks and hispanics a partial scholorship cause of their race, and I'm sitting here with no hope for college cause I'm white. Almost all cultures have drug and abuse problems. My dad is white as snow and he was abusive, and my brother has a drug problem, so.... Well, ttyl. Thanks for sharing.

But keep in mind each tribe has there own language there is like millons of them all over australia. Also in some communities aboriginal cultural is slowly dying based on the alcoholism and drug abuse. There is also alot of cover up within aboriginal areas such as the substance abuse and the abuse within thE family. As i would know since my mum grow up around them. im not full abo or even half, i hate being classified as one since im white and the ones in the NT and other tribes living of the land should be getting the welfare help not these other so called blacks... which is absoutly ludacris.

hi dusty

each nation has their own unique language....some Gumbayngirr (pronounced goom-bang-gear)words for you...

ginnaagay - hello/welcome (g as in get)

maara - hair (aa=ar)

miil (meal) - eyes

diirras (dearers) teeth

miimi - mother (ii=e

baaba - father (aa=ar

jinda - sister

juup - brother

waanjii - dog

waakii - bad clever man

kadaitja - good clever man (tj = ch)

i can't speak it fluently but i know a lot of words...my sons can they went to Murraby (tree of life) Language Centre

i think it's a lot easier than cherokee

cheers

Thats cool. I doubt I can get excepted into a tribe, my Aboriginal blood is about 5%, and even though there is no caste system, they can't just let every mixed blood join. At least, I don't think so. They are different from what I grew up with and very different from Cherokees. When I go to Australia, I hope I can spend some time with them and get to know the culture head on. Although the language may be hard to learn. lol, how do you say the words? Like they are spelled or differently? lol. I still have a lot of time to learn.

hello dustygirl

thankyou for your message on my whiteboard....i'm sure one day we will meet.....

in aboriginal culture we do not have the caste system....if you have any amount of aboriginal blood you are aboriginal....it is more about what is in your heart not whats in your blood....

our lore is the 'dreamtime' and the stories and laws have been passed down the generations for over 100,000 years... our stories ae full of sorcery-shamanism..heroes and villians....each nation have different stories and languages....but they are basically the same lores that each tribe learn and live by...



it is a myth that our culture is dying...thats what the whitefella wanted us to believe...

there are two wonderful books to read if you can get them...."Pemulwuy" he was a great warrior and clever man (sorcerer-shaman) and "I the Aboriginal" great books with a wonderful and true insight into aboriginal culture and history. i know you can get pemulwuy on e-bay but i don't know about the other one.

i was born Barkandji but i have been adopted into the Gumbayngirr nation....our great ancestral father (Babaa) is Yuladurra....our mother (Miimi)

is Gwangan.....Birrigan their son is our saviour.....he protected the weaker tribes and brought peace within the nations...until they killed him....much like the bible...or Hiawatha......

our culture is very strong but there are many who are still lost in a world of alcohol-drugs-gambling and violence with many of our youth commiting crimes...similar to native america.....the life expectancy of an aboriginal is 45-50...this is mainly due to alcoholism...and alcoholic-feotal syndrome

but enough of the bad side

there are so many fascinating dreamtime stories...i will post some of them for you when i have the time.

cheers my jinda