Anthropology, Self‐determination and Aboriginal Belief in the Christian God

Abstract

Over the past forty years the Aboriginal people of Galiwin'ku (Elcho Island) in north‐east Arnhem Land have successfully incorporated Christianity into their world view. However, a Uniting Church report characterises members of this same Yolngu (Aboriginal) community as being overwhelmed with feelings of inferiority and powerlessness and unable to function within structures established by Balanda (non‐Aborigines). This paper contrasts the ways in which Christianity has helped break down the separation between cultural groups with its function as a structure for explicit discourse on Aboriginal/non‐Aboriginal relations and inequality. While some Elcho Islanders see anthropologists as people who listen in order to work for Aborigines, Aboriginal Christians see them and other ‘scientists’ as attempting to undermine Aboriginal belief in the Christian God. They are seen as degrading a spiritual movement which has its foundation in the Dreaming and as posing a potential threat to the momentum of Aboriginal directed change in the community.

Christianity, cultural change and the negotiation of rights in land and sea

“…These findings are largely reinforced by McIntosh, who reports the growing trend on Elcho Island from the late 1970s to ‘associate Jesus with … major Yolngu ancestral beings … and to see Christianity as the foundation of the Aboriginal way of life’. This is a setting in which ‘tradition includes Christianity’ (McIntosh 1997: 281–84). Indeed, Bos’s research finds that both the ritual forms and intellectual formulations during the 1979 ‘exuberant Christian movement’ indicated an ‘indigenization of Christianity’ (Bos 1988: 429).…”

“…God has been equated with an original supreme Wangarr (creative ancestral figure), and the Christian cross regarded as similar to sacred clan designs (Bos 1988: 430–31). In 1995, the land at a place near Yirrkala, known as a centre for ‘traditional’ beliefs and practices, was baptised during a Christian rally (McIntosh 1997: 287 fn. 6, citing a communication from anthropologist Sachiko Kubota).…”

“…Related to the previous point is that claimants may form the view that anthropologists (and other researchers) are unsympathetic to Christian themes and therefore avoid raising the subject. McIntosh comments on concerns among Christian Yolngu in 1992 that anthropologists would depict them as ‘inauthentic or not “real” Aborigines’ (McIntosh 1997: 274). Anthropologists are known to be aligned with strong interest in traditional ceremonies which may not always receive unanimous support from Aboriginal Christians (McIntosh 1997: 274; Trigger 1992: 6–7, 196–202).…”

“…McIntosh comments on concerns among Christian Yolngu in 1992 that anthropologists would depict them as ‘inauthentic or not “real” Aborigines’ (McIntosh 1997: 274). Anthropologists are known to be aligned with strong interest in traditional ceremonies which may not always receive unanimous support from Aboriginal Christians (McIntosh 1997: 274; Trigger 1992: 6–7, 196–202). Is it thus clear to claimants, as well as to the broader society, that the idea of a ‘Christian anthropologist’ is something of an oxymoron, this being due to obvious historical tensions and hostilities between anthropologists and missionaries (Arnold 2006: 267)?…”

Christianity in Aboriginal Australia revisited

“…A few monographs have chapters on such topics as Christian ritual forms (Magowan 2007), conversion in colonial settings (Trigger 1992), and contemporary ‘vernacular Christianity’ (Austin‐Broos 2009), and one monograph places Aboriginal Christianity at the centre of its analysis (McDonald 2001). Several articles also highlight a range of Christian subjects, which include the influence of Christianity on Aboriginal personhood (Schwarz 2006, forthcoming), the role of Christianity in negotiating inter‐cultural relations (McIntosh 1997), and the nature of religious dialogue between missionaries and Aboriginal people (Morphy 2005).…”