We are the only culture in Australia that requires we ‘prove’ our identity. We are also the only culture in Australia in which Govt policy required that we provide proof that we had severed ties with our family, kin in order to have basic human rights 1/7
Most of the suicides I respond to have identity struggles implicated in them. Today, I received a message that is not unlike many of the conversations I have across Australia but bought me to tears. It represents the damage that ‘proof of Aboriginality’ results in: 2/7
“Dear Dr Westerman I am studying psych & received an invite to apply for a scholarship with the Westerman Jilya Institute for Indigenous Mental Health & was so happy to see the application required a cultural reference rather than Confirmation of Aboriginality 3/7
I wanted to send a message to say thank you. Thank you for everything you do for mob; thank you for recognising I don't need a piece of paper to tell me I'm Aboriginal. My dad was part of the stolen generation & he never talks about his mob. Never. 4/7
I am on a journey to find my mob & I find the constant requirement for a piece of paper to tell me who I am really saddening. I know who I am-I just don't know the whole story". 5/7
As an Aboriginal person this practice so offends me. It makes it ok for ppl to Qu identity & creates a damaging narrative we are all frauds claiming some sort of benefit to being Aboriginal. I am lucky. I know who I am. I’ve never had to “prove” my Aboriginality. 6/7
Many haven’t been as fortunate as I am. I also want to share something deeply personal. My grandfathers APPLICATION FOR CITIZENSHIP & my mums certificate of citizenship. It is harrowing but needs to be shared because a history denied is condemned to repeat itself. 7/7

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Claire G. Coleman

Claire G. Coleman Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @IndigenousX

16 Sep
Mr Ward, respected elder, blew over the limit. Put in a police van & transported 4 hrs without A/C. Was literally cooked alive. No charges. If you left your dog in a car & it was cooked alive you'd be charged criminality. The AG decided there was no prospect of conviction. (1/10)
Ms Dhu died in custody of septicemia & pneumonia. Arrested for $2k in unpaid fines. A victim of domestic violence. Taken to hospital 2x but sepsis not detected & she was sent back to custody. Inquest found she was subjected to "inhumane" treatment by police. No charges. (2/10)
Cam Doomadgee died in a police cell. Locked up for being drunk. Died from massive internal injuries incl broken ribs, ruptured spleen, liver cleaved in 2 across his spine. The pathologist compared his injuries to those of plane crash victims. Police acquitted & compensated (3/10)
Read 10 tweets
15 Sep
My Op-Ed was triggered by Fed Govt announcing it allocated $134M funding into Indigenous suicide prevention. Taking suicide mortality rates this crudely translates to $248,000 per suicide death annually – without adding State funding into the mix. (1/20)

tinyurl.com/ym44sst7
We have enormous amounts of funding for this critical area; yet suicides continue to escalate. Our Indigenous youth are dying by suicide at SIX times the rate of non-Indigenous children. It is only right that we ask why this level of funding has had little to no impact. (2/20)
I am not privy to how funding decisions are made and I have ZERO funding for my services, research or programs; but the gaps are sadly too clear and have been for decades. (3/20)
Read 20 tweets
14 Sep
*TW: mentions of abuse
I hv long been concerned about the little discussion, awareness and training on psychological & emotional domestic abuse and its devastating impacts on victims.
In many of the worst abusive relationships, physical violence is minor or barely present (1/16)
In Aus, 1 woman a week is killed by an intimate partner; Aboriginal women 40x more likely. These stats worryingly tell us it's not the predator lurking down back alleys women should fear, but the men they fall in love with. Criminalisation of coercive control is critical (2/16)
As the family of Hannah Clarke said after she was burnt alive by her ex-husband along with her three beautiful children; "Hannah never thought it was because he never hit her." However, the family had long seen many red flags. (3/16)
Read 16 tweets
13 Sep
Why putting kids in prison increases the odds of future criminality.
Compromised attachment occurs when there is loss, disconnection from primary attachments. When kids are imprisoned, they learn not to rely on close attachments for their emotional needs. 1/7
Kids thrive based on their worlds being predictable. That the love and support of primary attachments are there in a predictable & consistent way. Lose that at a young age & evidence shows it is almost impossible to recover from this loss. 2/7
The results are you develop in kids the idea that you cannot rely on anyone to consistently love or support you. Outcomes consistent with the personality variables of those who have ‘nothing to lose’ and fail to fear anything anymore, including prison.3/7
Read 7 tweets
9 Jul
This is a pic of my mum Patricia taken in the 70’s. Mum was born in 1955 somewhere outside Norseman WA. She was one of 11 kids. At the age of 6 she was removed from her parents and placed in Norseman mission.
Mum always said being there was so lonely. She missed her mum and dad. Her mum died not long after that from gangrene in the uterus. Mum was not allowed to go to the funeral.
My grandmother is buried somewhere behind the cemetery. They did not allow Aboriginal people to be buried there at that time. Here is where my mums ashes are with her brothers today.
Read 11 tweets
8 Jul
This NAIDOC has made me think of my parents so much. When asked what #HealCountry means to me I’ve really struggled to find the words without being a blubbering mess. My Mum died 24 years ago and my Dad died this year on News Year Day.
Whether we were in WA or NSW, they made a point to always get us kids out on country. When Mum passed, Dad continued this with so much love.
Dad was passionate about Aboriginal Education, environmental awareness through bush regeneration, permaculture and sustainability. It became his life’s work.
Read 4 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us on Twitter!

:(