An Australian Aboriginal Minority: The Tiwi See Themselves as a Dominant Majority

An examination of the status of the Aborigines in the Northern Territory of Australia during 1953 & 1954, esp the group of the Tiwi of Bathurst & Melville islands. The extent to which Aborigines may be designated as a minority group is considered, on the basis of incomplete census data. They...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Phylon 1965-01, Vol.26 (4), p.305-314
Main Author: Pilling, Arnold R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aboriginal Australians
Aborigine/Aborigines/Aboriginal
Australia/Australian/Australians
Censuses
Kingdoms
Minority groups
Minority/Minorities
Missionaries
Police
Population estimates
Status/Statuses
Territories
We they distinction
World wars
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Summary:An examination of the status of the Aborigines in the Northern Territory of Australia during 1953 & 1954, esp the group of the Tiwi of Bathurst & Melville islands. The extent to which Aborigines may be designated as a minority group is considered, on the basis of incomplete census data. They are termed a minority both in relation to pop figures & in the sense that they are a soc group dominated by white Australian society. The gov policy of 1953 & 1954 re the Aborigines is described & seen to parallel in many ways the practices of South African Apartheid. The Tiwi is one of the largest tribes of Australian Aborigines (1,000). However, a Tiwi rarely considers himself as an Aborigine; these terms are applied to him by an external society. They consider themselves the rightful residents of Bathurst & Melville islands, & are the majority group there in numerical terms. By 1916 the original Tiwi technique for handing outsiders by application of force had shifted to the manipulation of the major officials of white society to gain Tiwi ends. Tiwi know what goes on in the local white pol'al scene & are in a position to influence decisions by major white leaders. It is demonstrated that not only the Tiwi but also the whites exaggerate their importance. It is concluded that the Tiwi represent one variety of minority group, diff in many ways from certain other minority groups. They are a group 'somewhat like the Jews today in that they have a homeland in which they are the majority, & an attitude which sees themselves as masters of their own fate.' E. Weiman.
ISSN:0031-8906
2325-7199
DOI:10.2307/273692