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It is interesting (and revealing, as an example of sedimentation
of knowledge) to note that, despite King’s enlightened
attitude, he still thought of Aborigines as identifying with "their
own people". The Aborigines to whom he referred were part-
Aborigines, and therefore also part-European. It is a commentary
on the perceptions of white society that contemporary theorizers,
even the most enlightened, assume that Aborigines should identify
with the race of their black parent rather than their white
parent.
Nevertheless, leaving aside the problem inherent in the
assumptions pointed out, it must be acknowledged that the
legislation of the South Australian Government set Aboriginal affairs
on an entirely new path.
Rowley (1971:409) saw this as the most daring and positive
innovation of any Australian government.
To make it possible for the Aborigines to "identify with
their own people", but yet remain within white society, King
proposed a policy of i-ntegvcLtion,
He defined the policy of integration as
...the right of the Aboriginal people to live in our
community on fully equal terms but retaining, if they
so desire, a separate and identifiable Aboriginal
heritage and culture (King, op.cit.,:756).
King’s statement supported the politicisation of Aborigines,
advocating that there should be active encouragement of a
"Sophisticiated and articulate aboriginal public opinion". He
looked to the development of autonomous government on reserves,
and to the participation of Aborigines in the political community.
The policy of integration put forward by King was a policy that,
at the conceptual level, neither nihilated the Aboriginal world
of meaning nor employed therapy to assimilate this world. Rather,
such policy provided for the possibility of an alternative
Aboriginal identity located in mainstream society.