The name is absent

297

18.32’Leadership

At Strelley, it was shown that a powerful force for theorizing
in the building of community was the very presence and activity of
the important men and women who are highly respected and acknowledged
as dedicated leaders.                                            ∙

In Aboriginal society, potential leaders are likely to
find themselves cut off by their own people.

Rowley comments that          _f

r

...the objects of prejudice feel they must ’pass’,
deny their relatives, to be accepted as equals;

and what looks like sycophancy and treachery to other
Aborigines will hardly stimulate a readiness to accept
such people as models (Rowley, 1971:298).

/

Thus Rowley sees Aboriginal people reproducing white thinking -
if a person is educated, if he wishes to be accepted as equal to
whites, he is a not-Aborigine. Leadership based on these perceptions
is yery fragile indeed.

Gilbert (1973) discusses the problem of ’leaders’ employed by
the Government, potential leaders whose influence is neutralised by
their appointments; their status is made suspect because they enter
the orbit of the white world.

There are the problems of self-appointed leaders, of lack of integrity
among leaders (Gilbert, 1973).

The problems of conflict facing those in roles of leadership,
whether leaders are elected, self appointed, or appointed by the
government, become apparent whenever Aboriginal people in Adelaide
⅞
come together.

There are some in Adelaide who stand out as leaders, their voice
heard and respected by all groups, Aboriginal and white. There
are others who are occasions of conflict within Aboriginal
’worlds’.

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