The name is absent

461

27.12 Naming

•Naming* by the Strelley Mob may be contrasted with naming
by white society.

In the world of the Strelley Mob where the Aboriginal people
see themselves as dominant, people are identified as marrngu,
marta marta, white.

Such identification does not merely name people. It also
locates people in a world of meaning in the same way that white
naming does. However, the worlds of meaning defined by the Mob
differ from those into which the white world locates Aboriginal
people.

The marrngu constitutes a group which can be identified by
the location of the self within the Law. Such location does not
refer to colour, nor does it necessarily refer to physical
location. It is a location within a 'world* of meaning with
*
the acceptance of the duties∕responsibilities∕privileges
institutionalised within this world. The socialisation of
the individual is primarily socialisation into the Law. The
naming locates the Aboriginal person into a positive ’world',
in contradistinction to the naming of Aborigines by the white
world which locates Aboriginal people into negative identity._s .
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The marta marta are seen by the white world as part-Aborigine_λ
because of colour and physical characteristics.

The marta marta are seen by the marrngu as part-European -
since they are located in a white world of meaning.

It is argued that the definition of the marrngu is more
accurate; the research findings show the urban Aborigines oriented
towards white society.

They elect not to be socialised into the Law.

They are not privy to the secret∕sacred knowledge embedded
in the Law.

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