542
Evidence of drunkenness, brawling and assault given by Taft
are based on arrests for these categories placed at more than ten
times the rate for the Western Australian population as a wholeɪ.
IX.2 Process II Aborigines stereotype Aborigines
IX.21 Typification in Aboriginal writings
In general, Aborigines have only begun to commit to paper their
. 2
own views in the last decade . Written evidence of their opinion may
be gained from such writings as Because a white man’ll never do it;
Living Black - Blacks talk to Kevin Gilbert, (Gilbert 1973, 1977);
Black Viewpoints (ed. Tatz 1975); Mikurrunya, Strelley Community
Newsletter (1979 - ); A Bastard like me Perkins, 1975); My People;
Stradbroke Dreamtime, (Walker 1970, 1972); From the very depths:
a black view of white racism (Watson, 1973).
Gilbert (1977:1) believes that urban Aborigines theorize about
. positive differences of culture which have no basis in reality:
...together with many sympathetic whites ...
(Aborigines) embrace and propagate a number of
myths about themselves: that Aborigines share
freely, that they have a strong feeling of community;
that they don’t care about money and lack the
materialism of white society; that they care
more deeply for their children than do white parents.
Gilbert (1977:1) believes that these positive stereotypes of
Aborigines are not reflected in real life:
Taft’s figures show arrests. They do not necessarily reflect
the incidence of this behaviour. See also Gale, Fay (1975:227, 233)
for statistics concerning this situation in South Australia, and
Bailey, Rebecca, 1981 unpublished manuscript.
2
Rowley (1971:79) documents early writings, among them a manifesto
of the Aborigines Association 1938. Jenkins (op.cit:153) claims
that James Ngunaitponi was certainly the assistant author for Taplin∙s
book on the folklore, manners, customs and language of the South
Australian Aborigine. David Ngunaitponi gave a lecture to the
Royal Geographical Society in 1914 in Melbourne, (Jenkin, op.cit:252).