We have been significantly impacted by dominant representations of our peoples. We have been forced into the gender binary. Through my personal experience categories interpreted as ‘men and women’s business’ do not reflect the lived realities and complexities in my culture. I view them as rigid and imposed assumptions about our societies which have had a significant impact on us. It has reimagined us for the sole purpose of control … the coloniser told us that ‘this is who we were, and this is who we should be’.
Against that, it has been important for me to resist by, for example, acknowledging that my grandmother was the head of our household! That we continue to function upon what I can only articulate as a matriarchal system! Even where power balances and imbalances are present they do not sit within a Western gender binary paradigm. Aboriginal women are and will always be powerful! Much of that power rests in the relationality of Indigenous society. It is impressive, but not surprising, Aboriginal women continue to navigate the challenges of settler-colonial patriarchy while maintaining culturally distinct forms of leadership.
While we continue to assert our strength, the Queer community in Australia must recognise historical injustices and work against the ways that they may perpetuate ideas about Indigenous peoples as guests and benefactors of settler colonialism. There are a range of issues to discuss within the context of Queer movements and I think a good starting place is building a literacy and awareness of the issues that play out and challenging them.
Tiffany Jones: Yes! There can be comparatively less power for women within the Colonising Discourse and systems of rule in Australia. If you think of how much women in top roles such as Julie Bishop for example—as recently one of the most powerful women within its systems—said she struggled to be accepted in a role of power, it is quite striking. She couldn’t stay in that role in power, and talked in interviews about how she struggled at first with expressing her femininity, hid herself in a kind of masculine coding just to be there, and had to at all times hide any feeling of ambition … It’s interesting how Indigenous societies, that have been here for so much longer, empower Indigenous womens’ leadership.
Andrew Farrell: Bishop’s example is a reminder that patriarchy and settler colonialism is in full force. This system needs to be challenged. There is a lot to learn from Aboriginal cultures through the one example of women. Pushing that further there is also a lot to learn from Aboriginal transgender women; women who explicitly resist essentialist and colonial ideas about womanhood while also performing cultural obligations as Aboriginal women. Aboriginal women face the colonial regime and subvert it in ways that empower the community as a whole. It is beyond the scope of what has been identified as a weakness in feminism identified as ‘white feminism.’ Aboriginal scholars such as Aileen Moreton-Robinson have been critical in the identification and criticism of patriarchy in tandem with colonialism in Australia, which now must account for positions beyond the gender binary. These are the kinds of critical inquiry we will undertake in our courses.
Tiffany Jones: Are these courses that anyone can take? Do you need to mediate what you put into the course to protect certain groups or knowledges?
Andrew Farrell: In designing these courses we’re constantly navigating ethical issues such as accessibility, accountability, care and responsibility. We’re very much mindful of the limitations of work we can and should include across LGBTIQ+ Indigenous topics. One of the features of our courses will be having guest lecturers who consent to sharing their expertise and experience through lectures and resources. There is a dearth of historical resources on the topic more broadly, however in recent years there has been a resurgence of articles, books, and all manner of text which represent the experiences of Indigenous LGBTIQ + people in this country. I aim to hand the platform to as many people across our communities with the resources I have available to me.
Tiffany Jones: Yes, there is an element of care-taking in how we present our communities. Also for example we can have young queer people be just so overly generous with their information in ways that do not look after themselves in times where their identities are politicised, so we may hold back some of their information that they may just hand out freely in a publication without understanding the impact (things like phone numbers or personal details they don’t need ‘out there’)!
Andrew Farrell: Yes. Indigenous Queer Studies in Australia is new ethical ground. In my own experience of putting together human ethics applications for my work I have faced issues such as ethics boards not having experience in the ethical terrains of multiple minority groups. There are not necessarily people within the system who know exactly what constitutes best ethical practice for LGBTIQ+ Indigenous peoples. I have to magnify and intensify being self-critical, for example, in how I go about seeking data from the community. This increased pressure is also a reflection of my personal integrity to the ethics process and responsibility to community. As this field grows, we will need to have people in the system who are capable and qualified.
Tiffany Jones: The inclusion of these communities in research is highly sensitive. For outsiders, there is a feeling of not wanting to do the wrong thing. Do you think the work should be led by Aboriginal Queer people?
Andrew Farrell: I think that Indigenous LGBTIQ+ peoples should be at the helm of all research relating to them. I also think that non-Indigenous and/or non-queer researchers have a responsibility to engage with the research and use their privileges to join us in the expanding of research into this field. I am already in contact with undergraduate students, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, queer and non-queer, who are interested in this field of research, some of whom may go into the future as researchers who may contribute to the field.
Across Australian universities I have noticed little representation of LGBTIQ+ Aboriginal gender and sexuality topics in curriculum, for example, in womens studies, Indigenous studies, and across the broader Arts and Humanities. Often times Indigenous gender and sexuality topics are situated within the ‘narratives of the nation’ or ‘the making of Australia’ … and Aboriginal LGBTIQ voices are seldom included. We are making space to address those absences within the institution. The onus to get this field of study up and running will, as most areas of study based on marginalised peoples, be through the labour of that marginalised group.
Tiffany Jones: Exactly! And it is so exciting that you are bringing such units into being, can you tell our readers about them?
Andrew Farrell: As it currently stands, we are moving forward with three Indigenous Queer units of study which will be available on campus and through Open Access Universities.
Next year, in 2020, we are starting ABST1030 (Introduction to Indigenous Queer Studies). It is an introductory course that focuses in on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander gender and sexual diversities, perspectives, and issues in Australia.
Then we will have ABST2035 (Global Indigenous Queer Identities). It is a course that is made up of international case studies. We will explore LGBTIQ+ Indigenous case studies in Australia, Aotearoa (New Zealand) and the Pacific region, and Turtle Island (US and Canada). This course is about important global conversations and connections.
The third is ABST3035 (Indigenous Queer Theory and Practice). It operates on a much more theoretical level. It will be a dense, in-depth course for students to explore ideas such as intersectionality, violence, decolonisation, and so on.
Tiffany Jones: I love that! It’s a fantastic progression. So then studying these courses, what do people need to be enrolled in?
Andrew Farrell: At this point the first unit is accessible to students wanting to take it as an elective across Australia. We will deliver it both on campus and to students nationwide through Open Universities. I think it would be good to be able to tailor the course to flexible learning rather than limiting it to only those privileged to be able to study on campus.
Having the course online is a response to modern living. We are all online! I place a lot of value in online learning