Another thought-provoking Torres Strait Islander Studies class today. First there was another lecture on 'discourse analysis', which is a fancy-sounding way of saying we look at the way language couches mainstream Australia's understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Or lack of understanding. Sort of implicit in the lecture was the question of why, in order to gain rights to their own land, indigenous Australians had to make a case that included meeting a standard of proof in keeping with Western or British standards rather than their own in asserting their right to ownership of their land. That's something I've always wondered about- the fairness of forcing people to go up against the same system that ensured their land was taken from them, and meet a standard of proof set by the people they are trying to win back the land from. The Mabo case might have succeeded (after the poor guy's death, as it were), but John Howard's land grab in the Northern Territory shows that the decision of the courts to grant native title effectively means nothing in the long run.
In the second half of the class we had another guest lecturer, Matilda (dunno about the spelling)- I suppose I should call her Auntie Matilda- a Mabuiag Island lady from the Brisbane Torres Strait Islander community. She was cool- very jolly, one of those people that just seem to radiate warmth. What she talked about most was cultural pride, and the efforts the TSI people go to in order to keep their culture even when living on the mainland.
In her case, the effort seems to be born of necessity. Perhaps its part homesickness, but after 20 years in Brisbane she spoke of going 'home' regularly to 'recharge her batteries' and of 'feeling alive' when she is able to speak her own language. But she and many other parents in the Torres Strait Islander community apparently also send their 'city kids' back for things like initiation ceremonies, to learn from various uncles and elders and to know where they came from. I thought that was really nice, and important too.
A beach with sheep, near Cape Coast, Ghana.When she spoke of how the kinship system differs from Western system it was a little familiar to me thanks to my time spent in Ghana with Gam and his family a couple of years ago. Obviously it's not exactly the same, but the closer relationships between extended families is one similarity, and the lack of words to describe the 'distance' in such relationships is a key feature- no such thing as a 'second cousin once removed', for example. No such thing as a 'second cousin' either. I always found such things pretty confusing anyway!
The way they may refer to someone of their own approximate age as 'sister' or 'brother' (Auntie Matilda was introduced as our lecturer Georgina's sister, as was last week's guest speaker), and their biological sister or brother's children as their own children (who in turn may call them 'mum' or 'dad' rather than 'auntie' or 'uncle') reminded me of how the two girls (siblings), Yaakitiwa and Abena who looked after the house we stayed in in Ghana called me 'sister-Sarah' and Gam's sister 'sister-Delali'. They also called each other 'sister-Abena' and 'sister-Yaa', respectively. I didn't find adopting that manner of speaking as easy as calling everyone 'Auntie' or 'Uncle', although I was pretty touched that they referred to me like that- I think I just called them by their first names, and it's only today that it occurred to me that it might have been rude of me to do so. I hope not.
One of the things about TSI (or perhaps just Mabuiag Island) culture I found a bit alien was her explanation of why in-laws in that society traditionally have very distant relationships: it's apparently the job of the in-laws to organise a person's funeral while their immediate family is given the opportunity to mourn. The distance (including not being allowed to call one's sister-in-law by name, for example) is to keep that person level-headed enough at the time when they're needed to organise the funeral. It's very practical, but very alien to me. I don't know if it manifests itself as a minimisation of contact between a person and their in-laws or just extends as far as not calling an in-law by their name, but it's apparently bad luck if you slip up and do call them by their name!
I guess I say alien because I have a good relationship with my 'in-laws'. Perhaps if I didn't get on well with them I'd think a system that gave me an excuse to distance myself from them was a great idea! Mummy and Daddy treat me like a daughter, and there are a lot of things that they'll be able to teach our future kids that I won't be able to, and even Gam wouldn't be able to (their respective mother-tongues, Fante and Ewe being two of those things). Maybe the TSI or Maubiag system only applies to brothers and sisters-in-law, not parents-in-law I'm not sure.
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Auntie Matilda said that when she first came to the mainland and to Brisbane (she was sent to boarding school in Rockhampton for some time) she thought people were 'so rude' because of the different way they would introduce themselves. She said in the TSI it's customary when you meet someone for them to introduce themselves by their full name, as once you know their family name you can establish basically where you stand in the social network (maybe you know someone from their family, or perhaps there might be a relative in common).
Here, where it's customary to introduce oneself by one's first name only, she said it seemed at the time like no-one wanted to know her. It's funny, but such things become so ingrained that you don't even realise that not everyone does it the same way you do. I know in Botswana I noted very early the way they have of shaking hands differs, where you take a person's hand with both your hands, but every time I met someone I would automatically shake hands the western way. And mentally kick myself afterwards for forgetting to shake properly! I guess when both sides have an understanding that things are done differently in different places or cultures it's ok, but going somewhere and having no idea that a particular custom in that area is something that you're conditioned to find offensive or rude must be quite a shock at first.
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