u/Holy_Isaaguv

(Pictured: Métis people of Canada, Kristang people of Malaysia/Singapore)

Going to start off this post by saying this post by no means aims to inspire hateful rhetoric against either indigenous Tasmanians or european Tasmanians, nor am I doing this with the intent to rile people up. I am simply aiming to hear thoughts and incite well meaning discussion on our history and our current society.

I will also preface this by saying, while I see myself as Tasmanian, I have researched my ancestry and I do not have indigenous ancestry of any kind (mostly Irish, English and Scottish) nor am I affiliated with any particular community. I say this to give the floor to people who are and are much more educated on the particular subject then I am.

Getting to the object of this discussion, put simply I am asking whether or not a distinction exists/should be recognised between the indigenous community of Tasmania today compared to the one that existed prior to 1803.

Before the establishment of Hobart and European colonisation indigenous Tasmanians, by tyranny of distance, lived a great area from each other in small populations and as such had different language groups, often different cultural practices and different ways of life. Following the Black War/Genocide indigenous Tasmanians were effectively collected into one single group and exiled from the centre of population towards areas on the periphery such as Cape Barren island and the far south.

Already such a sharp divergence enforced over a century combined with a collection of distinct groups into one causes a great rift to be formed between their original community and ancestors compared to their current life over the course of a century. Case in point the rift that formed between what became (white) Australians, a mix of previously seperate English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Cornish peoples that made them distinct from their ancestors in Europe and overtime seen less and less as “British”.

Due to harmful government policies, particularly towards Cape Barren island of relocation, stolen generations and servitude, those and their descendants that survived the original genocide and relocation were also made to slowly mix their culture in with practices of the settler population. I think all this together means that the Indigenous community as it exists on our islands today is too far removed from both the old culture of indigenous people they are descendent from as well as the old settler culture they were made to mix with.

Something I believe must obviously be made known however is that the current indigenous community in Tasmania is obviously still very distinct and unique from the wider white + migrant population. They possess unique cultural practices, connection to country, community and a distinct language that much of the wider population is very much disconnected from as the rest of the population didn’t have it passed down generation to generation to a preserved and now blossoming culture.

I think the best reasonable parallel that can be drawn to the current Tasmanian situation are the Métis people of Canada. While they are seen as distinct from the “fully” aboriginal First Nations (such as those that exist on the Mainland in our country) they are still seen as a distinct, valid and recognised indigenous population with their own culture, languages and heritage that formed as a result of indigenous survival amidst centuries of colonisation and as such distinct of from European people and society. I think the fact that they very clearly are recognised and seen on both a societal and official level shows that such a concept is possible and isn’t outlandish or unreasonable. If something like this were to happen in Tasmania, what to call it or how to handle it on those levels is obviously beyond me, I’m not indigenous in any respect and am no where near educated enough to make a qualified statement from there.

That was all essentially me providing some argument to back up my claim/quasi-proposal and hope to incite well meaning discussion on the matter from there. I implore people to be civil and come at this from a productive angle that encourages learning. Again, i am by no means qualified from an educational perspective on the subject rather that i am just interested. If anyone reading this is qualified please provide your input on the matter if you have the time because I really am interested.