What does Our Common Bond say about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples?

What does Our Common Bond say about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples?

The booklet says Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are Australia's first inhabitants, and that their cultures and traditions are the longest unbroken ones on Earth. This is the first topic in Part 1, and it is also part of the national story. Here is what it says, in plain words.

Who are the first peoples?

The booklet names two groups.

• Aboriginal people come from the mainland and from Tasmania.
• Torres Strait Islander people come from the islands that lie between Papua New Guinea and the top of Queensland.

For the date of arrival, the booklet points to archaeology, which puts it somewhere from 40,000 to 65,000 years back. It also says Aboriginal peoples see themselves at the centre of the creation stories of this land, and that those stories reach back to the very start of time. Later in Part 1 it gives a round figure of about 65,000 years of living here.

Hold both views side by side. One rests on archaeology. The other rests on the creation stories.

What does the booklet say about culture?

Old beliefs and traditions still guide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today. They feel a deep tie to the land, and you can see it in their stories, art and dance. The cultures differ from group to group, and they are an important part of how Australia sees itself.

What are Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country?

People often mix these two up, so learn how they differ.

A Welcome to Country is given by a custodian of the local area, who must be Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. The custodian greets visitors on their traditional land. It might be a song, a dance, a smoking ceremony, or a speech in a traditional language or in English. It normally opens an event.

An Acknowledgement of Country says that the gathering takes place on Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander land. The speaker shows respect to the Traditional Custodians, above all the Elders of the past and the present, and to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the room. Any person can give one.

A simple way to remember: only a custodian of that land can give a Welcome, while anyone can give an Acknowledgement. Both are signs of respect.

The 1967 referendum

In 1901 the population count did not include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This changed after the 1967 Referendum, when more than 90 per cent of voters said Yes to counting Aboriginal peoples in the Census. It is also an example of Australians changing the Constitution by referendum. Read more in the Constitution.

Respectful words

Use the names the booklet uses: Aboriginal peoples, Torres Strait Islander peoples, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples together. The booklet's glossary also uses Indigenous Australians, meaning the First Peoples of this country. Be careful not to treat the two groups as one people, since they come from different places and have different flags. See what the flags mean.

For the full text, read Part 1, Australia and its people. Then test your memory with the free practice test.

Check yourself

• Which places do Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people come from?
• What is the difference between a Welcome to Country and an Acknowledgement of Country?
• What changed after the 1967 Referendum?