passive resistance in native title claims debbie fletcher

Passive Resistance in Native Title Claims

Debbie Fletcher


•Bennell native title trial in context of previous Federal Court decisions

•Justice Wilcox found:

• evidence of the “continuing importance attached to land”

• all witnesses “identified their own country and explained the basis of their claim to it”


• Importantly, “despite the factors favouring fragmentation, members of families continued to remain in contact with each other, and with members of other Aboriginal families, especially those from their traditional areas.”

•Emerging themes from trial and decision:

• connection to land• connection to family


Background

•Noongar region highly settled

•Body of literature suggesting Noongar people experienced:

• Dispossession;• Displacement;• Cultural loss; and• Severing of family ties


•Reconciliation of court finding and traditional history

•Host – application of extinction /continuity theses

•Berndt scholars – examining Noongar culture from pre-conceived notion of extinction


•Late 1980s saw change as scholars identified aspects of continuity in Noongar culture

• Haebich (1985)• Baines (1987)• Birdsall (1990)• Toussaint (1987)• Hodson (1989)


•Key findings:

• Strength of kinship ties• Distinct Noongar identity• Employment patterns• Land associations – ‘runs’

•However, dispossession remained a strong theme, particularly from land


•Revisionist scholars, often politically motivated, contributed to body of literature which emphasised dispossession

•Federal Court judgement (at first instance) which suggested that Noongar people retained a connection to their traditional lands sufficient for the purposes of native title

•How?


•Re-reading of the literature required

•Application of the methodological framework of James C. Scott’s theory of passive resistance – ‘weapons of the weak’


Examples of passive resistance

• Sabotage• Foot-dragging• Feigned ignorance• Dissimulation• Absconding• False compliance• Pilfering• Slander


Who undertakes passive resistance?

•Minority groups with little power• Geographically isolated groups• Groups without unified political structure

• Peasants and slaves• Australian Aboriginal people


•Some reference in Australian literature

• Veracini (2001)• Choo (2001)

•Resonance with accommodation/resistance paradigm

•Key issue is intent or motivation


Indications of passive resistance among Noongar people

• Overt compliance with covert resistance• Names – public/private• Absconding from settlements• Hiding from authorities• Rejection of institutionalisation• Hiding Aboriginality


Indications of passive resistance among Noongar people (2)

• Language• Law and custom• Ignoring official directives• Fringedwelling• Practice of casual employment• Rejection of rations



•Marrying or having children with people other than those agreed to by officials• Continuing to mix with other Aboriginal people• Anti-social behaviour• Continued use of bush tucker



• Returning home when possible• Rejection of assimilation• Sustained rejection of official policies and legislation• The development of collective political action which ultimately led to legislative changes


Identifying passive resistance

•Close reading of literature and archives•Be alert to motivation and intent•Identify signs of frustration among officials•Identify why policy change occurs•Identify actions which contradict statements•Identify objective of author


•Take a subtle approach and be aware of alternative arguments•Recognise that there is a group and individual gradation of accommodation/resistance•Aim is to build a coherent and defensible argument of alternative history


What are some important records?

•Birth, death and marriage records•Departmental archives•Oral histories•School records•Employment records•Family histories


Be alert to

•Incidental recordings such as burial information, place of residence rather than just the event being recorded•Registration districts•Patterns of movement•Relationships between families•Living and camping arrangements•Persistent behaviours


Passive Resistance and Native Title

•Will not ‘prove native title’•Does not address other more complex requirements•Can assist in building an argument of continuity•Illustrates the complexities of examining Aboriginal/European relationships and the impact of settlement


Summary

•Passive resistance theory offers an alternative to conventional history of the impact of settlement on Aboriginal people•Identifies silences in the records and exposes the concept of subtle responses•Empowers claimants•Assists in the argument of continuity rather than extinction


passive resistance in native title claims debbie fletcher

Documents

family passive resistance

land passive resistance

weak passive resistance

purposes of native title

motivationpassive resistance

native title claims

noongar culture haebich

settled body of literature