The Ruse of Tradition

The societal conflict in Australia over Aboriginal rights is currently focused on a Voice to the Commonwealth Parliament, with its authority written indelibly into the Constitution. Beyond that are the demands for treaty and, in some form, the recognition of Aboriginal sovereignty over Australia or parts of it. These demands follow strategically from the successful land rights campaigns in the late twentieth century, which culminated in the “discovery” and implementation of native title rights. The current initiatives are led by the urban Aboriginal elite, but they are underpinned by a nationwide revival of Aboriginal culture, not only among Aborigines but also in the broader community. More precisely, they are underpinned by a re-imagining of Aboriginal culture, which now bears little resemblance to the reality of the past, having morphed in the popular imagination into a new-age idyll that is arguably as much Disney as Dreaming.

At the core of this revivalist movement is…