Australia Day: How ‘Aborigine’ became an offensive word

Indigenous Australians were referred to as ‘blacks’ and ‘aborigines’ during the time of white settlement and have been subjected to many more racist labels over the past two centuries.

But as the term “First Nations people” has become more popular in recent years, one word that was widely used in the past is now seen by some as having offensive implications: “Aborigine.”

Human rights organization Amnesty International advises against calling someone an Aboriginal on its website, even if they are Aboriginal.

‘Aboriginal’ is generally perceived as insensitive because it has racist connotations from Australia’s colonial past and lumps people from different backgrounds together,” the report states.

‘You’re more likely to make friends by saying ‘Aboriginal person’, ‘Aboriginal’ or ‘Torres Strait Islander’.

‘If you can, try to use the person’s clan or tribe name. And when you’re talking about both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, it’s best to say ‘Indigenous Australians’ or ‘Indigenous people’.”

The Macquarie Dictionary defines an Aboriginal as ‘a member of a tribal people, the earliest known inhabitants of Australia’ or ‘a descendant of this people’.

It also warns that the word may be offensive and suggests using other descriptors.

“Some view the nouns Aborigine(s) and Aboriginal(s) as having negative, even derogatory connotations,” says de Macquarie.

‘The use of Aboriginal as an adjective, forming nouns such as Aboriginal people, Aboriginal woman, Aboriginal Australian etc., is preferred by many.

‘The adjective Indigenous can be used to include both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

‘Indigenous Australians from certain regions of Australia are also sometimes referred to by names from indigenous languages.’

Human rights organization Amnesty International advises against calling someone an Aboriginal, even if they are Aboriginal. Protesters are pictured at an Invasion Day rally in Brisbane on Friday

Aboriginal people have increasingly identified themselves by language groups, using expressions such as ‘Bundjalung man’ or ‘Noongar woman’.

‘Koori’ is still used to describe an Aboriginal from most of NSW and Victoria, as is ‘Murri’ for those from northern NSW and Queensland.

The Creative Spirits website, which provides research material on Aboriginal culture, recommends using “First Nations people.”

“People have used many terms for the first peoples of Australia,” it says. “The previous terms were blatantly racist and remain offensive.

‘Then ‘Indigenous’ was very popular before the more politically correct ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’ replaced it.

“But all these terms were coined by non-indigenous people. The new term now emerging in Australia is “First Nations people(s)”.

Creative Sprits says this term is preferable because Aboriginal people lived in Australia before anyone else and formed nations rather than small groups.

Aboriginal people have increasingly identified themselves by language groups, using expressions such as ‘Bundjalung man’ or ‘Noongar woman’. Protesters gather in Melbourne on Friday

“Every country, like every other country on this planet, has its own culture, history and language,” it says. ‘The plural, nations, refers to the diversity of all nations in Australia.’

In rejecting the use of ‘Aborigine’, Creative Spirits quotes Maria Tomasic, former president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists.

She has stated: ‘Aboriginals are a diverse group of individuals and the use of the term ‘Aborigine’ has negative connotations created during colonization and can perpetuate prejudice and discrimination’.

Aboriginal academic Anthony Dillon does not find ‘Aborigine’ offensive

Creative Sprits also dislikes ‘Indigenous’ because it ‘generalises the cultures of the mainland and the cultures of the islanders into one, ignoring the many different cultures that exist’.

The Aboriginal Advisory Group at Community Legal Centers NSW suggests using ‘Aboriginal people’ or ‘Aboriginal person’ as it believes these are both ‘more positive and empowering’.

Anthony Dillon, an academic and commentator on Indigenous affairs who identifies as both Aboriginal and Australian, has no problem with “Aborigine.”

“There is nothing offensive about the term Aboriginal,” he writes.

Dr. Dillon believes that some indigenous people dislike “Aborigines” because it can conjure up images of “someone who is clearly and unmistakably a full-blooded Aboriginal.”

“There are plenty of people of Aboriginal ancestry who are indistinguishable from white boys, but they like to be called an ‘Aboriginal person’,” he writes.