Indigenous Australian women’s leadership: stayin’ strong against the post‐colonial tide

Abstract

In this article, I reflect on my experiences as an Indigenous woman researcher coming to grips with colonialism through a post‐colonialism lens. I also discuss a study which examines the leadership journey of a group of Indigenous Australian women. The research, which includes an auto‐ethnographic approach, was guided by an Indigenous worldview and Indigenous research methodologies, and aimed to honour cultural dimensions such as Indigenous knowledge systems and ways of being. Indigenous women today are attempting to make better lives for themselves, their families and communities by becoming educated and developing their careers and leadership; however, they are thwarted in their endeavours by barriers such as racism, sexism, socio‐economic and educational disadvantage, which are the direct result of colonization. These obstructions continue to shape and control the daily lives and futures of Indigenous people in contemporary Australian society.

Notes

1. Kanakas—term used to describe Pacific Islanders who were ‘blackbirded’ or kidnapped to work as slaves on Queensland cane farms.

2. When used in the Australian context, ‘Indigenous’ refers to a person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent, who identifies as an Australian Aboriginal person or Torres Strait Islander, and is accepted as such by the community in which s/he lives. Throughout the article, there are sections which refer exclusively to Aboriginal women whose experiences may be different to Torres Strait Islander women. Therefore, where the term ‘Aboriginal’ is used, this refers specifically to Indigenous Australians of Aboriginal descent, identification and acceptance.

3. It is estimated that between 1910 and 1970, thousands of Aboriginal children were removed from their families and placed in institutions or fostered/adopted by non‐Indigenous families, many never to return to their Aboriginal families again. These children are known as the ‘Stolen Generations’, their stories are the subject of the Bringing Home Report (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission 1997).