‘Djabooly-djabooly: why don’t they swim?’: the ebb and flow of water in the lives of Australian Aboriginal women

ABSTRACT

Aquatic activities have been pivotal to the lifestyle of Australian Indigenous peoples for millennia. That historical connection with rivers, streams and beaches is a largely untold story. This paper considers one aspect of the story: the significance swimming for Aboriginal women. Aquatic activities were, for many Aboriginal communities, crucial for food, movement and leisure.

Even a cursory trawl through newspapers and memoirs provides observations about the prowess of Aboriginal women as swimmers. But this skill-set dissipated in the wake of territorial conflict, resulting in the displacement or erosion of Aboriginal communities in coastal areas.

The paper then moves to the contemporary era, starting with an assumption that the passion for, swimming has been lost for Aboriginal women. Stories about female Indigenous swimmers, alongside the recollections of two mature-age women, present a story of limited opportunity, discrimination and challenges by way of access to water and safety therein.

KEYWORDS:

• Indigenous
• aboriginal
• Australia
• women
• swimming
• aquatics

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Megan Stronach is Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Technology Sydney Business School. She has a strong interest in women’s cultural issues in sport, and is fascinated by the cultural history associated with her favorite sport – swimming.

Daryl Adair is Associate Professor of Sport Management at the University of Technology Sydney Business School. He is motivated by the history, politics and management of sport, especially as they relate to respect, participation and inclusion.

Hazel Maxwell is a Senior Lecturer at the Sydney campus of the University of Tasmania. She has a decade of sport and leisure management expertise and recent research experience in the areas of community sport, health promotion, social impact, social inclusion and diversity management.

ORCID

Megan Stronach http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5045-409X

Daryl Adair http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7998-3414

Hazel Maxwell http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0610-4698

Notes

1. ‘The Dreaming’ is a term used by Aboriginal people to describe the relationships between the spiritual, natural and moral elements of the world. ‘The Dreaming’ relates to a period from the origin of the universe to a time before living memory or experience – a time of creator ancestors and supernatural beings (Stanner 1990).

2. It is acknowledged that this is an imaginary scene, implying the benefits of British civilization to Van Diemen’s Land. By 1834 the Aboriginal people (Palawa), rather than dancing a corroborree or swimming in the Derwent, were incarcerated in colonial prisons. It is thought that Glover modelled his figures on those Palawa who had danced and swum for him in their semi-captivity in Hobart.

3. For a discussion about the wider development of this swimming stroke, see Dalton (2017).