ABSTRACT

Indigenous Australian identities are enmeshed in racializing discourses that often occlude diversity, hybridity, and intersectionality. Australians who self-identify as Aboriginal are often disbelieved by both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, or confront hierarchies of authenticity. Critical analysis of focus groups with undergraduate Aboriginal students suggests that while there are opportunities to find and reinforce their identities in Australian universities, those identities are also denied. Using counterstories and critical race theory, this study exposes dominant misrepresentations of Aboriginality in Australian higher education that can affect academic success and attrition. Universities need to abandon rigid, culturalist constructions of Aboriginal students’ identities, and expectations that these can be codified and regulated. Academic and administrative staff require sustained education in the histories of defining Aboriginality, and knowledge of Aboriginal identity politics, stereotypes, and the diversity of contemporary Indigenous peoples so they can respond in culturally safe and flexible ways to Aboriginal students.

摘要

澳大利亚土著身份陷入种族化的话语中，而这些话语通常会掩盖多样性，混合性和交叉性。自我认定为原住民的澳大利亚人经常被原住民和非原住民所不信任，或者面对真实的等级制度。对本科生的焦点小组的批判性分析表明，尽管有机会在澳大利亚大学中找到并加强他们的身份，但这些身份也被拒绝了。本研究使用反事实和批判种族理论，揭示了澳大利亚高等教育中原住民的主要错误陈述，这可能影响学术成就和减员。大学需要放弃对土著学生身份的刻板的，​​文化主义的建构，并希望可以将其编纂和规范。