Further to my previous posts here and here, the quest to find out more about the Indigenous part of my heritage led me to the free online Sydney University course at https://www.sydney.edu.au/about-us/vision-and-values/our-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-community/kinship-module.html.
There is a lot to learn - especially about specific kinship relations (which will have to wait until I can get to northern Victoria), and I am feeling overwhelmed ... and concerned about whether, or how well, I can meet my kinship obligations.
I also won’t restrict my caring - I’ve always put family of choice ahead of family of blood, and life as a whole (especially sentient life) ahead of division into subsets ... much as this revered elder showed caring for others.
But this has been an interesting reflection on belonging - especially when I consider my vague but persistent desire to run away as a child in my primary school years. (Starting sailing in high school helped with a lot of things - mostly, being able to enjoy the dynamism of Nature, but it gave me a coping mechanism for much of life.) I also note that several elders - including, I think, the person mentioned above, have been proud of the non-Indigenous parts of their heritage.
But I also note the interview of Gary Blakey at https://youtu.be/Oq23bGXQj0E
I am concerned that his experience of being rejected, despite evidence of being - in part - Indigenous, may wind up being mine.
If it is, mind you, I’ll keep doing what I am now: I’ll just be missing a formal recognition of part of me - and I’ve had that in other areas of my life as it is.
PS - I have subsequently come across a very useful - and reassuring - perspective on this at https://youtu.be/AZVtHCTk7PA.
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