Gendering Aboriginalism A Performative Gaze on Indigenous Australian Women

One of the most common Aboriginalist representations of Indigenous Australian people is, as Indigenous female performer Lou Bennett points out, ‘basically a man, out in the desert, black skin, flat nose with a lap-lap on, standing on one leg, resting against a spear’. Her comment raises many issues. In what ways are discourses of Aboriginalism gendered? How does Aboriginalism affect performance and specifically Aboriginal women performers? In exploring these questions, I examine Aboriginalist representations of Aboriginal women performers by white male scholars and the role of women anthropologists in the production of Aboriginalist discourse about Aboriginal women. Drawing on interviews with Indigenous women performers and musical examples of their songs, I explore the impact of Aboriginalism on non-Indigenous expectations of Indigenous Australian women performing in contemporary music contexts, the strategies performers use to work within and against these constructions and my own relationship to Aboriginalism.

audience were also thinking that it was not what they expected.Were Indigenous Australianwomenperformersawareoftheseaudienceexpectations?
Each time I recall this experience it tells me about how Aboriginalist discourse works to fix, confine and sustain non-Indigenous audiences' expectations of Indigenous Australian women performers.Indigenous Australian women who perform contemporary music are intensely aware that Aboriginalist discourse hinders them and they perform a diverse range of styles, languages, places, and identities in order to resist, negotiate, and challenge Aboriginalism.This essay focuses on Indigenous Australian women musicians' perspectives of the Aboriginalist gaze to examine how they perform around, within, and against this discoursethroughtheirmusic.
DrawnfromSaid'stheoryofOrientalism, 1 theterm'Aboriginalism'hasbeen usedbyscholarsintheAustraliancontexttorefertospecificwaysofrepresenting Indigenous Australian people.Broadly defined, it refers to the tendency of (largely white) scholars to use 'culture' as the key analytical tool for knowing social differenceandforexplainingissuesincolonialcontexts. 2 Musicperformanceisone arenawhereAboriginalismisvisiblyandsonicallyatplay.Oneofthemostcommon Aboriginalist representations of Indigenous Australian people is, as Indigenous Australian female performer Lou Bennett points out, 'basically a man, out in the desert,blackskin,flatnosewithalap-lapon,standingononeleg,restingagainsta spear'. 3In performance contexts Indigenous Australian singer-songwriter Deb Morrow notes that another typical Aboriginalist construction is an Aboriginal man playing'didjeridu,clapsticking,fullblack,withpaintalloverthem.Andthat,that's all they are.Anything less than that is not Aboriginal.' 4 Lou's and Deb's comments raise the questions: in what ways are discourses of Aboriginalism gendered?Does Aboriginalismhaveconsequencesthataredifferentformenandwomen? 5 Howdoes AboriginalismaffectperformanceandspecificallyAboriginalwomenperformers?As a non-Indigenous researcher, how does my own research and writing work within andagainstAboriginalism?
Butfirst,whatisAboriginalismandhowhasitemergedasabodyofcritique?While it has been suggested that Hodge, Hodge and Mishra or Attwood were the first writerstousetheterm'Aboriginalism',earlierreferencestothetermcanbefound intheworkofVijayMishra. 6 In1987MishradrewonSaid'sOrientalismtodevelop thetermAboriginalisminordertodescribetheattemptatthe'reductionofaculture to a dominant discourse' which overpowers 'the plurality of Aboriginal voices'. 7nce Mishra's use of the term, a number of authors have examined historical and contemporaryexpressionsofAboriginalisminvariouscontextsincludingeducation, filmandliterature,anthropology,archaeology,media,andtheatre. 8originalism has the effect of silencing Indigenous Australians and views Aboriginal people as 'fearsome and dangerous, childlike and passive or primitively attractive but not as capable of self government or equal civil or moral subjects.Essentially they will be spoken about or for but cannot speak themselves.' 9 McConaghy argues that one of the central projects of Aboriginalism is the 'construction of normative and prescriptive statements of what it means to be "a realAustralianAborigine"or"arealTorresStraitIslander"'. 10 Hodge describes Aboriginalism as being 'ideally constituted to act as an ambiguous instrument for ideological control'. 11Like Hodge, Attwood shows that Aboriginalism is characterised by an overarching relationship of power between coloniserandcolonisedandsuggeststhatAboriginalism,likeOrientalism,'produces authoritative and essentialist "truths" about indigenes, and which is characterised byamutuallysupportingrelationshipbetweenpowerandknowledge'. 12scussing Aboriginalism in children's literature, Bradford describes Aboriginalism as a strand of colonial discourse that 'generally represents Aboriginality as having a pure and authentic quality untouched by historical and cultural change'. 13Like Attwood, Bradford argues that Aboriginalism works within the dynamics of knowledge and power and suggests that Aboriginalist discourse 'locates authentic Aboriginal cultures in a remote past where they can be safely quarantinedfromnotionsofprogressanddevelopmentanddeniedthepossibilityof changeoradaptation'. 14 Anumberofthesescholarsemphasisethatanthropologists,historians,and literary writers have been, and continue to be, responsible for the construction, development, and dissemination of Aboriginalism.Certainly Aboriginalism exists notonlyinacademicdiscoursebuthasfilteredthroughintoWesternconsciousness where statements develop from Aboriginalism into the general culture as stereotypes such as those identified by Lou Bennett and Deb Morrow.But before addressing Indigenous Australian women performers' perceptions of how they are imaginedandconstructedbyaudiences,Iwouldnowliketoexaminesomeexamples of Aboriginalism from anthropological texts.As Muecke notes, rather than viewing textsaslocationswherethedesiretospeakisliberated,weneedtocritiquethemas sitesofmultipleexclusions. 15

-ABORIGINALIST REPRESENTATIONS OF INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN WOMEN
Critiques of Aboriginalism rarely feature in anthropological or ethnomusicological discourse and with the exception of Moreton-Robinson there has been very little discussion of the specific ways that Aboriginalist discourse constructs, works against,andaffectsAboriginalwomen. 16AsMcConaghy,Mills,andLewisseparately point out, Said's Orientalism presents us with a notion of colonialism as nongendered. 17Said states that 'Orientalism depends for its strategy on this flexible positional superiority, which puts the Westerner in a whole series of possible relationships with the Orient without ever losing him the relative upper hand'. 18wis emphasises that the 'him' of this quotation is significant-for Said, in Orientalismatleast,Orientalismisahomogenousdiscoursearticulatedbyacolonial subject that is 'unified, intentional and irredeemably male'. 19Lewis acknowledges thatalthoughSaiddiscussestheimpactofdiscoursesofgenderinhislaterwork,in Orientalism he 'does not question women's apparent absence as producers of Orientalistdiscourseorasagentswithcolonialpower'andgenderonlyoccursinthe text 'as a metaphor for the negative characterisation of the Orientalised Other as "feminine"'. 20InresponsetoSaid'slackofreferencetodiscoursesofgender,Lewis argues that women did produce representations that constituted Orientalism and examines women's contribution to the field of visual and literary Orientalism. 21ilethereisawealthofliteratureongenderandOrientalism,scholarsworkingin theAustraliancontexthavenotyetdrawnonthisworkongenderedOrientalismto critiqueAboriginalisminrelationtogender. 22How,then,isAboriginalismgendered?What does this discourse mean in relation to Aboriginalism and its relationship to gender?
White male anthropological representations of Indigenous Australian women AnthropologyhasplayedaninfluentialroleinconstructingAboriginalistnotionsof both 'Aborigines' and Indigenous Australian women.My analysis here does not attempttogiveanexhaustiveaccountofAboriginalistrepresentationsofAboriginal women,nordoesittrytocondemntheseimagesandtexts.InsteadIamattempting toillustratehowstronglyentrenchedandacceptedtheseAboriginalistimagesare.I am aware that it is almost heresy for a scholar to critique these influential anthropological texts yet to me the following examples strongly illustrate their Aboriginalistorientation.AsMueckereveals,anthropologicalaccounts'traditionally excludedthepossibilityofdialoguewiththeOthers'andregardedtraditionalforms of Indigenous Australian cultures and music alone as 'authentic', valuable, and thereforeworthyofscholarlyconsideration. 23storically, it was mainly male anthropologists who dominated Australian anthropologyandtheirprimaryobjectsofstudywereIndigenousAustralianpeople and cultures. 24In these early anthropological texts Aboriginal women were 'invisible,orrepresentedasinferior,orpossessionsorvictims,orboth.Whitemale anthropologistsviewedthenativescenethroughtheirownphallocentriclenses,and weredependentonmaleAboriginalinformants.' 25 First published in 1899, Spencer and Gillen's influential text The Native TribesofCentralAustraliaarguesthatthe'real'or'primitive'Aboriginesweredying out and those who adopted non-Indigenous ways would cease to remember the traditionsoftheirpast:'manytribeswillpracticallydieoutwithoutourgainingany knowledge'. 26Such a view, which I read as a marker of Aboriginalist discourse, positionedanthropologistsasknowledgeableauthoritiesonAboriginalculturewho spoke about and for Aborigines and situated authentic Aboriginal cultures in the past while denying the possibilities of change or adaptation.Briefly describing physical fights between Aboriginal women, Spencer and Gillen state that, 'fighting clubswillbefreelyusedandblowsgivenandtakenwhichwouldsoonrenderhors de combat an ordinary white woman, but which have comparatively little effect upontheblackwomen'. 27HereAboriginalwomenarerepresentedastough,brutal, and animalistic and compared negatively against 'delicate' white women who assumed the status of the norm.In this Aboriginalist and patriarchal framework Aboriginal women are then viewed in the following way-'Aboriginals = animals; women = domestic property of men; therefore Aboriginal women = domestic propertyofmenwhocanbetreatedlikeanimals'. 28ecoverofthefourtheditionofElkin'stextTheAustralianAborigines:How to Understand Them discloses the Aboriginalist orientation of its contents by presenting Aborigines in the essentialised singular way that Indigenous female performer Lou Bennett describes-that is: an Aboriginal man wearing a lap-lap, standingononelegwhileleaningagainstaspear. 29AyoungnakedAboriginalchild sitsontheAboriginalman'sshoulderinthephotographconfirmingtheAboriginalist assertionthattheAboriginalmanisthecentralbearerofculturewhichhealonewill hand to the child.While it is unclear from the image on Elkin's cover whether the photowasactuallytakenbyElkinorselectedbyAngusandRobertson'sarteditor, the picture featured does suggest that the true and authentic identity of an Aborigine exists and is constituted by a remote, primitive, male, and traditional Aboriginalculture.
However,weshouldnotassumethatsuchconstructionsbelongonlytothe past.Almost sixty years later, gendered Aboriginalism continues in the anthropological work of Hiatt. 30The cover of the text Arguments About Aborigines: Australia and the Evolution of Social Anthropology depicts three Aboriginal men sittingonthegroundmakingafirewhileanotherthreeAboriginalmenstandbehind grass huts holding spears.Three women and two small children appear in the far backgroundoftheillustrationbarelyvisibletothereader'seye.Onereadingofthis illustration could be that the artwork presents a picture from Australia's colonial pastandthatnon-IndigenouspeoplenolongerviewAboriginalpeopleinthisway.
However,likeElkin'stext,thecoverofHiatt'sbookreinforcesearlyanthropological accounts that positioned Aboriginal women as relegated to the background of culture.The title of Hiatt's text Arguments about Aborigines emphasises that he engages in discussions 'about' rather than 'in dialogue' or 'with' Aboriginal people.ThiscouldbereadasobjectifyingAboriginalpeopleandclearlydoesnotsuggestany engagement with Indigenous Australian people.While again it is not apparent whetherthepaintingwasselectedbyHiattorbythepublishers,whenthecoveris analysed in conjunction with the title of the book, the image illustrates contemporary Aboriginalism at play and highlights the Aboriginalist claim that Aboriginalityisdefinedbyastatic,traditionalculture.

Women representing 'other'
Moore writes that in the early 1970s the new 'anthropology of women' began by confronting'theproblemofhowwomenwerebeingrepresentedinanthropological writings' by male anthropologists and the initial problem was quickly identified as one of male bias which was seen as having three 'tiers'. 31According to Moore, the first bias is that of the anthropologist who brings to research various expectations andassumptionsabouttherelationshipsbetweenmenandwomen;thesecondbias isoneinherentinsociety;andthethirdbiasisoneimbeddedinWesternculture. 32ministanthropologistssawtheprimarytaskasoneofdeconstructingthisthreetieredmalebiasbyfocusingresearchonwomenandanthropologicalwritingsabout Indigenous Australian women proliferated during this period.Since the work of Kaberry,manywomenanthropologistsattemptedtochallengethisthree-tieredbias andclaimedadeepconcernforAboriginalwomenandtheirtraditions. 33berrywasthefirstnon-Indigenousfemaleanthropologisttorepresentthe lives and culture of Indigenous Australian women. 34Her 1939 book, Aboriginal Woman: Sacred and Profane, was based on her research in the remote Kimberley regionofWesternAustralia;ithighlightsthesignificanceofAboriginalwomenand focusedontheculturalandreligiousheritageofAboriginalwomenatatimewhen 'few outsiders paid any attention to the lives of Indigenous people, let alone women'. 35berry's text at least emphasised the roles of Aboriginal women at a time whenAboriginalwomenwererepresentedonlyinstereotypicalwaysornotatall.
Her views of 'the Aboriginal woman' as sharing with men an equal ownership of land, a common religious heritage and having sacred and secret ceremonies restrictedtowomenchallengedsomeofAboriginalism'skeymythsaboutAboriginal women.Kaberry's focus on 'traditional' Indigenous women was part of her campaign to contest the view, argued by male anthropologists in the early part of the twentieth century, that 'traditional' Aboriginal women 'were no more than "domesticated cows"'. 36Kaberry somewhat naively states that she had more difficulty obtaining songs about childbirth from women and 'it was not until I had been seven months in the country that I finally heard the first songs'. 37However, Toussaintarguesthatitwouldseemmorelikelythat'heryouthfulnessandthefact that she had not given birth herself, might account for the women's reluctance'. 38e could criticise Kaberry for her detailed documentation of women-only ceremoniesandsongs,asthisinformationisnowrecognisedasrestricted.Certainly Kaberry's public presentation of this information illustrates a major difference in pastandpresentthinkingandethicsofscholarship.
Kaberry's failure to acknowledge the impact of colonialism on Kimberley Aboriginal life has been criticised by Indigenous academic Moreton-Robinson who states that Kaberry's 'methodology allows for an illusory absence of colonisation which is preserved and felt in the presence of its absence'. 39Similarly, Toussaint notesthatKaberry'appearsfromherethnographytohaveworkedunquestioningly inacolonialeraandshealignedherselfwithpastoralfamilies,someofwhomheld more power and authority than 1930s Aboriginal women and men'. 40Certainly Kaberry was working in a period in Australian anthropology that was strongly  43 Similarly, Moore suggests thatwhitewomenanthropologists,likeBell,wanttochallengemen'srighttospeak for women, but in the process find themselves 'unintentionally speaking for other women'. 44milton, however, emphasises that Bell's Daughters of the Dreaming must be commended because it 'opens up a certain perspective, one which has received little credence or even attention before'. 45Bell herself states that her aim is to articulate an ethnography that was 'feminist, engaged, ethically grounded, collaborative, relational and enmeshed in ever-expanding political contexts'. 46wever,Bell'sintentionsmustbequestionedbecausesimilarlytoKaberry,Berndt, andothers,Belldocumentsinformationaboutwomen-onlyceremonies,information that today is considered restricted information. 47Bell argues 'my economic and emotionalindependenceoftheworldofmenmeantthatIwas"safe"withwomen's secrets'. 48While she acknowledged that the information about women-only ceremonies was secret, she still documented it in a public text.The question remains:how'safe'wasBellwithinformationaboutwomen'sceremonies?
Certainly the work of women anthropologists attempted to challenge assumptions concerning the roles of Aboriginal women.However, the representationsofIndigenouswomenbythesewhitewomenanthropologistsreveal that they, too, have contributed to the production of Aboriginalist discourse about Aboriginal women.There have been many other representations of Indigenous womenbynon-Indigenouswomenscholars. 49Moreton-Robinsonarguesthat'when white women anthropologists write about Indigenous women, they do so in the conventions of representation bounded by their discipline, university and politics and white Australian culture.' 50 However, a number of anthropologists attempt to challenge and actively resist Aboriginalism in their work by moving beyond the traditional frame of reference to deal with social change, include and acknowledge the voices of Indigenous women, and situate Indigenous women not as objects within texts, but highlight the fullness of the lived experiences and multiple subjectivitiesofIndigenouswomeninthepresent. 51Certainly,partofthechallenge foranynon-IndigenousscholarresearchingIndigenousAustralianpeopleandtheir cultures, myself included, is to resist speaking for Indigenous Australians and emphasise Indigenous perspectives in order to actively challenge, shift away from andmovebeyondAboriginalism.
-ABORIGINALISM IN PERFORMANCE DespitethegrowingbodyofacademicliteratureaboutIndigenousAustralianmusic, critiquesofAboriginalismandcolonialismareyettotakecentrestageinthisareaof study. 52Therehasbeenanotedsparsityofscholarlyexaminationofthedynamicsof Aboriginalismatworkinrelationtocontemporarymusicperformance. 53However, withtheexceptionofLaweDavies,whomentionsOrientalismandAboriginalismin relationtoAboriginalrock,therehasbeenlittleacademicexaminationoftheways in which Aboriginalist discourse fixes expectations of what Indigenous Australian people performing contemporary music should look and sound like, and further, how Indigenous Australian performers respond to these expectations. 54There has alsobeenalackofexaminationofthespecificwaysAboriginalismworkstohinder IndigenousAustralianwomenwhoperformcontemporarymusic.AboriginalistdiscoursecreatesexpectationsandassumptionsofIndigenous performers on two levels: how Indigenous performers should look and also how they should sound.Aboriginalist images of painted up black (mostly male) bodies wearing red headbands and dressed in loincloths are a dominant Aboriginalist representation in tourism, books and television.Aboriginalism also creates the expectation that the music of Indigenous performers will 'sound' Aboriginal, and therefore be linked with 'culture'.For example, when (now disbanded) Indigenous Australian female duo Shakaya were interviewed on ABC radio, the first question theywereaskedwas'So,doyouthinkthere'sanythingparticularlyAboriginalabout your music?'. 55Naomi Wenitong and Simone Stacey from Shakaya responded in followingway:'We'retryingto,wewanttocreateabitmoresoundwherewecan useadidjeriduandhaveactuallyuseddidjeriduinoursongs.We'dliketodoalot more stuff with traditional instruments you know.' 56 Their response suggested the pressuretoconformtotheimageconstructedbyAboriginalistviewsofIndigenous performersbyincludingsonicmarkersofAboriginalitysuchasdidjeriduinorderto legitimisetheirmusicandtheiridentities. 57uenfeldt points out that the didjeridu is an integral element of an Aboriginal 'sound' in contemporary music and further suggests that 'having an identifiable "sound" … is a major requisite for candidature for entry into the "universal pop aesthetic" … of sound, sight and sentiment.' 58Aboriginalist expectationsofthedidjeriduarelinked'withtheimplicitinferencethatAboriginal instruments,music(ormusiciansforthatmatter)areprimitive,unsophisticatedand low tech'. 59Other recognisable ingredients of an Aboriginal 'sound' are clapsticks andlyricssunginIndigenousAustralianlanguages.UndertheAboriginalistgaze,the inclusionofAboriginal'sounds'intocontemporarysongsbyIndigenousperformers 'serves to "legitimise" them in the sense of creating overt linkages to past and presentformsofartisticexpression'. 60digenous Australian women performers play around, within, and against Aboriginalist musical constructions by actively negotiating, challenging, and simultaneously using these constructions while blurring and merging the borders between contemporary and traditional Indigenous musical expression through the use of a wide range of musical styles and instrumentation.They make deliberate musicalchoicesabouthowthey,asperformers,willlookandalsohowtheirmusic willsound.
-INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIAN WOMEN PERFORMING WITHIN/AGAINST ABORIGINALISM Certainly, the Indigenous Australian women who perform contemporary music I interviewedareacutelyawareofAboriginaliststereotypessurroundingIndigenous Australianperformance,understandhowcultureisusedtolegitimateperformance andusearangeofstrategiestoworkwithin,againstandaroundtheseAboriginalist constructions.

Sarah Patrick
BrisbanebasedTorresStraithiphopperformerSarahPatrick(Figure1)notesthat: White Australians think they know our culture but they know nothing.
Theyjustknowwhatthemediafeedsthem.Theyseeadidjeridu,theysee a corroboree, they see a group of black people painted up, they go 'oh, that'stheirstrangelittlerituals,that'sculture'. 61rah's statement highlights her awareness of Aboriginalist expectations of Indigenous performance.One of the premises of Aboriginalism is the perpetuation of stereotypical notions of a primitive Indigenous people engaging in strange and exotic rituals that sharply distinguish 'them' from 'us'. 62Like many Indigenous Australian people, Sarah rejects this representation of Indigenous identity and performanceandarguesthat: Whatmakesyoublackisactuallyyourspiritualityandyourtiestofamily morethananything.Particularlyknowingyourfamilyandknowingwhere theycomefromandknowingyourtribe.Thattomeismoreofamarkerof Indigenous culture identity, um, as opposed to the markers of oh paint, costumes,didj.Tomethat'sastereotypicalviewthat,that'sawhiteview that'sbeenforceduponus,um,andit'snotthereality. 63rSarah,herIndigeneityisbasedonherfamilyconnectionsandherinnerguiding beliefsratherthananyvisualorsonicmarkersofIndigenousperformance.Shealso emphasises that non-Indigenous expectations of Indigenous performers being 'painted up' with ochre and playing didjeridu represent a cliched view, which has been forced on Indigenous people.However, she does allow herself creative freedom to incorporate elements of Torres Strait Creole at times in her music, for exampleinhersongWhereItzat: What you'll find with most Indigenous rap is that instead of using Afro-American terms I do it in Island language terms, so instead of saying 'brother'wesaybala,likegummaiswell,inthecityitmeansjustagood looking person you see a nice looking guy it's like 'Oh gumma!' However when you go back up North into the islands it still just means like a beautifulwoman,likeagirl,butthat'schanging(laughs). 65thoughSarahdoesincorporateelementsofherTorresStraitIslanderbackground inhermusic,shealsoemphasisesthat: It'snotdoneinamethodicalway-likeyouobviouslydon'tsitdownwith asongandgo'Oh!I'llputinthisherebecauseIhavetohavethemarkers' formenecessarilylikeintermsofIndigenousculture,theonebigmarker that people don't understand is that it is the inner, rather than the external.Justlike,yeahcool,Icanpaintupasmuchasthenextpersonbut thatdoesn'tmakemeanymoreblackthananyoneelse. 66rah sets out openly to resist Aboriginalist expectations of Indigenous sounds in her music and, although she does not necessarily plan to incorporate elements of Indigenousmusicalexpression,sometimes'itjusthappens'. 67

Briscoe Sisters
The Indigenous Australian duo from Cairns, North Queensland, the Briscoe Sisters (Deline and Naurita Briscoe) [Figure 2] have also successfully been grabbing audiences' expectations by using hand clapping and singing a number of contemporarysongsintheAboriginallanguagefromtheirregioninMossmanin North Queensland-Kuku Yalanji. 68They point out that they do not often come acrossquestionsaboutthelegitimacyoftheirperformances.Theirsong'Wanju'on their live album is sung in Kuku Yalanji and English in two-part harmony and accompaniedbyacousticandelectricguitar,drums,andbass. 69eofthesisters,Deline,statesthat'BackwhenIwasaboutseventeenIjust thought "Hey we should do a song in language" just because it's how we talk so I thoughtwhydon'twejustdoasonginlanguagesowedidthat'. 70Delineemphasises that: AlotofpeoplethinkthattheAboriginalcultureandlanguagesarelostand when we get up and sing it just opens their eyes to see no there is a culture, there is a language for you know every section of Australia.But, yeahandIguessbecause…everytimewesing,wesingalanguagesongso it'shard.Ifwedidn'tsinglanguageyeahwemaybewouldbeaskedthat. 71rther, Deline notes, 'There's a lot of people out there that don't know that Aboriginal people still have their culture because they think that's all lost and they'vegotnoculture'causeI'veheardthosestatementsbeforetoo'. 72Theviewthat all Indigenous cultures and languages are all lost is a marker of Aboriginalist discourse, implies that Aborigines and their music making are dying out and also situates authentic Aboriginal cultures in the past.By singing in their language the BriscoeSistersareresistingthisperceptionandchallengingtheAboriginalistmyth thatAboriginalpeoplecannotadapttomoderntimes.
They sing about a diverse range of issues including workplace prejudice, relationships, child sexual abuse, friendship, and other topics and accompany themselvesonguitarandhandpercussionorsingacapella.TheBriscoeSistersthen, are resisting non-Indigenous people's expectations on dual levels.The majority of their songs resist Aboriginalist constructions and expectations of what styles of musicIndigenousAustralianpeopleperformandalsohowtheyshouldsoundbynot includingmusicalmarkersoftheirIndigeneity.Yetatothertimestheyincorporate some lyrics in language which challenges the Aboriginalist assumption that Aboriginal languages and cultures have died out and the colonial myth that Aboriginalpeopleareincapableofadjustingoradaptingtothepresent.

Monica Weightman
The beginning and ending of the title track on Monica Weightman's CD Lost Generation incorporates the song 'Darnley Island Too Far Away', a song that Monica'sfathersangduringhischildhoodonThursdayIsland. 74 It'sawonderfulstory.We'veretracedthewriter'sstepsandIspoketohis descendants up there on Darnley Island, they're still there.But … his name'sLeuiThaiday,theguywhowrotethatandhewasasongwriter.He wasapearldiverandasongwriter.Apparentlyhewasforevermakingup songs so we spoke to his relatives on Darnley Island, they gave us permissiontouseit,andahthemaskontheCD. 75einsideoftheCDcasealsofeaturesapaintingofaweddingmaskbyartistJohn Dow,whichsignifiesthe'cycleofgenerations'.MostofthesongsonMonica'salbum (including 'Here We Go', 'Miss You', 'Middle of Nowhere') do not draw on features that audiences could identify as musical markers of her Indigeneity and Monica notesthat: IgotaskedaquestionfromaSouthAfricanwoman.Shesaidtome,about the instrumentation, like 'do you use the didjeridu and stuff?' and I said, 'Well,noIdon't.'AndIprobablywouldbereticentaboutputtingitonmy,or within my music because that's not … where I come from, you know.
We're talking more about drums and Islander drums, that's sort of more whereIcomefrom.Sothereisthisgeneralconceptionthat,youknow,all Aboriginals[sic]playdidjeridu. 76nica's statement pointsto the localised nature of Indigenous Australian musical soundsandemphasisesthatsheisawarethatthesoundandimageofthedidjeridu has become fixed in the minds of many non-Indigenous people as a symbol of AboriginalitythroughoutAustraliaandoverseas.Neuenfeldtnotesthedidjeriduhas become the 'primary aural and visual musical icon of Australian indigeneity'. 77nica resists Aboriginalist expectations by only incorporating sounds which she feels are culturally appropriate while at the same time contemporary music has providedMonicawiththetoolstoconnectwithherIndigenousheritage.

Deb Morrow
OtherIndigenouswomenperformers,likeDebMorrow(Figure3),attempttoopenly  drives me most'. 78The CD cover includes a sketch of an emu in red facing a blackandwhitephotographofDeb.Theemu'sheadisclosetoDeb'sprofileand signifiesDeb'sclosenesstoandaffiliationwithhertotem.Thesignificanceofan emutakingflightisexplainedbyDebinthefollowingway: Asyouknow,emuscan'tfly,butthere'satraditionalstoryabouthowshe used to fly once and she lost her flight through she came to the earth because she wanted to dance with brolga, and brolga tricked her into coming to the earth so once she stepped foot on the earth she lost her flightandthat'swhentheworldstartedgettingcreatedandthingsstarted goingwrong,andwe'veendeduphere. 79re there is a certain tension between images and sounds because the songsonDeb'salbumdonotdrawonanymusicalelementswhichaudiencesmight identify as 'Aboriginal'.Like Lou, Deb deliberately resists Aboriginalist stereotypes of Indigenous performance by trying to 'steer away from it as much as possible, because they're [clapsticks and didjeridu] not something I was brought up with.I wasn't brought up traditionally, I don't think my tribe actually ever blew a didjeridu.' 80Debexplainsthatsheusesinstrumentsthatareavailabletoher,andshe challengestheAboriginalistbeliefsthatAboriginesarefrozeninthepast,unableto adjust or adapt to the modern world, asserting 'we're a progressive culture and we've progressed and we've been forced to be, to move into a modern world, so I use what's been given to me and that is my guitar, electrified instruments, drum kits'. 81igquestionwhicharisesishowcantheseIndigenousAustralianwomen be resisting Aboriginalist constructions when, on the surface, incorporating elements of traditional musical expression and visual images could be read as meetingAboriginalistexpectationsofIndigenousAustralianperformance?Thereis a tension apparent here-these women are trying to resist one-dimensional Aboriginalist constructions of Indigenous Australian performance yet at the same time they want to be free to explore, experiment and draw on their cultural backgrounds in their music and self representation.It is not surprising that this contradiction exists because just as the myths projected by Orientalism and Aboriginalism have no rationality and are grounded in 'prejudices based on doctrines of evolutionary difference and intellectual inferiority' the responses by Indigenous Australian women performers to Aboriginalism in performance are equallyvariedanddiverse. 82Y RELATIONSHIP TO ABORIGINALISM Aboriginalist discourse is constructed, controlled, and maintained by a dominant non-Indigenouscultureandappearstocontinuetohaveastrongholdintheminds ofmanynon-IndigenousAustralians.Inowwanttostepbacktoreflectonhowmy own research resists and challenges Aboriginalism and pose the question, as McConaghy does, is it possible to speak about Indigenous Australian people from outsideofAboriginalism? 83 WritingaboutIndigenousAustralianissues,peoplesand culturesisinherentlypolitical.Asanon-IndigenouswomanIammindfulofSharpe's warning that 'none of us escapes the legacy of a colonial past and its traces in our academicpractice'. 84Animportantquestionformeis:howismygazedifferent? InsomewaysIfeelthatIamresistinggenderedAboriginalisttendenciesto view women as secondary in this essay.First, by engaging with Aboriginalism in relationtoperformanceandfocusingonIndigenousAustralianwomen,Iamtaking acrucialsteptowards'movingbeyondtheexoticisedprojectionsoftheimaginations ofWesternanthropologists'. 85 Second,byaskingquestionsaboutAboriginalismIam drawing attention to the ways this discourse works to create and sustain expectationsofwhatIndigenousAustralianwomenperformingcontemporarymusic shouldsoundandlooklike,andhowIndigenousAustralianwomenrespondtothese expectations.Third, and perhaps most importantly, at every turn I am putting in place strategies that aim to privilege the voices of Indigenous Australian women performers and emphasise the diverse voices, performances and styles performed by Indigenous Australian women in order to resist how Aboriginalism excludes IndigenouspeopleasauthorisedspeakersandspeaksforIndigenousAustralians. 86ter undertaking interviews with twenty Indigenous Australian women performersformydoctoralresearch,Iwasoverwhelmedwiththemanychallenging ethical questions posed by feminist researchers about representation and writing.
How can I represent the performers best?Given that one of the central tenets of feminist research is to empower women's voices and experiences I also question whosevoicesshouldIinclude,when,andhowoften?HowcanIincludea'chorusof voices'suchasthatreferredtobyReissman? 87 Concernedwiththeissuesofrepresentation,authorityandauthorshipthese questions raise in my own writing, I am continually attempting to incorporate quotations of Indigenous Australian women performers from my interviews with them.ThewordsofCharmazresonatewithmyownthoughtsandIquoteherhereat length: I prefer to present many detailed interview quotes and examples in the bodyofmywork.Idosotokeepthehumanstoryintheforefrontofthe reader's mind and to make the conceptual analysis more accessible to a wideraudience. 88 the same time, I am constantly reminded of Holman Jones's fear that the text mightcontain'toomanyoftheauthor'svoicesandtoofewofthevoicesofthoseshe studies'. 89Lincoln and Denzin note that one way to respond to these issues of representation is to move to 'including the Other in the larger research processes that we have developed'. 90I attempted to do this by sending drafts of articles and chapters of my thesis that included Indigenous Australian women performers' statements to the performers themselves for their comments, additions and approvaloftherepresentationoftheirvoices.Thisinvolvedaprocessofnegotiation andconsultationwithperformers.
The best that I can hope for is to incorporate the voices of performers and allowthemtospeakintheirownvoicesratherthaninterpretingthemthroughmy voice.Yet despite my intentions, ultimately the work remains my interpretation of their words.I am still left wondering if I got it 'right'?Are my representations of performers what they had hoped for?'How do I "unlearn" my privilege as a white womanscholar?'throughouttheresearchprocess? 91 Isitpossibleformeandthem, anon-IndigenousresearcherandIndigenousperformers,tohaveanequalvoiceina researchprojectlikethis?LikeHolmanJones,Ifeelthat'Iamnotwisewithanswers, butalivewithquestions'. 92 DespitethepositiveaspectsofmyattemptstoresistAboriginalism,Icannot escape the fact that I am a non-Indigenous female scholar engaging in a representation of Indigenous Australian women, and that I am constructing or producingknowledgeaboutIndigenouswomenperformingcontemporarymusic.As Attwood asks, is it 'possible to have any worthwhile non-Aboriginal knowledge about Aborigines or is it inherently flawed because of the political-that is colonial-circumstancesinwhichitwascreated?'One of the key lessons to be learnt from Said is that Orientalism exists not only in academic discourse but has filtered through into Western consciousness where statements proliferate out into the general culture as stereotypes. 94Said acknowledges that Orientalism is fostered by 'travellers, commercial enterprises, governments, military expeditions, readers of novels and accounts of exotic adventure,naturalhistorians,andpilgrimstowhomtheOrientisaspecifickindof knowledgeaboutspecificplaces,peoplesandcivilisations'. 95EachtimeIremember my experience watching Toni perform it reminds me that certainly Aboriginalism, like Orientalism, is not just cultivated in the academy but has permeated into the public as stereotypes.My narrative also suggests that Aboriginalist perceptions continue to pervade the minds of some non-Indigenous Australians and considerable resistance still remains to any notion that the less 'traditional' IndigenousAustralianperformancesarelegitimate.
Today, Aboriginalism continues to take many varied and at times contradictory guises in relation to Indigenous Australian women performing contemporary music.Indigenous Australian women performers have told me of their perceptions of the Aboriginalist gaze and emphasise that some audiences expect 'traditional' musical instruments, languages, costumes, and 'paint', while others have perceptions of 'real' Aborigines as being an 'other-worldly' and much desired 'other' to the non-Indigenous imagination. 96Aboriginalist discourse is constructed,controlled,andmaintainedbyadominantnon-Indigenouscultureand appears to continue to have a strong hold in the minds of many non-Indigenous Australians.Asaresult,IndigenousAustralianpeople,asMueckeacknowledges,are facedwitha'totalisingconceptofAboriginalculture'andoftenexpectedto'display thisessence,orthisorthatskill,asifculturewereanendowmentofatotality'. 97owremindsusthatweliveinanerainwhichthecritiqueoftheWesthas becomenotonlypossiblebutnecessaryanddescribesthistaskofcritiquingcolonial powerandrepresentationsas'dismantlingtheclaimsofauthoritythatarehousedin specific representations'. 98The contemporary music performances and recordings byIndigenousAustralianwomenareexcitingandexhilaratingnotonlybecausethey are talented musicians but because they provide potent examples of the ways Indigenous Australian women are able to resist Aboriginalism by singing, performing, speaking, and playing their way through these assumptions to self-definemorediverseanddynamicidentitiesasIndigenousAustralianwomen. - aligned with and influenced by Aboriginalist and colonialist agendas where Aboriginal peoples were objects of study and anthropologists were viewed as knowledgeableexpertsonAboriginalcultures.Aboriginalismisalsoevidentinmorerecentworkbynon-Indigenousfemale anthropologistDianeBell.Bell'sbookDaughtersoftheDreaming,wasfirstpublished in 1983 and was received at the time as a 'challenge to certain cherished assumptionsconcerningtheroleofwomen,particularlyinthesphereofreligion'. 41BellassertsthatAboriginalwomenhaveaparallelculturetomen,aresocialactors whohavestatus,powerandauthoritytoenactsocialagency,and'areautonomous, independentritualactorswhoactivelyparticipateinthecreation,transmissionand maintenanceofthevaluesoftheirsociety'. 42YetDaughtersoftheDreamingcouldbeviewedasanAboriginalisttextinits positioning of Bell as a knowledgeable expert on Aboriginal women with the authority to represent and document Aboriginal women's secret and restricted knowledgesinapublictext.BellhasbeenhighlycriticisedbyIndigenousAustralian women academics such as Huggins et al. and Moreton-Robinson who have challenged Bell's right to speak for Indigenous women.

Figure 3 :
Figure 3: Deb Morrow, Melbourne, 15 July 2004 (photograph: K. Barney) women with a powerful podium to change audiences' expectations, educate non-Indigenous people about the diversity of Indigenous Australian people and break down Aboriginalist perceptions of Indigenous Australian performance.The commentmadebyLouise'smumthat'Youwouldn'tknowshe'sIndigenousjustby listening to her music' suggests that Aboriginalist constructions of Indigenous Australian performance continue to pervade the minds of many non-Indigenous audiencesandcertainlytheperformersremainacutelyawareoftheseexpectations.ButwhenIndigenousAustralianwomenperformerstakethestage,theirvoicesand performances are attempting to educate non-Indigenous people through performance about the diverse identities, songs and musical styles performed by Indigenouswomenmusicians. 93 This narrative illustrates that contemporary music provides Indigenous Australian