Week 2: Stevie Goldsmith

Stevie Gadlabarti Goldsmith is a yidaki (digeridoo) player, dancer, storyteller and cultural educator and a Narrunga, Kaurna and Ngarredjeri descendant, who is based in Adelaide, South Australia.  Gadlabarti comes form the Kaurna language and means the native bee which his Aunty named him because she said he was always buzzing around busy with people but he didn't ever sting them because he was kind. During his lecture he provided the history of the Kaurna people and also went into depth about the importance of culture and identity.

 

One issue which was brought to attention was the struggles which he and his people have faced from the beginning of the settlers arrival to the current times. A memorable event in particular was The Black Line. I have always known that Tasmania had a dark history in regards to Indigenous Australians but was not aware of the extent of cruelty and discrimination that was enforced upon the Aboriginals of that time.

In 1830 a military operation known as the 'Black Line' was launched against the Aboriginal people remaining in the settled districts. Vigilante gangs of soldiers and settlers avenged Aboriginal attacks by killing men, women and children. Every able-bodied male colonist convict or free, was to form a human chain across the settled districts, moving for three weeks south and east in a pincer movement, until the people were cornered on the Tasman Peninsula.

 

Goldsmith also spoke about the way that society had stolen the identities of various communities by generalising them as 'Aborigines'. He said that this was much the same as if ever person with European heritage was to be recognised as 'Europeans' rather than being Italian, French or Dutch etc. This was a great example to help understand how the people in these areas might feel.

 

 

Another memorable moment in the lecture was when he spoke about his relative, David Unaipon, having his face on the Australian $50 note. He asked if people knew who he was and if not why. I found this both confronting and challenging. It put into perspective the amount of Aboriginal culture which goes unnoticed and that so many people are uneducated or have any knowledge of it at all.

David Unaipon, as Stevie Goldsmith describes, was Australia's Leonardo Da Vinci. He was an Australian Aboriginal of the Ngarrindjeri people, a preacher, inventor and writer. He was the most widely known Aboriginal in Australia, and broke stereotypes of Aboriginals. Hearing this information makes it unimaginable as to why and how more people are not aware of his role in Australian history.