Ask us anything: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people 

Much love and respect for all my aboriginal/ indigenous brothers and sisters, from the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma in America!

I’m a proud dungarri man I with a PhD in medicine!!!

Me: Gets into Uber Uber : awkwardly turns music to hip hop .

Oh my lord, when I was in a class. Someone was like ‘ holy shit you sound australian’ and I was like ‘ because I am ?’ And he was like ‘ but aren’t you from Pakistan’ 😂 funny shit ever.... um no? I’m aboriginal ?

As a black person in America I feel like I relate to a lot of the sentiment. For example: everyone says get over it, it was so long ago and no one is around from that time. Well my great grandmother is still alive and her parents were born into slavery. Slavery ended technically in 1865 but what the hell you think all those people went? Not being paid and denied education all their lives for generations. People lived as slaves into the 60s. And then Jim Crow and Segregation did not end until the 60s less than 60 years ago, my parents were born during that period. Those feelings from that period didn't just disappear nor did the emancipation proclamation just solve slavery. So that part when he said how can we just get over it when it still effects us rang so true to our problems here. I'm 30 years old and I know things are changing and for the better but these people keep fighting us and especially keep telling us to be quiet. It's not only frustrating but infuriating. I can touch my history to this day and so can you. We still can touch our past history. It's that far removed. Not in the history of United States inception or Australian inception, not on the history of Civilian. Groups of peopel have taken hundreds and thousands of years to recover from things this bad. All we hear at this point is "shut up and get over it" and what we should be doing is healing and learning from the past.

I'm African and I get asked the "auntie or uncle" question ALL the time too! I feel like white people are the only ones who have to have that explained to them - family isn't only blood. We are a community. Very interesting that Indigenous people get asked that too. Great video!

Mother is white from Tasmania Father is black from central Australia I’m Australian and proud of the heritage of both parents, equally

Love the coffee analogy 🙌🙌 going to use that from now on

i’m maori and i always get the question about auntie and uncle. people do it out of respect, as if someone were to call a person, ma’am or sir.

For me as a European visitor to Australia, I feel that our education is seriously lacking aboriginal teachings. I find it shocking that I had never heard of the culture and horrors (recent and non) until I visited the country and started to research. Perhaps links to universities outside of Australia would help push such an important topic.

Clearly some people missed the point re how Aboriginal how are you? If you look back in history and racist policies to 'breed' Aboriginal people out and the percentile system used to class Aboriginality, you can see why it is offensive to Aboriginal people and maybe not yourself. Aboriginality isn't just about blood line but about cultural connection. You can be fair but the only culture you know and have been raised in is your Aboriginal culture, that's another reason why it's offensive. You don't automatically identify white due to skin tone.

This made me laugh and cry I'm Aboriginal myself and I'm happy for us to answer questions 😁😁

As someone born in Australia I always loved the Dreamtime stories that I was taught through school and I am interested in learning more about this amazing culture ❤️

I'm from the UK and this is so important to watch I wish history classes here didn't just focus on world wars and what happened in America I hope Indigenous cultures can thrive again in the future

This is such a dope thing. As a college (American!) student once before, it's always good to see how the indigenous communities of other notable countries, like Australia, deal with the realities of a culture from a stolen land.

9:35 is the most beautiful description I’ve heard in a long time. Thank you for sharing this.

Thank you for an amazing video! I'm a non-Indigenous woman from Cairns in Far North QLD and am also a nurse/Educator. I am currently training some mob from Awabakal as health Practitioners. This video gave me some good knowledge on how to be culturally safe and show respect towards my students. If there's one thing I've observed about being in a room full of Indigenous students is that there is such a strong sense of family and connection with mob and that everyone cares about each other equally. Non-Indigenous people can certainly learn a lot about belonging from our Indigenous brothers and sisters, aunties and uncles - I know I have. Thank you x P.S. Aunty Mary I'd sit next to you!

This was a beautifully articulate video, everyone really answered the questions with such poise and used easily understood references for someone over here in the states.

I'm half white latina and half indigenous, and I always felt a need to know more about my roots, even though I didn't receive the cultural education and mother language, I always felt close to home whenever I wore my traditional clothes and whenever I listen to some mistical stories. I've received the look of confusion whenever I say I'm indigenous because I am a little lighter than the average guna woman, and that has made me feel a little unsecure. I feel identified as an indigenous woman, but I wish I was more confident of who I am. I needed the content of this video. Thank you so much! 💗

4:09 She has an awesome accent. :) Also I had these same stereotypes, against Indigenous Australians, however I felt it was wrong as my very own people have had similar stereotypes, as well. This lead me to conduct my own research and found my previous opinions to be wrong (obviously) via videos like this. I just feel bad that I ever had these opinions, because I was not bought up this way. These videos seriously help anyone looking for both sides of the story. :)

Thank you for all enlightening us on your story and sharing such personal views. I was really moved. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼

As an American Native....I am amazed at how this is nearly identical to how were are treated right down to the stereotypes.

My Ex boyfriend is an Aboriginal we spent nearly 5 years together and he encountered all of these questions and participated in alot of programs. I love how loving, passionate and connected to the culture everyone in the aboriginal community is. I grew up australian but was shocked how little I was educated on it until I was more exposed to the culture. Nothing but respect!

Im a first generation white immigrant to Australia (been here since I was 5) and I really wish I could have been shown more things like this going through school. Thank you for doing this and I hope you do more like this going into the future. I hope we can move into a space of understanding and reconciliation.

Thanks for the upload I really learnt a lot.

Much love from kuwait.. that talk about feeling rooted to the land is something i feel very deeply here.. spent four years in Melbourne but would never think of leaving Kuwait for good.. and i got so much love for the aboriginal people.. when i first came across them calling each other cousins and brother opened my eyes to how we have similar way of life.. even if its half a way across the world.. its universal i think..

Very eye opening, I'm studying this for a speech I am writing in school and because I was never taught these things, I didn't know what the situation was. Love the vid!

Absolutely loved this video ♥️ It made me realise how much knowledge I’ve missed out on when it comes to indigenous culture and issues. Definitely need to educate myself.

I do wonder if the dark skinned aborigines are seen as less than? If you're fair skinned do you feel better than the dark skinned ones? And why are there hardly any dark skinned Aborigines on this video? I am just curious.

Great video! The participants answered so beautifully. It would be interesting to hear the perspectives of some Aboriginal people from central and northern communities when asked the same questions. I know some of my Kimberly mates have a different perspective on a few of these questions.

I think the most alarming statistic for me is the percentage of kids in foster care and percentage of prison population that indigenous. These are systemic issues which neither the state or federal governments are addressing. It almost feels like they sweeping this stuff under the rug. Keep fighting, keep thriving, keep proving them wrong.

Through my work I've had the honour of meeting some of the most hard-working, intelligent individuals who just happen to be Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander. This was very informative and interesting.

As an Asian person I totally understand the calling someone you respect "auntie" and "uncle". :)

Brilliant. Thank you all for sharing. Happy to hear more any time.

I feel so blessed to know and be surrounded by such a beautiful culture that is the aboriginal, original land peoples of Australia! My family came to Australia from Ireland 7 generations ago and I hope my generation and my children’s and onwards can grow and continue to gain knowledge of how precious and sacred your culture is! ❤️

"How well can you throw a boomerang?" I'd ask that question with any Australian, not gonna lie.

Loved this! I'm a British national but was born in Townsville, my dad often speaks very warmly about the indigenous community

Such an eye-opening interview. Loved it!

Thank you for sharing, this is so educating and inspiring to watch as a young person. Definitely going to be educating myself now!!

Love the coffee analogy. Great clip, thank you!

Aboriginal culture isn’t appreciated enough in Australia and I wish it was more included in schools

Thank you so much for this video. I am from South Africa and this was so informative.

Loved this video. Thank you so much ❤️

casual racism happens so much in alaska too. growing up, i was taught it was rude to ever question if someone was Native. in my experience growing up in alaska, it was a very inappropriate thing to do. however, nowadays people don’t see any problem with questioning someone’s ethnicity. one example that always comes to mind is when my nephew was a baby. he’s a blonde haired green eyed Aleut and Yupik child, born in the Alaska Native Medical Center, and i remember his mom crying afterward because she was confronted by other parents in the pediatrician’s waiting area for bringing a white toddler there. it’s awful that people feel entitled to question someone’s ethnicity or identity just because someone doesn’t fit their preconceived ideas of appearance, behavior, location, etc.

Have grown up along the east coast of Australia as a white female. My father was born in England and came here on a boat in 1970. My Mum was born in Australia but has an English background too. My parents always made sure we were respectful and well educated on Indigenous culture. My cousin married an Aboriginal man and the way his Mum and Aunties accepted not only my cousin and their children but also us (their extended family) was awesome. I might not know all the ins and outs of the culture but the parts they DO share with me I am grateful for and my life is enriched by. I believe as the younger generations its our job to bridge the gap and focus on our commonalities to strengthen our bonds and thats what I try to do moving forward.

Thank you for sharing your stories :)

Am so glad that the indigenous people are speaking on this. Very important.

Informative. Always good to listen to lived experience ❤

This was incredible to watch, thank you

This is an amazing video. Thank you for the new lessons I’ve learnt that were never taught in school. It really hurts me that aboriginal culture/traditions/language has been lost for these communities and families. From the first day I learnt about the dreaming in primary school I’ve always felt a connection and still I go back to my books and relearn the stories I learnt so long ago. My heart goes out to all indigenous people past and present 🖤💛❤️

As an American, who knows near-nothing about Australia’s history and the history of aboriginals, not to mention I’ve never heard of the Torres Strait Islanders, this was a very educational video and I appreciate it.

It is actually quite sad to see the similarities between Canada and Australia and how they treated their aboriginal people

I’ve been learning about A.T.S.I in my studies. This is a good in site! Thanks

Loved this video, excellent thank you

Thank you for this. Great video.

Bravo, c’est vraiment enrichissant. Merci 🙏

How do we get the balance between keeping curiosity & communication channels open...?

People are just assholes sometimes!! Much respect to the Aboriginals, just like Black people we come in many shades!!!

Thank you thank you thank you for this. So important.

Do aboriginals consider themselves to be black/of African ancestry? I’m so interested in knowing being that I’m a black Latina, I love learning about my African ancestry and part of this research journey is learning about all the places which African people migrated centuries and centuries ago. Aboriginal people are so beautiful. Also I noticed that they usually have straight hair and that is also interesting to me.

I genuinely don't understand how not sitting next to someone is "racist". As far as I know, a LOT of people living in the city appreciate having their space to themselves and NOT feeling crowded. Someone does not sit next to you? Well, enjoy not having your personal space violated. We all already live on top of each other in apartments and high-rise dwellings; it is a blessing to have some time/space for oneself. I'm a 100% Black Afro-European woman (Childhood in Central Africa, Teenage years in Western Europe) living in Australia and most of the dodgy/ambiguous behaviours I have experienced are from: 1. People who don't have the same social codes as I do and make genuine blunders (like wanting to touch my hair, for example). 2. People who fear out of ignorance and often quickly change their minds once they are at ease (like when they see I speak English and don't hold them responsible for all the evils in my world, for example) 3. People who are on their self-validating mission to "save minorities" from (a pandemia of) mental health issues born out of racism (like when they start the "peep talk" and won't allow me to look sad/tired that I missed my bus, for example). As much as I understand the importance of "understanding" other cultures, there will always come a point where the outsider reveals him/herself as an outsider by virtue of thinking/living differently. And this will always translate into misunderstandings. Therefore, I see mo point in wasting time overthinking these punctual mishaps.

I loved this video thank you!

Excellent video. My utmost respect to these people, all indigenous Australians, their culture and remarkable history.

This was very fascinating and informative. Thank you

Thank you for sharing this, so important and enlightening.

I went to Manning P.S. and I will never forget when Sally Morgan came and read her stories to us. I think it is important that Aboriginal history and culture is taught in schools as it is a huge part of who we are as a nation!

Thank you for this video. Great watch. I really liked the coffee analogy. That is important for people to get.

I’m really glad that this video was made because in school you learn about the history and not about how people feel today. This video has given insight to me about the problems aboriginals still face today and how to prevent offending their culture. A big thank you from me

i want to say, as a white Australian born and raised in this country that there is not nearly enough education on Aboriginal culture and struggles, both past and present. throughout primary school i was taught captain Cook was a hero, and it's only recently i've researched it deeper and i'm now learning the truth. i also want to apologise. after i learned the struggles that Aboriginal people went through i had no words. i'm sending love and support from south Australia

Thank you all for this video

Great video. I want more!

Thank you for making this. I have no connection to Australia so this was totally new information for me. Important perspectives to share with the whole world these days.

But...how do one decide if one is "aboriginal" or not, say, if you've just a couple of aboriginal forefathers, a great great great great great great uncle here, and a great great great great great great aunti there. Where do you draw a line, if there is any? If a dna test showed 0,002 % aboriginal origin? How about 0,2%? Or should one look at one's cultural upbringing instead? This stuff is interesting from social and biological perspectives. Many take dna tests these days, and it's interesting to see how people identify and label themselves, and we all know genetics is a vastly complicated issue!!!

Great video and I learnt a lot 👍

Really informative video, hands down. Admittedly, I found myself being confronted by my own biases throughout though. As an Australian with a keen interest in history, I've always been aware of and appalled by the treatment of Indigenous Australians. However, as the grandchild of immigrants arriving in the 1960s, I've never felt that I've deserved the shame that I've felt directed to me as a non-Indigenous Australian. And this is where I have to admit that I find myself getting defensive, just for the fact that I always feel accused despite me doing all I can (being educated regarding Australia's Indigenous history, not being prejudiced). I know it's not right, but it's something that I think needs to be considered when trying to bridge the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. For real reconciliation, we need to know the past, accept it (on both sides) and celebrate the culture together moving forward...

So educational thank you

thanks for leaving the comments on

Great video. As an Australian I think this video is so important. Well done

People absolutely ask what percent Irish, German, etc. people are. You shouldn't be ashamed of your ethnicity.

Kia ora my brothers and sisters . Sending my love to you from aotearoa New Zealand.

Thanks for sharing.

I got only 1(2) question: Do you remember your roots and do you still fight for your kinsmens rights?

We loved visiting family in Australia and went to a few places. I would've like to have visited museums and places where indigenous people give talks but timing was tricky. We did go to Mossman Gorge which was truly beautiful. OMG the negative comments do get said and that will give preconceptions. It needs to change immediately! Respect to Aborinal communities who lost so much but will gain immensely with pure culture. Greetings from sunny Manchester; England 😎

This has been such an eye opener!!! I love this so much!!

i’m an australian/american dual citizen who was raised in america most of my life- they don’t teach anything about aboriginal culture in america so this video was truly eye opening and informative. i’d love to learn more about your wonderful culture!

I am asked how Black I am pretty frequently. I am biracial and raised by both parents, I don't know if it's possible for me to only claim one side, that would feel like I hated half of myself. If my White blood came from violence and I was only raised by my Black relatives, that would be a completely different story. I would be Black then. As things stand, my parents were happily married until death and I absolutely refuse to discount half of my family. Milky coffee or coffee flavored milk? The fact that I'm part of the oppressed and part oppressor isn't lost on me, but it is the truth. I feel that peace between the two is within me . --- Natives considered fauna (animals) up until 30 -40 years ago is a myth. It is a misconception about the battle for equal rights and the 1967 Referendum. This occurred over 50 years ago, but did not newly classify Native people as human. wafflesatnoon.com/aborigines-classified-animals-flora-fauna-act/

I am white and when I was growing up 26 January was just a day off. It had little or no meaning. It is only recently that it became the nationalist statement that it is.

Sending love to Aboriginal Australians from an Aboriginal from Canada!

Beautiful video!

i really agreed with the dude who said about the coffee

As for throwing a boomerang. I used to use one as a kid when when we went looking for roo's and pigs. I even made one, but was better at setting traps, spears, and was alot better at shooting a gun.

Loved this! such an insightful video :') x

Watch the movies Rabit ence and the Dwellers ( 1986 staring Kristona Nhem) will give you a great sence of what they have endured .

This video is awesome. Thanks so much for taking the time to educate others! I’d love to learn so much more about our Indigenous countries in Aus but I don’t know where to start or whether as a non-Indigenous person I’m invited?

We get the same thing in New Zealand, people and often even other Maori will ask 'how maori are you?' just because my skin is so pale. It can be a really hurtful question, even if it's not intended to be. Especially when you're young it just makes you feel isolated from your culture and like your identity is being questioned. I hate it. The concept in general can definitely effect children's connection with their culture terribly.

I live in Southern California and my parents are from México. I don't know really anything about Australian history or aboriginal history of thats the right term to use but this made me interested in learning more about it. Great video. Keep fighting on.

To the lady whose answer to the why don't others know about Aboriginal stories and stuff was because we don't have to share them because they're our . Nobody is saying that you all have to share everything and it's well within your right to not do so but you not sharing is a part of the reason that when most people outside of your culture and country think of Aboriginals people that look like you are the face of it instead of the diversity shown here.

Thank you for sharing your experiences :) I was lucky enough to go to a primary school that didn't shy away from teaching us the realities of what Indigenous people have been through. They also had a strong link to a local Aboriginal elder who taught us a bit about his culture. I think it goes a long way to developing empathetic adults who want to do better. I was shocked to learn at uni, most of my friends had not had any of the education I had. They were only just learning about the extent of the stolen generation and the lasting impact on peoples lives in our course. Maybe (hopefully) if there was more education, people wouldn't be so quick to believe 'thats just in the past, get over it'. Trauma doesn't work like that.

Excellent video!

Loved this.