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4 Austl. Feminist L.J. 55 (1995)
Aboriginal Urban Identity: Preserving the Spirit, Protecting the Traditional in Non-Traditional Settings

handle is hein.journals/afemlj4 and id is 63 raw text is: ABORIGINAL URBAN IDENTITY: PRESERVING THE SPIRIT, PROTECTING THE TRADITIONAL IN NON-TRADITIONAL SETTINGS Larissa Behrendt* I am an urban aborigine but I am eualeyai. The eualeyai are a dispossessed people. Our traditional land is in the north-west of New South Wales. At the time of invasion there were over 500 language groups and there was much diversity within those aboriginal cultures. My remarks on traditional culture are based on generalisations and with a heavy accent on what I have been told of my own language group's customs, traditions and values. I will speak from my own perspective and experience as an urban aborigine. I do not presume to speak for all urban aborigines. Land is central to aboriginal existence. We believe that we come from the land, that we are born of the land and when we die, we return to the land. My father described it to me like this: You can no more sell the land than sell the sky. Our affinity with the land is like the bonding between a parent and a child. You have responsibilities and obligations to look after and care for a child. You can speak for a child. But you can't own a child. Land provides the basis of spiritual existence, but it also provides the basis for physical existence as it provides food, shelter, medicine and anything else that is necessary for life. Aboriginal people considered our role in relation to land was that of custodian and caretaker rather than owners. Our link with the land is spiritual not proprietary. We did not have strict territoral boundaries to divide up the land. As a living being land was indivisible. Our religion taught us that we were part of an organism that was the world. We learnt this through our totems. I was taught my place in the world through my totems. My family totem is echidna which we call biggi billa. This links me to the animal world. My ancestors were echidna. I have to protect echidna. I cannot eat echidna. This teaches me respect for the natural world. My clan totem is the long neck turtle. This links me with all other people who Larissa Behrendt is a Visiting Teaching Fellow of the University of NSW. She is also a solicitor for Horowitz and Bilinsky. She has recently returned from Harvard Law School where she graduated with her LLM. She has written on Aboriginal legal and social issues with a focus on issues specific to Aboriginal women, self determination and sovereignty. She may be contacted through Law School, University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW.

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