Indigenous Australians

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Indigenous Australians Sport Origins and
Achievements
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Lecture Format

• Will take a broad brush approach by looking at
  Indigenous contribution to sport in Australia.
• Examine some of the key barriers that prevented
  Indigenous people gaining equality in sport.
• Look at whats happening today at the local level
  to bring about better understanding and
  opportunities for Indigenous sportspeople.

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Background of Sporting Achievements

• It is true to say that Australia is a sports
  loving country in which Indigenous Australians
  have made a major contribution-running, boxing,
  tennis, cricket, AFL,NFL, soccer, basketball,
  hockey, horse racing.
• Considering Indigenous Australians are just over
  2 of the general population (22 Million) their
  contribution to sport Australian culture needs
  to be acknowledged-will examine this in the
  Murray Goulburn Region (Australian Bureau of
  Statistics, 2010).
• Important to note that despite the continuing
  gap between Indigenous and non Indigenous
  equality, Indigenous Australians have achieved
  sporting success disproportionate to their
  population.
• In 2010 an estimated 83 Indigenous players were
  playing footy in AFL about 16 of AFL-will come
  back to this.

4
Opportunities for the Future

• History shows that until the 1970s, Aborigines
  found it just as hard to gain equality in sport
  as they did in life generally.
• For those who did make it in sport however, a
  voice was found from which they could then push
  for the rights of their people in the broader
  society.
• And for that, sport must be acknowledged as
  having provided an opportunity for Aborigines to
  push for greater equality and the enjoyment of
  those fundamental rights that belong to all
  peoples.

5
Indigenous Struggle for Equality

• For those who have chosen sport as a pathway to
  recognition greater equality, it has also
  provided inspiration for fellow Indigenous
  Australians.
• Well show them were just as good- if not better
  approach.
• Role modeling, for younger generations.

6
Overview of Indigenous Sportspeople their
achievements across a broad range of sports on
the National International level.
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Aboriginal Cricket Team, 1868

• In 1868 very first Australian cricket team to
  visit England was Aboriginal. They played a match
  at North Shields, enthralling crowds with
  displays of boomerang throwing as well as
  cricket.

8
Eddie Gilbert

• Eddie Gilbert is widely acknowledged as the
  unluckiest Aboriginal sportsmen of that era. He
  received high praise from Sir Donald Bradman and
  could have gone on to play for Australia.
• Instead, his career was cut short when the
  Queensland Cricket Association told Gilbert his
  services were no longer required. Little doubt
  remains as to the motivations behind the
  associations decision.
• The stark reality is that many others suffered
  discrimination similar to Gilberts. True, the
  barriers were breaking down during the interwar
  years, but they were breaking slowly. In fact,
  during that period, Aborigines probably achieved
  no more in their push for equality in sport than
  they did in their push for equality in general
  Australian society.
• However, for those who did manage to break
  through the barriers and forge successful
  sporting, careers, sport did provide a launching
  pad for bigger and better things.

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Achievements in late 1800s

• Possibly the most remarkable achievement against
  the barriers to equality in sport was the
  selection of Frank Ivory to play rugby union for
  Queensland in 1893.
• Also noteworthy is the little known fact that the
  winner of the 1876 Melbourne Cup was a
  13-year-old Aboriginal jockey named Peter St
  Albans. Peter St Albans wagged school to ride the
  Melbourne Cup winner of 1876.
• year winner Jockey
  trainer
• BRISEIS Peter St Albans J Wilson
• Other famous Aboriginal Jockey- Darby McCarthy
  whose record includes three Stradbrokes, the
  Brisbane Cup and Doomben 10,000, and the 1969 AJC
  Derby and Epsom Stakes on the same day.
• McCarthy was dynamic and for his group 1 double
  at Randwick he jousted with George Moore.
• http//www.melbournecup.com.au/previous.php

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Sporting achievements at the local level
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Lynch Cooper, 1927Sport and Empowerment

• Historian Colin Tatz points out, Lynch Coopers
  victories brought him money (from gambling on
  himself) that helped him and his family to
  survive the depression years with relative
  dignity.

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Example of Local Talent in Running

• Eddy Briggs- Professional, Stawell Gift Finalist
• Donny Briggs-Professional Runner
• George Nelson-Professional Runner, Trainer of
  Stawell Gift winner, Noel Hussey, 1968
• Paul Briggs- Stawell Gift finalist
• Stan Charles- Stawell Gift finalist
• Geoff Cooper, professional running
• Jimmy Murray, professional runner
• Bobby McDonald created crouch start in running
• Leo Muir, Runner up in Wangaratta Gift
• Sir Doug Nichols won Warracknabeal Gift

13
Multi Talented Sportspeople

• Many local sportsmen were multi skilled combining
  running, football and boxing- Doug Nichols, Jimmy
  Murray, and many more ran, played footy, and
  fought in boxing tents-Jimmy Sharman's travelling
  boxing tent of 1950s.

14
Evonne Goolagong

• Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, who beat fellow
  Australian Margaret Court to win Wimbledon in
  1971, has made a name for herself as an
  Aboriginal activist.
• The attitude of paternalism that the media
  displayed towards her in her younger days
  probably provided much of the motivation for her
  entry into the world of activism.
• Although times had changed enough to ensure that
  she never suffered deliberate racial exclusion
  like Eddie Gilbert did half a century earlier,
  Goolagong-Cawley was still forced to deal with
  the media constantly highlighting her
  differences. Words used to describe her included
  picaninny, dusky and tawny.

15
Lionel Rose Reception 1968

• 250,000 strong crowd turned up in Melbourne in
  1968 to celebrate the achievements of Aboriginal
  boxer Lionel Rose, who had just become world
  bantamweight boxing champion-who did he beat and
  where?
• Roses reception was the perfect example of the
  changing times. While Aboriginal sportspeople who
  succeeded at sport were just as equally lauded by
  the press and adored by the people as their non-
  Indigenous counterparts, racism coupled by
  ignorance remained just below the surface.

Jacksons Track
Lionel Kosta, 1998
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Cathy Freeman, 2000

• Challenged misconceptions of Indigenous
  Australia by using flag as a symbol of
  Indigenous Australian nationhood and identity.
• Inspired other Indigenous sportspeople younger
  generation to set their sights high in sporting
  achievements

Olympic Games, Sydney 2000
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FOOTBALL AS A PATH TO EQUALITY ACCEPTANCE

• SOME EXAMPLES

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Joe Johnson 1904-1906

• Regarded as one if not the first Indigenous
  footballer to play in the Victorian Football
  League, VFL (Joe Johnson played 55 games and won
  two premierships with Fitzroy from 1904 to 1906)
• He then went to Northcote to coach a young lad
  named Doug Nichols.

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Marn-Grookn. Gunditjmara. Eng. "Game
Ballhttp//www.aboriginalfootball.com.au/marngro
ok.html

• It is believed this very game, played for
  millennia, provided the lawmakers of Australian
  football with some of the fundamentals of the
  game we know and play today.
• It was a mass game of keepings off with a round
  ball about the size of an orange, which was a
  possum skin stuffed with charcoal and bound by
  kangaroo tail sinews (Poulter, Sharing Heritage
  in Kulin Country, 2011 37),

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Origins of Australian Rules Footy

• Origins of Australian Rules are claimed to be
  Marngrook with influence of Gaelic football first
  played by the Irish in Australia in 1843 which
  coincided with St Patricks Day.
• However, some aspects of Australian football,
  such as high marking, were undoubtedly influenced
  by the Aboriginal game-will discuss other
  attributes that Indigenous people have brought to
  the game shortly.

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RISE OF INDIGENOUS FOOTBALLERS in 21 Century
Australia

• In 1982 to when the Krakouer brothers arrived at
  North Melbourne there were 5 Indigenous players
  in what was then the VFL (Age, June 18, 2005).
• In (2005), there are 51 Indigenous footballers in
  the AFL making up 8 of the competition.
• In 2007 there are now 71 and increase of 20
  Indigenous players in the space of years? What
  does that represent (Koori Mail, 18 March, 2005).

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Cummeragunja 1888-2007

• Given the size of its population (500 at its
  peak) its contribution to sport and particularly
  football has been outstanding.

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Sir Doug Nicholls 1932-37

• Nicholls initially joined Carlton, but faced by
  constant racist taunts from his own team mates he
  moved to Fitzroy, where he played from 1932-37.
  (story)
• What makes Nicholls story so special is that he
  went on to become an activist with the Aboriginal
  Advancement League and was later knighted - a
  rarity for an Indigenous Australian.
• In 1976, Nicholls became the Governor of South
  Australia, an incredible achievement given that
  Aborigines were only granted voting rights in
  l962 and only won the right to be included in
  the census in 1967.

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Sir Doug Nicholls on Assimilation

• 'Let us enter your society on our terms, living
  side by side with you but remaining at all times
  a cultural group with our own identity' (speech
  by Sir Doug Nicholls 1969, in Peterson and
  Langton, 1983253).

Winner of Warracknabeal Gift, 1929
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Eddy Jackson Norm McDonald, 1947-1952

• Two of the first Indigenous Australians to
  succeed at Australian football's highest level
  between 1947 and 1952. 
• Both continued to play country football for many
  years after their retirement from the 'big time'.
• Jackson Coached Thornton
• (story)
• McDonald played with Golden Square in Bendigo
  League.

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Indigenous equality recognition through sport
Pathways to the Future
Back Row Ian Charles, Frank Abrahams, Paul
Briggs, Terry Hood (d.), Jim Berg, Joe Swindle,
Ian Charles Robert Muir, Geoff Clark, Robert
Lowe, Gary Murray. Middle Dowie Bux, Billy Muir
(d.), Wayne Briggs, Alick Jackomas (d.)Team
Manager, Alec Smith, Des James, Gary Nelson.
Sitting Lionel McGee, John Murray Bert Williams
(d.).

• Presented to Academy of Sport Health Education
  Program, University of Melbourne, 20 January 2011
• Dr Wayne Atkinson-Senior Lecturer
• School of Social Political Science
• University of Melbourne

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Key Events that bought about equality in
Indigenous participation in SportGreater
Awareness of Racism on and off the Field
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April 17, 1993, Victoria Park, Melbourne. Nicky
Winmar has just completed a best-on-ground
performance to help St. Kilda to a memorable
victory over Collingwood in round four of the
Australian Football League (AFL) season.

• Racial Vilification

Winmar's courageous act led to a push by former
Essendon player Michael Long to create a racial
vilification policy adopted by the AFL (Age, 10
March, 2005).
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Winmar Incident (cont)

• If Winmar was the player that brought the issue
  of racism to the media, an incident involving
  Michael Long was almost certainly the instigator
  for the creation of the AFLs anti-racism
  program. In 1995, the Essendon champion
  complained of suffering racist abuse from
  Collingwood ruckman Damian Monkhorst.
• AFLorganised mediation between the two players
  failed to resolve the issue, and left with no
  choice, the AFL moved quickly to introduce its
  Code of Conduct.
• Under the new rules, players could be fined or
  suspended for on-field racist language. It is
  also significant that the Code of Conduct was
  introduced in the same year as the Federal
  Governments Racial Hatred Act 1995.
• The efforts of Winmar and Long should not be
  underestimated. As sportspeople, they brought
  racism to the fore of public debate, and helped
  to pave the way for legislation that would have
  been unthinkable only a decade earlier.

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Cultural Continuity through Sport, Health
Education
Cummera Footy Team,1927
Rumbalara Football Netball Club, Shepparton
Academy of Sport Health Education, Shepparton,
2005 (University of Melbourne)
Oncountry Learning Indigenous Studies visit to
RFNC Uni of Melb,2005.
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Cummeragunja Football Team Premiers, c.1927.
Henry Charles, Rupert Cooper, Gordon Aultern,
George Burns, Bill Atkinson, Gingo Morgan, Micky
McDonald, Selwyn Briggs, Frank Atkinson, Jacky
Cooper, Tim Ross,Mick Morgan, Aaron Briggs,
Henry Charles, Maurice Charles. Front Bob
Nelson, Tom Dunolly Snr, Dowie Nicholls, Tom
Dunolly Jnr.
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Statistics on Indigenous Players in AFL, 2010

• 19825
• 200551
• 200771
• 201083
• 1982-2005 90 increase in 23 years
• 2005-2010 50 increase in last 2 years.
• 2 of Aust Pop but over 15 of AFL, 2010

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Indigenous AFL Umpires
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Sport and Indigenous Recognition Conclusions

• It is true that sport has given Aborigines more
  recognition and collective pride, than any other
  single activity both from within their own
  community and from the broader Australian
  community.
• Indigenous Australians still have a long struggle
  ahead of them if they are to achieve equality.
  They are still in a disadvantaged position. Even
  in sport, where so much progress has been made,
  there is much that still needs to be done (Colin
  Tatz, Aborigines and Sport, 1987).

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Opportunities through Sport Health Education is
pathway to Future
Pride Integrity Respect Shared
Identity Solidarity

• Grab the ball use it to your teams advantage

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Rumbalara Football Netball Club A Holistic
Approach to the Future
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A Holistic Worldview of Sport, Health, Education
Community
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Questions for Discussion

• Why do Indigenous Australians perform so well in
  sport?
• Why are they so good at footy?
• Is Indigenous achievement in sport innate or a
  learned, cultural trait or is it driven by social
  and economic factors?