Tahlia Eastman
Understanding the Geo-Political Boundaries of Aboriginal Identity in Tasmania
Abstract
This research explores the geopolitical boundaries of Aboriginal identity in Tasmania to understand the impact of racial and cultural passing. Passing is an act of veiling—a historical phenomenon where people of colour masked deep familial histories—and created temporary realities without racial discrimination.
While many Aboriginal people intentionally concealed their heritage for survival, others unknowingly passed, later to discover their cultural histories and complex familial past. In times of overt political and social discrimination, passing became a real and viable option, contributing to a legacy of transgenerational trauma that permeates the psyche of many Aboriginal people. The fraught geopolitics of Aboriginal identity in Tasmania adds to the complexity of the question.
This research uses an ethnographic and auto-ethnographic approach and will expand on the relationship between colonisation, othering, Aboriginality and passing in the state of Tasmania. The correlation between transgenerational passing and direct forfeiture of Aboriginal identity will be further explored via contextual analysis of historical discriminatory policies, as well as interviews with individuals who identify as Tasmanian Aboriginal yet may experience cultural denial.
Data on passing in Australia is non-existent; therefore, initiating further research on the long-term consequences of passing can lead to opportunities for cultural regeneration in the absence of inherited cultural knowledge. These methods, along with a dive into the historic literary depictions of passing, will assist in clearly articulating priorities for further research on passing in Australia.
Supervisors
- Professor Marcia Langton AO Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor
- Professor Greg Lehman
- Dr Kristen Smith
- Professor Alison Yung
School
Centre for Youth Mental Health, Orygen, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health
About Tahlia
Tahlia Eastman is of pakana and European descent. She is a Research Fellow at the Indigenous Studies Unit, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne.
As a doctoral candidate with a scholarship from the Orygen Centre for Youth Mental Health, Tahlia explores transgenerational passing from an Indigenous perspective, researching in Tasmania. She has researched Indigenous family violence in two projects funded by the Australian National Research Office for Women’s Safety. In addition, she contributes to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Curricula Project and Community Data Project.
As a consultant, Tahlia was a contributing writer and researcher for Marcia Langton, Welcome to Country, A Travel Guide to Indigenous Australia (2nd ed), and has contributed to many other writing and editing projects. Tahlia previously worked as a Policy Research Adviser at the Lowitja Institute and contributed to key First Nations research and policy frameworks.
Research profiles
Articles
EASTMAN, T. (2023). Passing in plain sight: reclaiming narratives of hidden Aboriginality. AlterNative: An International Journal of Indigenous Peoples, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/11771801221147061