1. When these same terms are applied to a white Australian male, it carries a positive meaning.
2. Actually there were two men who came up to our group that night, both voicing similar opinions. The one I mentioned stayed for a lengthy period of time but never really did get the point, though I tried my damnest to understand him.
3. In fact, in Tony Rogers study with the Adnyamathanha culture "artifacts are perceived art works only when applying standards and terms that have been imposed by white persons or demanded by the tourist trade" (Rogers 1994:13). For example, there is a great difference in talking about art and creativity in English, rather than the Adnyamathanha language. When asked to speak about creativity and art in English, the informant would be quite confident, but in their own language, there was a difficulty. The only word that Aborigines could come up with to talk about creativity was wandu, which was applicable to anything good, such as the quality and appearance of the work. But the same expression would be used "for any task...it can be meaning for doing odd jobs, cleaning up" (17). There were no Aboriginal words that were tied to Western perceptions of art.
4. This is the myth of the savage Other, who is too 'primitive' to have a record of history.
5. Modern artists known for their impermanent pieces such as Cristo (who 'wraps'' things, such as the Great Wall of China and the German Parliament building, in canvas and rope) still preserve their art in photos for exhibit.
6. The rise of ethnic tourism provided the opportunity for the authentic experience of the Other. This also increased the demand for products of the Other. The souvenirs were not only mnemonic devices but signifiers of status in the Western world (Lee 1991:13).
7. Jones and Hill-Burnett astutely observe that "While the Aboriginals constitute a problem for the government, defined in terms of a set of economic, social and health issues, the government constitutes a problem for Aborigines, defined in terms of oppression, discrimination and exploitation" (1982:219).
8. Much of the Aboriginal lifestyle was inaccessible to whites, in part because many of the Aboriginal tribes lived in the interior of Australia where whites rarely ventured.
9. Yirrkala was started as a mission in 1935. The tribes included within the settlement lived there before white colonization. During the time Nancy Williams researched this case study (1969-1970), there were approximately eight-hundred Aboriginals that made up twenty different tribes.
10. Reverend Gorden Smith was head of the mission at this time and he encouraged the production of bark painting. He suggested changes in techniques and form that would fetch a higher price (274).
11. One buyer selected individuals who he thought painted well and only bought paintings from them (275). This showed the Western world's affinity for individual artists.
12 . In another sense, invented tradition can be used to bring cultures together. Benedict Anderson in his book Imagined Communities talks about how invented tradition was a way to form a sense of solidarity and spirit of oneness in the formation of nations.
13. Aborigines also use Western practices to protect their paintings, such as copyrights on paintings and Aboriginal art organizations. Jon Stratton uses the term detourment so that "rather than attempting to block or end Western colonialist practices, these very practices are being used against the colonizing system which instituted them" (1994:114).
14. The only individual 'heroes' emerging from Australian history is Ned Kelly, an outlaw, and Phar Lap, a race horse. Neither have enough significance to create a collective spirit.
15. More specifically, Ayers Rock, the spectacularly enormous red rock situated in the center of the Australian desert which is also considered one of the primary sacred sites of many Aboriginal tribes, has become a place of spirituality, renewal, pilgrimage and transcendence for Australians and overseas visitors alike. Though Ayers Rock has the impressive physical qualities of a shrine, it is its connection to Aboriginal sacred ceremonies, ancient beliefs and continuing spirituality plus the notion of visiting the authentic Australia (involving ideas of the adventurous frontier man and bush rangers) that make it a cultural, unifying center (Marcus 1991:255-270).