Please Ms Sales, Interview Bruce Pascoe to Clear Up the Uncertainties
An open letter to Leigh Sales, The 7:30 Report, ABC
By email : ABC730tips@protonmail.com.
Dear Ms Sales,
The 7:30 Report has had a long, successful history in exposing injustices perpetrated on the Aboriginal Community in Australia.
For example, in 1998 the Anmatyerre Aboriginal artist, Letty Scott Nupanunga worked tirelessly to expose the frauds undertaken by the non-Aboriginal artist, Sakshi Anmatyerre, who claimed that he was of lndigenous heritage and had the authority to paint particular Aboriginal designs, totems and motifs (Ref. 1).
Your 7:30 reporter, Geoff Thompson, investigated this story professionally and finally exposed Sakshi as being a fraud, proving in fact that he was of Indian heritage. Geoff Thompson subsequently won a Walkley Award for excellence in journalism for the story in 1998 (Ref. 2, Page 325).
Serious concerns by many Australians, including Indigenous Australians, have been expressed recently regarding the ancestry claims by award-winning, Aboriginal writer, Bruce Pascoe, who describes himself, on one of our ABC websites, as, “a Yuin, Bunurong and Tasmanian man… and an Aboriginal-language researcher.”
However, authorised representatives for these three Aboriginal groups appear to have rejected his ancestry claims (see below).
Also, most worryingly, is that Pascoe’s publisher, Magabala Books, have previously been exposed for promoting one of their other authors as being ‘Indigenous’, when in fact they were not. Magabala published a book in 1994, My Own Sweet Time, which was, “claimed to be the 'autobiography' of Pitjantjara woman and stolen child, ‘Wanda Koolmatrie', but actually was written by a non-Indigenous male, Leon Carmen” (Ref. 2, page 321, footnote 2).
A publicly available, alleged family tree for Bruce Pascoe finds no apparent Aboriginal ancestors and the concern is that Magabala Books may once again be promoting a non-Indigenous writer as an ‘Aboriginal man’ (Ref. 3).
As a group of concerned Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian taxpayers, we urge The 7:30 Report to interview Bruce Pascoe so he can clear up the allegations surrounding his ancestry and his eligibility to accept Indigenous-writer funding. We also think that the ABC is obliged to clear-up this uncertainty given that the ABC has commissioned Bruce Pascoe as an ‘Aboriginal’ man to present a number of productions for ABC TV. - here and here.
We owe it to the memory of the late Letty Nupanunga to show that her fight for justice was not in vain and that disadvantaged young Aboriginal writers can draw on her strength and vision :
“I want to paint my way out of hell – dispossession and poverty, as an Aboriginal Artist, to hold my head up with dignity and pay my way in society.” – Letty Scott Nupanunga
It would be a sad indictment indeed if ineligible writers were hijacking funds that should be going to worthy, genuine Indigenous Australian writers.
- Editor, Dark Emu Exposed
References :
1. Letty Scott Nupanunga biography webpage : here
2. Goldsmith, Ben (2000) A positive unsettlement: the story of Sakshi Anmatyerre. Griffith Law Review, 9(2), 321-333 - here
3. Bruce Pascoe’s Alleged Ancestry : here , here and Declaration : here
4. Aboriginal Group Comments : here
A. Michael Mansell, head of the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania states :
“His [Pascoe’s] claim to being Aboriginal is fake. He has no Aboriginal heritage and his claim is absurd... For the cost of a simple phone call we could have told ABC and others he is not Aboriginal.
I told many people - including journalists - he was fake. His claim to be Tasmanian is that his parents married here and an Aboriginal was at the wedding, therefore... Only recently has he shifted from childish power of suggestion (Aboriginal at wedding means...) to openly claiming it.”
B. Pascoe's Boonwurrung link is denied by lawyer Jason Briggs, Chairman of the Boonwurrung Land & Sea Council:
“To the best of our knowledge and research, we do not accept Mr Bruce Pascoe as possessing any Boonwurrung ancestry whatsoever.
We have a sophisticated (and utilised in a recent Federal Court of Australia matter) ancestral database of all peoples/families who can rightfully claim to be of Boonwurrung (aka Bunurong) descent.
The BLSC has never accepted or recognised Mr Pascoe's claims to be of the Boonwurrung community. We are also unaware of any contribution Mr Pascoe has ever made towards our community.
There is no compelling evidence whatsoever to support his claims of holding such an identity and we refute his claims of any ancestral link to Boonwurrung (aka Bunurong) people.
The BLSC is an organisation of integrity that holds in high regard the protection and preservation of our cultural heritage sites of significance, knowledge and all artifacts. We support evidenced-based historiography and do not support the fabrication of historical primary source documents.
Identifying (and profiting) from fraudulent claims to our ancestral and cultural heritage has been an ongoing problem for many years.
The thing is, people who falsely claim our identity have simply gotten away with it.
There have been many instances of people using and profiting from our ancestral name and our cultural heritage – in effect, exploiting our heritage for personal profit”.
3. Pascoe's claim to being Yuin is denied by Josephine Cashman, an inaugural member of the Prime Minister's indigenous advisory council:
“Bruce Pascoe is not Aboriginal. My son is Yuin and his father doesn't know who is. Our communities find this offensive. Shame!”
