Book chapter
‘Playing the Game’: Aboriginal Exemption in Queensland and New South Wales
Black, White and Exempt: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lives under Exemption, pp.62-84
Aboriginal Studies Press
2021
Abstract
In 1957, Ella Simon of Purfleet mission near Taree, New South Wales, applied for and was granted a certificate of exemption.
Exemption gave her legal freedoms denied to other Indigenous Australians at that time: she could travel freely, open a bank account, and live and work where she wanted. In the eyes of the law she became a non-Aboriginal, but in return she could not associate -with other Aboriginal people – even her own family or
community.
It ‘stank in my nostrils’ -- Ella Simon 1978.
These personal and often painful histories uncovered in archives, family stories and lived experiences reveal new perspectives on exemption. Black, White and Exempt describes the resourcefulness of those who sought exemption to obtain freedom from hardship and oppressive regulation of their lives as Aboriginal Australians. It celebrates their resilience and explores how they negotiated exemption to protect their families and increase opportunities for them. The book also charts exemptees who struggled to advance Aboriginal rights, resist state control and abolish the exemption system. [Book Synopsis]
Details
- Title
- ‘Playing the Game’: Aboriginal Exemption in Queensland and New South Wales
- Authors
- Lucinda Aberdeen (Author) - La Trobe UniversityKella Robinson (Author)Judith Wickes (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Indigenous Services - Legacy
- Contributors
- Lucinda Aberdeen (Editor) - La Trobe UniversityJennifer Jones (Editor) - La Trobe University
- Publication details
- Black, White and Exempt: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lives under Exemption, pp.62-84
- Publisher
- Aboriginal Studies Press
- ISBN
- 9781925302349
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Indigenous Services - Legacy; School of Law and Society
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99569201902621
- Output Type
- Book chapter
Metrics
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