Abstract
The Welcome to Country (WTC) ceremony and its twin, the Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners, have become prominent anti-racist rituals in the post-settler society of Australia. These rituals are rich in meaning. They are simultaneously emblems of colonisation and dispossession; of recognition and reconciliation; and a periodic focus of political posturing. This article analyses the multiple meanings of WTC ceremonies. In particular, I explore the politics of belonging elicited by WTC and Acknowledgement rituals. Drawing on ethnography of non-Indigenous people who work in Indigenous affairs, I argue that widespread enjoyment of these rituals among White anti-racists is explained because they paradoxically experience belonging through a sense of not belonging.
Highlights
On 12 February 2008 in the Australian Parliament, incoming Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered a historic apology to thousands of Aboriginal children removed from their families through much of the twentieth century—collectively known as the Stolen Generations
The twin ritual of a WTC is an Acknowledgement. This is where a non-‐ indigenous person acknowledges that the site where the audience is meeting is regarded as ancestral country for a particular Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander nation and acknowledges the elders of those Traditional Owners.[5]
Other comments on Pearson’s article discussed the importance of the ritual for reconciliation: ‘I believe we can never have a better future for all Australians unless we acknowledge our past and at least show our indigenous fellow citizens some empathy, compassion and respect’. These themes point to the function of WTC and Acknowledgement rituals as an attempt at national healing in the same vein as former prime minister Kevin Rudd’s apology to Australia’s Indigenous peoples in relation to the Stolen Generations.[51]
Summary
On 12 February 2008 in the Australian Parliament, incoming Prime Minister Kevin Rudd delivered a historic apology to thousands of Aboriginal children removed from their families through much of the twentieth century—collectively known as the Stolen Generations. I suspect Ahmed would consider statements acknowledging the Traditional Owners, the work of organising WTC ceremonies and the other acts of White anti-‐racism I discuss in this article as examples of non-‐performative anti-‐racism.
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