The continuing contest over the definition of Aboriginal identity
A number of participants, whether they agreed or disagreed with the requirement of a Confirmation of Aboriginality, talked about the Confirmation process as an instrument of the Australian state. What was interesting, however, was not what participants said but what was 'not' said about this. Across the handful of participants who spoke directly to this relationship with the Australian government, it is possible to discern their understandings of the Confirmation process: as a government mechanism that continued administrative control and regulation of Aboriginal people; as a government requirement that had little to do with how Aboriginal people understand and/or confirm who is or who is not Aboriginal; and as a government mechanism that was about the distribution of scarce resources.