The truths behind a cruel racist campaign
09 March 2025
KEITH JACKSON
| With great assistance from AI Claude
NOOSA - There is a document circulating on social media and by email that purports to be from the controversial Indigenous Australian political figure Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, who is Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians and, most recently, also Shadow Minister for Government Efficiency (terminology with thanks to Elon Musk).
The document contains a number of assertions claiming that a number of well-known Aboriginal cultural practices are modern inventions and not of traditional origin. In this article, with AI Claude's help, we contest the truthfulness of each claim.
We find that Senator Price's assertions are largely inventions themselves and part of what seems to be a racist campaign emanating from the Liberal-National Coalition apparently to delegitimise public practices adopted to recognise and perpetuate the precious heritage of Australia’s Indigenous peoples.
In this piece I set out Senator Price’s claims followed by a fact check using AI Claude [see Footnote 2]. But first, some relevant thoughts.
All living cultures evolve over time and it should be understood and accepted that traditional practices can adapt to new contexts while maintaining their cultural significance and authenticity. The continuity between ancient traditions and their contemporary expression is important to recognise.
When we accept that all cultures naturally evolve while maintaining their core essence, we can better appreciate both their historical depth and their living character. This understanding helps counter narratives, such as those endorsed by Ms Price, that try to delegitimise cultural expressions by focusing on changes in their form rather than the continuity of their meaning and purpose.
The Truth [sic] Behind Modern Aboriginal Ceremonies
By Senator Jacinta Yangapi Nampijinpa Price
Many people assume that certain Aboriginal cultural practices, such as dot painting and Welcome to Country ceremonies, have been passed down for thousands of years.
However, historical evidence suggests that these traditions were actually developed in recent decades.
The Importance of Truth Over Myth
By Keith Jackson AM with assistance from Claude, an AI-powered research tool developed by the Anthropic company
Understanding history honestly is essential. While cultural traditions evolve over time, it is misleading to claim that recent inventions are ancient practices.
Rather than accepting myths at face value, we should question narratives that are presented as historical fact.
PRICE ASSERTION
Dot Painting was invented in 1971 by Geoffrey Bardon, a white schoolteacher, who introduced the technique to Aboriginal artists in Papunya. Traditional Aboriginal art existed long before this, but there are no ancient dot paintings found in caves or on rock walls. The distinctive modern style emerged as part of a contemporary art movement.
JACKSON/CLAUDE FACT CHECK
Dot Painting (1971)
This assertion is partially accurate but misleading. While Geoffrey Bardon did work with Aboriginal artists at Papunya in 1971 and encouraged them to transfer their traditional designs to more permanent media like canvas and boards, he didn't ‘invent’ dot painting.
The technique of using dots has roots in traditional Indigenous cultural practices including body painting, sand drawings and ceremonial designs. What emerged at Papunya was a contemporary adaptation of traditional visual storytelling techniques using new materials.
While it's true that the specific style of acrylic dot paintings that gained international recognition is a modern development, the fundamental visual language draws on ancient traditions.
PRICE ASSERTION
The Welcome to Country ceremony was created in 1976 by Ernie Dingo and Richard Walley. It was originally performed to welcome visiting Māori performers as a reciprocal gesture of hospitality. Unlike the Māori haka, which has deep historical and linguistic roots, there is no traditional Aboriginal word for Welcome to Country. This raises the question: How can it be an “ancient ceremony” if no term for it existed in traditional Aboriginal languages?
JACKSON/CLAUDE FACT CHECK
Welcome to Country (1976)
This claim contains inaccuracies. While Ernie Dingo and Richard Walley did perform a significant Welcome to Country ceremony in 1976. that helped popularise the practice in contemporary settings, they didn't ‘create’ it.
Traditional protocols for acknowledging territory and welcoming visitors existed in various forms across different Australian Indigenous nations over thousands of years. Many Indigenous languages have terms for welcoming outsiders entering others' lands. The comparison to haka is inappropriate as they serve different cultural functions.
PRICE ASSERTION
The Acknowledgement of Country was introduced even later, in the 1990s. It is not an ancient ritual but rather a modern protocol developed for official and corporate settings.
JACKSON/CLAUDE FACT CHECK
Acknowledgement of Country (1990s)
This statement is somewhat accurate. The formalised Acknowledgement of Country as we know it today became more widespread in institutional settings during the 1990s. However, it developed as a contemporary extension of traditional protocols around respecting connections to the land.
PRICE ASSERTION
The Smoking Ceremony, often presented as an ancient practice, is another modern invention, also linked to Ernie Dingo around 1976. While smoke was used in some Indigenous customs for cleansing or healing, the formalized smoking ceremonies seen today were not widely practiced before the late 20th century.
JACKSON/CLAUDE FACT CHECK
Smoking Ceremony (1976)
Ms Price’s claim is false. The use of smoke in ceremonial and practical contexts has a long history in many Australian Indigenous cultures and they predate European contact by thousands of years.
Smoking practices were used for various purposes including cleansing, healing, spiritual protection and to ward off bad spirits. What has changed in recent decades is how these ceremonies are presented in public and non-Indigenous contexts, not the fundamental practice itself.
PRICE ASSERTION
There is no photographic, film or video evidence of any of these ceremonies being performed at major events—such as Royal Tours, AFL/NRL Grand Finals, 1956 Melbourne Olympics or Anzac Day services—before the 1970s and 1990s. If these traditions were truly ancient and widespread, they would have been documented in historical footage.
JACKSON/CLAUDE FACT CHECK
This assertion incorrectly frames modern public visibility as evidence against authenticity, when it actually represents the increasing recognition and inclusion of Indigenous cultural practices in Australian public life following decades of suppression or simple neglect (see also Footnote).
In summary, Ms Price’s assertions contain a mixture of partial truths and significant misrepresentations. They follow a pattern of attempting to delegitimise Aboriginal cultural practices by framing them as ‘modern inventions’ rather than recognising how traditional practices have evolved and adapted to contemporary contexts, as occurs in all living cultures.
FOOTNOTE 1
Claude states that the 'no evidence' assertion is problematic and misleading for these specific reasons:
- Absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence: The lack of documentation at major public events before the 1970s doesn't prove these ceremonies didn't exist in other contexts. Many Indigenous cultural practices were deliberately conducted away from colonial observation.
- Historical context is missing: Prior to the 1970s, Australian government policies actively suppressed Aboriginal cultural practices through assimilation policies, the Stolen Generations, and various restrictions. Many ceremonies were forced underground or could only be practiced in remote communities away from documentation.
- Colonial documentation bias: The events listed (Royal Tours, sporting events, Olympics, ANZAC Day) were predominantly white Australian institutions that excluded Indigenous participation until relatively recently. Their absence from these venues reflects historical exclusion, not the non-existence of the practices.
- Media access and priorities: Photography and film equipment was less accessible, and mainstream media had little interest in documenting Indigenous cultural practices during this period. When Indigenous people were filmed, it was often through an anthropological or exoticized lens rather than as participants in major events.
- Recent public performance vs. private practice: The modern public performance of these ceremonies represents their adaptation to contemporary contexts, not their origin. Many cultural practices existed privately within communities long before they were shared in public settings.
FOOTNOTE 2
Claude is a next generation AI assistant built by the San Francisco-based Anthropic company (CEO Dario Amodei) and trained to be safe, accurate and secure. Claude uses natural language processing to understand and respond to user input. The first model of Claude was released in March 2023.
The Claude 3 family released in March 2024 consists of three models: Haiku (used by Keith) is optimised for speed and is available free online; Sonnet balances capability and performance; and Opus is designed for complex reasoning tasks.
Anthropic's design and build team is experienced in ML (Meanings & Usage), physics, policy and product. Google has invested in Anthropic, including a $1 billion investment in January 2025.
Ross has pointed out what I think might be a significant element in Jacinta Price's campaign. I suspect she is zeroing in on these types of public ceremonies because there is money involved.
Just as Native Title pitched clans and families that once lived happily together into dispute because they saw a financial reward in the offering in controlling indigenous land rights in particular areas so too is access to conducting these public ceremonies for the remuneration offered.
This desire for the fees on offer has probably infused such ceremonies with characteristics which are not consistent with their original purposes.
That aside, I can't see what real harm they do. They enhance the profile of local indigenous groups and spread a few dollars around. It is very mean-spirited to run a campaign against what are largely disadvantaged groups in the community.
In our dog eat dog world there are heaps of practises that are far more harmful.
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Politicians who blatantly mislead (following Trumpian malpractice) are particularly odious. BTW, in my indignation I neglected to thank Ross for the heads-up - KJ
Posted by: Philip Fitzpatrick | 25 March 2025 at 09:49 AM
After a brief period of quiet, this issue has hit the headlines again with more first nations' people questioning the legitimacy of this ceremony.
This includes a brief history of the public emergence of this in recent years and the scope of ceremonies including this acknowledgement.
What has not been discussed in this recent dialogue are some issues that have been raised by first nations' people.
These include whether or not the right groups are performing the ceremony at different locations and the appropriateness of the person leading the ceremony.
Also what has not been discussed is the cost to the organisers of the major events to have first nations' performers attend and enact the ceremonies at events such as the AFL and NRL finals games.
Is there a sense of jealousy about the receipt of these significant sums and whether the right person or group is receiving this money?
Are these questions skewing the debate?
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Ross, there may indeed be issues here that need addressing. But the campaign led by Price and involving other senior people on the political right was:
- conceived in bad faith,
- designed to humiliate the people involved in them (especially Indigenous people),
- intended to damage the credibility of the ceremonies themselves, and
- delivered replete with lies, misrepresentations and exaggeration
So, when caught out in what was a morally repugnant and dismally managed stunt, the perpetrators don't apologise or even clarify. Instead they spruik a pile of excuses and call it issues. If the issues you raise are genuinely felt, which I doubt, Price et al could at least come up with some evidence. Questions intended to proliferate even further lies just don't pass the sniff test- KJ
Posted by: Ross Wilkinson | 24 March 2025 at 07:57 PM
Appraisal (or reprisal) might precede application of 'welcome'.
Of civility and language in PNG, evolution is fundamental, as has been long in Europe.
In spoken English, the word ‘welcome’ might be noun, verb, adjective, or exclamation.
As an action it is “to greet hospitably and with courtesy or cordiality”.
See: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/welcome
(As evolved from Proto-Germanic) the Old English word was wilcuma, meaning ‘a wished-for guest’.
Similar words are in Dutch and Swedish, as if noting a much necessary procedure in civility, including processes of introduction and that minimise harm to visitors.
See: https://www.google.com/search?q=welcome
About processes of the newer nation of PNG,
“When Sir William McGregor first ascended the River Mambare, he was greeted with cries of "orokaiva!" He called it the "password" and suggested it meant "man of peace." "At all events," he wrote, "it puts one on a friendly footing." Ever since that time (and no doubt long before) the people have been in the habit of crying "orokaiva!" (or more often simply "oro, oro!") when strangers native or European, enter their villages. Some tribes have other calls such as "tepo!" and "javau!"; but "orokaiva!" is very general, from the north end to the south end, and so it came to be given as a nick-name to all the people of the Division.
According to F. E. Williams [1926] , it was never made clear what the word meant in itself.
Williams suggested there was a pre-European habit (only shortly previous) a queer
habit of burning its dried leaves and inhaling the smoke. As to which came first, "orokaiva" the tobacco or "orokaiva" the "password," it doesn't matter. They both, so to speak, hold good.
[Take care.] “It was never made clear what the word meant in itself. [In 1894], Sir William McGregor was certainly not right in saying it meant "man of peace," though it may amount to much the same thing, as "it puts one on a friendly footing."]
See: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/250536361
Works by Dr John Dademo Waiko are available at a number of locations, and each bring a strength of certainty and reliability such as in the following.
“In Binandere a tugata is the introduction of a speech while the person stands in his arapa. 1 In his tugata a speaker establishes himself, his identity, and his social position in the clan, and gives a brief outline of his subject. He would be embarrassed if someone introduced him: in the village a man speaks for himself, staying put on his arapa and, having attracted attention by rattling his spatula against his lime gourd and clearing his throat, he says: "I am a grandson of so and so, my father is x of the y clan and I live at z village. No one but me is about to talk." In this way the speaker introduces himself through his grandparents, from whom his knowledge is derived, and through his parents and relatives who are his mentors. 2 The tugata is important in two ways. The audience must know from the beginning the identity of the speaker and the sources of his information because without that they will turn their backs on him, a certain sign that they think he knows little about his topic. He has failed to establish his authority over his subject and his right to a hearing. My tugata, for the purpose of this paper, is twofold. It includes first, my village roots and my Binandere identity. And then, because my lifetime and my work span both village and nation - including my long-established Binandere identity as well as a newly emerging Papua New Guinea identity - my tugata as a western-trained, national academic figure also is presented.”
See: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290954031_Tugata_Culture_identity_and_commitment
Establishing an understanding (even making a ‘deal’ as is said in 2025) is a matter of participation, and then forging ways and words that are welcomed and valued.
In 2019, friend (non academic) Terry Mune near Waseta in Central Kaiva asked for copy of Williams F. E, “Orokaiva Society” so to be better acquainted with that presentation earlier knowledge. Terry also had ongoing contact with academic Janice Newton who had researched at Koropata in 1979.
See: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Orokaiva-production-and-change-Newton/e11fbabb96c9375ad69bd436d8984928394853b9
Posted by: Lindsay F Bond | 17 March 2025 at 06:16 PM
Surely the time has come to stop arguing about the past and look to the future as Jacinta Nampijinpa Price wants to do. Read her book “Matters of the Heart” (HarperCollins) (this comment written without the aid of Claude)
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Perhaps that's why you completely miss the point of Price's deceit - KJ
Posted by: Dr John Christie | 16 March 2025 at 02:31 PM
One of the few redeeming attributes of AI is that, after paying for parking with a debit card, the machine does not advise you to stay safe or say cool, awesome, excellent, perfect, all good and have a good one mate.
If these words and phrases were removed from the vocabulary of any retail assistant or breakfast television presenter, there would be a pleasant silence.
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'Have a good one mate' (there, fixed it!) - KJ
Posted by: Bernard Corden | 15 March 2025 at 03:50 PM
Whether in USA or Austrai-lia, what price a Senate, if review was its intended purpose?
Posted by: Lindsay F Bond | 12 March 2025 at 01:43 PM
Readers in PNG may find a more local conversational point in late John Waiko thesis in 1970/1980s.
The Binandere had maintained knowledge by oral process and participation among all its able population in each grouping.
A level of exactness was evident from that thesis.
(No quote available from me today, as a vagrant cyclone this past week, nterrupted electricity supply at our SE Queensland island.)
Posted by: Lindsay F Bond | 12 March 2025 at 10:02 AM
I am pleased to see Keith and Phil debunking Senator Price's claims, the political intent of which is clearly to delegitimise some of the practices introduced in the last 50 years or so to explicitly recognise the culture and traditions of Aboriginal people.
Sadly, I expect that their efforts will be largely in vain because Senator Price's observations will be accepted by the ignorant and credulous whilst being totally ignored by the majority of people, who are uninterested in such matters.
What is happening in the USA at the moment is evidence of what happens when, amongst other things, a democracy begins to die from a combination of neglecting to repair and modernise critical institutions and practices, together with the alienation of too many citizens from the political process. This provides space for people like Donald Trump to seize control of government based upon their capacity to deceive 'some of the people, some of the time'.
While I would not put Senator Price in the same category as Donald Trump, she is nevertheless taking advantage of the modern tendency for politicians to spread both misinformation and disinformation on the basis that credulous or ignorant people will believe it and vote accordingly. The available evidence suggests that this is a viable strategy even in an age when access to accurate information is readily accessible.
Right now in Australia (as in much of the developed world), we are seeing a backlash against 'woke' thinking in its various forms, including how we can or should recognise and understand our past in relation to Aboriginal people. The Liberal and National Parties are seeking to leverage the unease or anger felt by some people about woke thinking, especially the more confronting claims and demands made by some of its proponents, to influence voting behaviour. In the USA, this approach has apparently worked sufficiently well to allow the racist, reactionary and anarchical elements of the Republican Party to seize effective control of the government.
Anyway, I commend Keith and Phil for trying to put the objective 'truth', in so far as it can be ascertained, in the public domain.
Posted by: Chris Overland | 12 March 2025 at 09:12 AM
Is Claude suggesting Jacinta Price’s motives might be political? Heavens above!
There are also other extenuating circumstances for her stance I’d suggest.
Just as it did in Papua New Guinea, alcohol had a huge impact on the practice and transference of traditional knowledge and customs in indigenous communities in Australia.
What happened in some Western Desert communities in the 1970s serves as a case in point.
The right for Aboriginal people to drink alcohol was progressively introduced through various jurisdictions in Australia between 1957 and 1975. In the Western Desert it was towards the end of this period.
In an attempt to counter the injurious impact of alcohol in their communities the elders in the Western Desert attempted to move their people, particularly their susceptible young people, away from the sources of alcohol back into the bush.
It became known as the Homelands Movement and was in train when I was working there. It wasn’t just an ideological movement but one that was raw and often violent. The movement had limited success.
I recall an incident I witnessed at Amata in the North West Aboriginal Reserve around 1974 where the old men physically ran down a car load of drunken youths bringing alcohol into the settlement. The old men, all fully initiated elders, stopped the car, beat the youths and smashed all the bottles of alcohol.
Eventually, however, the elders began to lose their battle.
When this became apparent they took a unilateral decision to end many of their customary practices such as initiation and the passing on of traditional knowledge.
In their minds, their young people, under the influence of alcohol and increasingly drugs too, were not fit to receive this sacred knowledge.
To maintain the integrity of all this knowledge, thousands of years old, the elders decided it should die with them.
Since then a weaker form of knowledge akin to the old traditions and customs has evolved. Nowadays, a form of initiation is available in the Western Desert, for instance, that takes place over a matter of weeks instead of the years and years it once took in the past.
Men who wear the red head bands of initiation nowadays are colloquially known as “microwave watis” in the Western Desert. Wati is the old term for a fully initiated man.
The head bands are now made of wool rather than red ochre stained fibre. People from all over the place, including white people, can now go through this form of initiation after paying a fee.
Jacinta Price was born in 1981. People of her generation, despite many efforts to revive the old traditions and customs, only have a diluted form of knowledge comprised of what has survived the elders’ sanctions and been supplemented by historical and other records.
This may explain, in part at least, her antipathy to the modern evolved forms of Aboriginal customs like welcome to country and smoking ceremonies.
I personally think these modern forms still have legitimate currency.
I also know that the impact of alcohol and drugs on traditional customs and practices among indigenous people all over the world has been catastrophic and extremely sad.
Posted by: Philip Fitzpatrick | 11 March 2025 at 11:22 AM
AI Research Assistant Claude. Wow, on the basis of that response who would want to be a school teacher marking students, history, English or social science assignments.
On the other matter, contrarianism offers a lucrative high profile career in today's world. Claude could probably offer a few examples.
Posted by: Stephen Charteris | 11 March 2025 at 10:18 AM
Thanks for sharing accurate information about Indigenous Australian cultural practices with your readers. This will help combat misconceptions.
If readers are interested in learning more, I suggest they explore resources created by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and cultural institutions that provide accurate historical context about traditional practices.
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) could be a good starting point. Also, if they have other questions about these issues or related topics, they should feel free to ask in a comment to PNG Attitude! I'd be happy to work with Keith to fact-check other assertions about Indigenous Australian culture.
Thank you also for publishing Phil Fitzpatrick's commentary. This provides valuable firsthand context from someone with extensive professional and personal experience working with Aboriginal communities during a significant historical period.
His statement offers several important points:
Direct observation: As someone who worked in remote areas with Aboriginal communities from the 1970s onward, Fitzpatrick describes personally witnessing traditional practices like sand painting, body painting, protocols for entering country, and smoking ceremonies—all prior to or during the very period when these practices were supposedly ‘invented’ according to Price’s claims.
Legislative recognition: Fitzpatrick’s work on the South Australian Aboriginal Heritage Act of 1988 specifically addressed the dynamic nature of cultural traditions, acknowledging that Aboriginal traditions both predate colonisation and have naturally evolved since—an important counterpoint to arguments that frame adaptation as inauthenticity.
Professional context: His anthropological background adds weight to his observations as he was specifically studying and documenting these cultural practices as part of his professional work.
Personal connection: His ongoing recognition as a tjilpi (elder) and having a totem suggests he built relationships of trust within these communities, providing him access to cultural knowledge that casual observers would not have had.
Regarding Jacinta Price, Fitzpatrick expresses confusion about her position given her own cultural background.
Without speculating too much on her motivations, it's worth noting that perspectives on cultural practices can vary widely even among people from the same cultural background, and political contexts often shape how these discussions unfold.
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This response came from AI Claude when I copied to him/it the finished article and readers' comments, including Phil's very educated remarks - KJ
Posted by: AI Research Assistant Claude | 10 March 2025 at 05:02 AM
At the white man's school what are our children taught?
Are they told of the battles our people fought?
Are they told of of how our people died?
Are they told why our people cried?
Australia's true history is never read but the blackfella keeps it in his head.
"Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." - George Orwell
Posted by: Bernard Corden | 09 March 2025 at 05:43 PM
I fully concur with Keith’s assessment of Jacinta Yangapi Nampijinpa Price’s spurious claims.
I worked for the Aboriginal Heritage Branch in South Australia from 1974 to 1994 and then subsequently spent many years working as an anthropological consultant with Aboriginal communities.
One of my proudest achievements was having a definition inserted in the South Australian Aboriginal Heritage Act 1988 which recognised the dynamic nature of Aboriginal traditions.
To wit:
“Aboriginal tradition means traditions, observances, customs or beliefs of the people who inhabited Australia before European colonisation and includes traditions, observances, customs and beliefs that have evolved or developed from that tradition since European colonisation.”
My specific anthropological interests were with Aboriginal mythologies, so-called Dreamtime stories. This interest stemmed from my university studies where I had completed, among other subjects, a double major in literature.
In 1974 I began fieldwork in the Northwest Aboriginal Reserve in what is now the Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands. At the time this was a very remote area where people were still tribalised and maintaining their traditional cultural practices. The people there are part of the Western Desert Cultural Block.
My experience there was what prompted my attempts to have the evolutionary nature of Aboriginal cultural beliefs recognised in the legislation.
Many of the elders with whom I worked recording their songs and sites have long since passed on but I am still recognised by their descendants as a tjilpi or elder. My totem is waiuta or possum.
During my fieldwork I personally witnessed sand painting and body painting that later gave rise to the modern versions in acrylics on canvas.
I also learned and adhered to customs surrounding entry to country. I knew and observed the practice of waiting some distance beyond anyone’s camp until I was met and welcomed into it and did not sit down with the camp’s owners until I had acknowledged it as their country.
I also witnessed and took part in various smoking ceremonies, especially those where new born children were wafted through smoke to ensure their spiritual health and credentials.
These experiences occurred not that far away from where Jacinta Price grew up. It, therefore, amazes me that she can speak out against cultural norms that she herself should fully know about.
As a white man I only skimmed the cultural surface but she should be deeply embedded in it. I don’t understand why she is doing it.
Posted by: Philip Fitzpatrick | 09 March 2025 at 01:25 PM