AustLit

'Since colonisation, the tensions between the intentions and meanings of Indigenous performers and the cross-cultural framing and reception of their performance have been part of the complex relationship that exists between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Australia. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Indigenous-controlled performances drawn from their own historical cultural practices were a focal point of cross- cultural exchange and engagement. Within the colonial exercise, the Euro- Australian and European attitudes towards, and framing of, these performances as a lower form of practice were an important part of containing and colonising Indigenous cultures and the land. Since the 1970s, there have been many transitions and movements shifting the terms of reception and providing the basis for a more respectful engagement with Indigenous performance. However, the notion that Aboriginal historical practices represent primitive or simple cultural forms has continued as traces in the reception of performances that draw on traditional pre-contact practices.' Maryrose Casey.