I am Philippa King. I was born in Brisbane in 1950. My mother was Bigambul of SE Qld-NSW region and my father was Queensland born of Irish-English-German descent.

I have been told by white Australians that I am not Aboriginal. This site contains my response to that.

My maternal ancestors, the Bigambul people, were massacred in the 1840s. I am a descendant of one of six survivors of that massacre.

Among my paternal ancestors were policemen and part of their job was hunting down ‘criminal’ blackfellas.

While I was raised in a western culture, I identify as Aboriginal. I have spent my life trying to understand how to belong to both.

Living peacefully with these two profoundly different cultures is a challenge for both the individual and the nation.

This blog explores what it means to be an Australian Aboriginal identity within the larger Australian community – from my viewpoint.