Quest for Aboriginality - the Wildcat novels of Mudrooroo

It may seem ironic that the quest for national identity, a phenomenon frequently associated with colonial and post-colonial cultures, is problematic for Australian Aboriginals — people who have Hved in this country for tens of thousands of years. The fact is, however, that only since their colonization have Aboriginals been perceived as an homogeneous group. Prior to 1788 they regarded themselves as different and distinct peoples. It is only recently, particularly as a response to White Australia's celebration of its two-hundred-year occupation of Australia, and with the implementation of an Aboriginal land-rights campaign, that pan-Aboriginal identity has emerged.