'Practices of Inclusiveness' in Newcastle: protocols of whiteness, Indigenous protocols and power relations

Hages (1998: 121) Stew that Grew relates to white Australia (in that case the Anglo-Celtic couple and their Eureka stew) enacting its capacity to manage cultural diversity; an ode not only to the white Australian capacity of recognising the value of ethnicity, but also, above all, to the white Australian art of mixing. In Hages analogy of the Stew that Grew, it is the 'white Anglo-Celtic' couple, who add the ingredients and assesses the relative value of each, as well as determining the mix. In this paper, I apply Hages analogy to an analysis of how members of the non-Indigenous community in Newcastle go about adding an Indigenous component to community events. But, unlike Hages analogy of the Stew that Grew, I argue that an Indigenous component is not added because of the initial poverty of Newcastles culture; Indigenous culture is added as a gesture of goodwill. In doing so, however, through determining how such events will incorporate an Indigenous component, non-Indigenous people reproduce practices of whiteness and power relations. The paper explores how Indigenous culture is incorporated into community events in Newcastle, giving consideration to protocols of whiteness and Indigenous protocols in terms of power relations.