This week is NAIDOC week in Australia.
NAIDOC Week celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It is held every year in the first full week in July. NAIDOC stands for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’, but the NAIDOC acronym has since been adopted as the name of the national event.
Click here for more about NAIDOC Week.
This years theme is Because of Her, We can! This theme celebrates the essential role that women have played – and continue to play – as active and significant role models at the community, local, state and national levels.
Bicycles Create Change fully supports greater recognition and understanding for the contributions and importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Islander peoples.
In the past this blog has covered:
- The Indigenous Mountain Bike Project (2012-2015)
- Custom Made Bikes Painted by Aboriginal Artists for NAIDOC Week 2017
- The Indigenous Olympic Track Cyclists inititiave for National Reconciliation Week 2017
For NAIDOC Week 2018, I found myself once again scouring the internet for some interesting stories about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander bike riders.
It was disappointing – there are very few to be found.
When I typed in ‘cycling’ (despite other keywords), Tour de France material dominated the my feed. This is not surprising as the Tour de France is the largest international cycling event and is on currently. What was odd though, was that it would come up even with the main keyword ‘indigenous’ included in the search. Very few of the 176 riders from the 22 teams riding this year are not Caucasian or from a European or Scandinavia background.
This got me thinking.
Where are Australia’s Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander road riders and cyclists?
Australia is considered a pro-cycling country and more and more Australian’s are cycling. But rarely does Australian cycling planning, debates or statistical data mention indigenous participation in road riding.
I’d like to see Australia invest and take action on this year’s NAIDOC theme and increase female Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in cycling.
In January this year, Jens Korff published a list of “A surprisingly long list of successful Aboriginal sportspeople and role models across all disciplines of sport”. This article listed the names and achievements of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander athletes – some of whom are now household names, like Cathy Freeman.
The sports listed included:
- Track and field
- Basketball
- Bodybuilding
- Boxing & Wrestling
- Cricket
- Figure Skaters
- AFL (Australian Rules Football)
- Rugby League
- Golf
- Harness Racing
- Horse-racing (Jockeys)
- Hockey
- Jui-Jitsu
- Motorsports
- Paralympics
- Sailing
- Soccer (Football/Socceroos)
- Softball
- Surfing
- Tennis
- Touch Football
- Water Polo
- Weightlifting
…..But no cycling.
It seems that road riding in Australia is like many other Western countries where the “unbearable whiteness of cycling” prevails and cycling continues to be the domain of rich, white men.
Australia and its cycling industry has a terrific opportunity here to make a difference – to be proactive in making cycling, road riding and biking in general more accessible for First Nations peoples.
Here’s to hoping that in the future there will be greater recognition, more support and sincere inclusion of more First Nations people in cycling and biking.
As I watch the Tour highlights after posting this, I think: How awesome would it be to see First Nations cyclists in the Tour de France? NG.
I know this article is old but thought I would reply nonetheless. My son rides mountain bikes and races cross country. He won a national title in XCE in 2018 at age 14 and tied for first place at the 2018 schools nationals in XCO . We struggle a little but do as much as we can. Hopefully more indigenous kids can get into the sport as well. At least we have found everyone in the sport friendly and supportive. Maybe this will give you a smile. Have a good day. Michael
Hi Michael – thanks for your reply. So good to hear from you and that your son is riding bikes. He is lucky to have a supportive father like you – it makes all the difference. Sounds like he is a champion in the making. Best of luck to you both!
Hey Michael! I just came across your comment as I’ve been working on a documentary and I’m looking for a MTB rider with indigenous background. Is it possible to get an email to get in touch with you? My email is mateo@bikeexchange.com.au.
Also Nina, congrats on this article. I would like to connect with you hoping you could help with some insights.
I know it’s an old article but my daughter Tyler is a very accomplished junior track sprinter from U9s and is currently in U19 and has been selected in the Australian team for the UCI junior worlds track championships in Isreal August 2022. A very proud moment. She has multiple Australian titles and still holds a number of Australian and Oceania records. As you can imagine you would think times would have changed from many years ago, they have gotten better but things are still very difficult for a teenage girl especially with our surname as people can be very narrow minded but now she cares a lot less what people think and embraces her culture. You are definitely right even today we have very few indigenous cyclists and hope it changes in the future as it is a very expensive sport.
Michael
Hey Michael, thanks for taking the time to share. It was so interesting hearing your story. Sounds like Tyler is fierce on two wheels. Dealing with narrow minded people is an ongoing battle. Tyler is certainly lucky to have a father like you that supports and champions her journey – especially in navigating the stickier dynamics around age, gender, identify and culture. There have been some good improvements in recent years, but still so much more work to be done. Sending you, Tyler and your family the best of luck – Ride On!