Bruce Pascoe’s claims of Indigenous heritage have made a credible and compelling platform for the rise of Dark Emu, but many Aboriginal elders and experts have called them into question — if not rejected them outright.
At the end of 2018 Bruce Pascoe was in the spotlight for yet another honour, this time at the National Dreamtime Awards, a premier event celebrating Indigenous achievement and broadcast by National Indigenous Television (NITV).
Pascoe’s award for person of the year was the climax of the night, recognising the Dark Emu author for his “significant contribution” to the advancement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait people. Of all the awards he’d received, this one, he said, made him the most proud because it came from “our people”.
Amidst the glitter and the black tie splendour of the awards at Sydney’s Star casino, Pascoe made light of his shambolic ways. He hadn’t owned a suit in all his then-71 years, he said, and only got one because he was told he needed “something formal”. “I have gone out my way for you mob,” he joked.
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