Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

A Walk with Words: The Poetry of Romaine Moreton (2000)

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clip Caste system

This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

A group of people recite a poem written by Romaine Moreton about the racially-based caste system that operated in Australia until recent times.

Curator’s notes

Through this poem by Romaine the film explores and describes the racialisation of Indigenous peoples in Australia. The poem looks at the colonisers’ use of a caste system to divide and rule Indigenous peoples, classifying them as half-caste, quarter-caste, one-sixteenth and octoroon.