Cette thèse cherche à rendre compte des réponses que les Aborigènes Noongars du sud-ouest de l’Australie Occidentale déploient face aux discours sur la « tradition » et la « modernité » qui sont construits au sein des institutions et par les acteurs de l’État avec lesquels ils interagissent et auxquels ils sont tour à tour confrontés. L’étude de ces discours, des conditions de leur production et de leurs effets permet d’envisager les concepts de « tradition » et de « modernité » comme des moyens d’action et des techniques sociales mobilisés pour éliminer la différence culturelle dans la mise en œuvre d’un « devenir commun ».L’État australien produit ses propres définitions antagonistes de la « tradition » et de la « modernité », catégories pensées comme étant mutuellement exclusives. Dans certains contextes, il est attendu des Noongars d’être « traditionnels », alors que dans d’autres ils doivent se montrer « modernes ». Les Noongars se trouvent ainsi pris dans une contradiction : ils tendent vers la « modernité » pour rester « traditionnels » et, inversement, ils sont maintenus dans leurs « traditions » lorsqu’ils doivent faire preuve de « modernité ». Dans leurs diverses tentatives de s’intégrer à la nation australienne tout en conservant leurs spécificités, les Noongars redéfinissent leur « identité culturelle ». Pour cela, ils s’approprient, contestent et négocient l’image de l’Aboriginalité qui leur est présentée et se façonnent une identité contemporaine propre, sans pour autant s’opposer radicalement au mythe national de l’Aboriginalité.En analysant les divers processus par lesquels les Aborigènes Noongars revendiquent leur reconnaissance et tentent d’acquérir un degré de souveraineté au sein d’un État-nation, cette thèse enrichit les réflexions sur l’autochtonie en tant que catégorie politique et contingente. Il s’agit d’aborder les questions autochtones comme des réalités discursives devant être analysées dans les contextes ethnographiques particuliers où elles sont produites et articulées. / This thesis seeks to account for the responses that the Noongar Aborigines from the South West of Western Australia display to the discourses of "tradition" and "modernity" that are built within institutions and by state actors, with whom they interact and to which they are in turn confronted. The study of these discourses, the conditions of their production and their effects makes it possible to consider the concepts of “tradition” and “modernity” as means of action and social techniques mobilised to eliminate cultural difference in the implementation of a “common becoming”.The Australian state produces its own antagonistic definitions of “tradition” and “modernity”, categories thought to be mutually exclusive. In some contexts, Noongars are expected to be “traditional”, while in others they must be “modern”. The Noongars are thus caught in a contradiction: they tend towards “modernity” to remain “traditional” and, conversely, they are kept in their “traditions” when they have to show “modernity”. In their various attempts to integrate into the Australian nation, while retaining their specificities, the Noongars are redefining their “cultural identity”. For this, they appropriate, challenge, negotiate the image of the Aboriginality presented to them and shape their own contemporary identity, without radically opposing the national myth of Aboriginality.By analysing the various processes by which the Noongar Aborigines claim their recognition and attempt to acquire a degree of sovereignty within a nation-state, this thesis enriches reflections on Indigeneity as a political and contingent category. It is about addressing indigenous issues as discursive realities that need to be analysed in the particular ethnographic contexts in which they are produced and articulated.

Novel The Fellow What is knowledge? Who should own it? Why is it used? Who can use it? Is knowledge power, or is it an illusion? These are some of the questions addressed in The Fellow. At the time of Australian federation, the year 1901, while a nation is being drawn into unity, one of its primary educational institutions is being drawn into disunity when an outsider challenges the secure world of The University of Melbourne. Arriving in Melbourne after spending much of his life travelling around Australia, an old Jack-of-all-trades bushman finds his way into the inner sanctum of The University of Melbourne. Not only a man of considerable and varied skill, he is also a man who is widely read and self-educated. However, he applies his knowledge in practical ways, based on what he has experienced in the

This thesis is a work of Christian theology. Its purpose is twofold: firstly to develop an adequate understanding of reconciliation at the level of peoples and nations; and secondly to make a practical contribution to resolving the problems in Australia for the welfare of all the peoples, and of the land itself. The history of the relationships between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Australia has left many problems, and no matter what the non-Indigenous people try to do, the Indigenous peoples of Australia continue to experience themselves as being in a state of siege. Trying to understand what is happening, and what can be done to resolve the problems for the peoples of Australia and the land, have been the implicit drivers for the theological development in this thesis. This thesis argues that the present generation in any trans-generational dispute is likely to continue to sin in ways that are shaped by the sins of the past, which explains why Indigenous peoples in Australia find themselves in a stage of siege, even when the non-Indigenous peoples are trying to pursue policies which they believe are for the welfare of all. The only way to resolve this is for the peoples of Australia to seek reconciliation. In particular, the non-Indigenous peoples need to repent, both of their own sins, and the sins of their forebears. Reconciliation processes have become part of the international political landscape. However, there are real concerns about the justice of pursuing reconciliation. An important part of the theological development of this thesis is therefore to show that pursuing reconciliation establishes justice. It is shown that the nature of justice, and of repentance, can only be established by pursuing reconciliation. Reconciliation is possible because God has made it possible, and is working in the world to bring reconciliation. Because land is an essential part of Indigenous identity in Australia, the history of land in court cases and legislation in Australia over the past half century forms an important case study in this work. It is shown that, although there was significant repentance within the non-Indigenous legal system in Australia, the degree of repentance available through that legal system is inherently limited, and so a more radical approach is needed in order to seek reconciliation in Australia. A final chapter considers what the non-Indigenous people of Australia need to do in order to repent.