Can I wear Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander merchandise as a non-Indigenous person?

Thanks for being respectful towards our culture and I'll do my best to answer this question

The pieces I design are a mix of merchandise specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other merchandise that is for everyone to wear and enjoy.  If a piece has been designed only for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, I'll let you know clearly in the product description with a 'mob only' icon.

Purchasing and wearing authentic merchandise such as clothing, tote bags, jewellery from Indigenous owned businesses supports the Indigenous Community.

There are many deadly & talented Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses and creators in our community, if you don't see something you like in my store, check out other blak businesses.

There is a great article on this from Blak Business and they have kindly allowed other Indigenous owned businesses to share their content

To see the original article and other great information, I encourage you to go to Blak Business and look under the FAQ as well as the other fantastic content they have on the website.

I hope the following information helps you make a decision about whether or not to purchase and wear Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander made merchandise as a non-Indigenous person.

Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses create their merchandise for all people and take great pride in seeing their items being celebrated and worn by both our community and non-Indigenous people (I know I do).

However, please be aware that some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may wear merchandise to show pride in their Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander identity and thus may assume that another person wearing this merchandise are themselves Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.  Which can lead to some really awkward conversations!

There is some merchandise which is only appropriate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to wear. For example, T-shirts with slogans such as "Straight out the Dreamtime", "Shades of Deadly" and "Blak Girl Magic" should not be worn by non-Indigenous people, no matter how well-meaning their intention.  On my store the "Ouss Ouss" design T-shirt is one of those products that really only Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples should wear.  To make it easy to tell, any products that are in this category will have a 'Mob Only' notification included in the product description.

But don't feel left out, there is a range of merchandise which allows non-Indigenous people to support our community without being misleading. You can simply purchase and enjoy your authentic Aboriginal designed merchandise designed for everybody or you can wear your values as an Ally with merchandise which says "Not the date to celebrate:, "Always Was Always Will Be" and "Free The Flag".

Non-Indigenous people wearing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander made merchandise can have a powerful influence as it provides broader representation for our community, shows your pride in this country's Indigenous peoples, history and culture and can act as a conversation starter in spaces where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are not present.

When buying Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander merchandise always check if it is authentic, ask who the Artist is, is the business Indigenous owned. This way you know you are truly supporting the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community or business and not some fake knock-off business that has little to no connection to our community except for the cultural appropriation for profit.

As always, feel free to ask questions about anything as I'm more than happy to have a yarn with you.