Shaymaa Abdullah is an Indigenous Muslim woman and a descendant of Afghan cameleers.
SBS Urdu spoke to her about the importance of Naidoc Week and her family ancestry.
“Naidoc Week not only brings us close to our culture and reflect on history, but it also brings awareness to a lot of other places as well.
“Everybody gets involved in Naidoc Week, a lot of corporate companies get involved it. They recognise their Indigenous employees as well.
“I think it is great, but I feel even though it is a special week for us but I think there should be more to be put in place.”
“I don’t think we get the recognition we deserve.”
On the question of whether the Naidoc Week is bridging the gap between the mainstream Australian and the Aboriginal people, Shaymaa says it is not enough.
“I don’t think one week [in a year] is enough to bridge that gap; I think there needs to be more done to bridge that gap.
“Without any questions, we should be able to speak about the Aboriginal community ourselves and not somebody else speaks for us."
Shaymaa Abdullah at the Christchurch mosque in New Zealand. Source: Supplied
Who were the cameleers?
In the nineteenth century, Australia witnessed a large influx of the ‘ships of the deserts’ (or camels) in their outback.
These camels provided a great alternative for the transportation of goods between several states, cities, and towns in Australia.
Although requiring lower maintenance than horses, the desert animal required special care and handling, and was managed by the ‘cameleers’.
These cameleers came from the Afghan (now Afghanistan) and North Indian region which is now called Pakistan.
An undated handout photo of a cameleer and camel, c1900. - Australia's Muslim Cameleers exhibition, Dec. 12, 2007,Canberra. (AAP /State Library of Queensland) Source: STATE LIBRARY OF QUEENSLAND
“It kinds of get a bit frustrating because a lot of comments thrown at Muslims, it comes down to lack of education and ignorance. They don’t want to accept that the Muslims had close ties with Indigenous people for many years.”
“I identify as an indigenous woman, I am Muslim and I think these are two very strong ties to this country.”
Talking about her ancestral connections and family history, Shaymaa said that she had limited knowledge about it but later researched about Islam and reverted to it in 2001.
“When my mother passed out I did a lot of research myself… finding out the meaning of Abdullah and getting my family records from Western Australia.
“Going through the records, it traces back to my Afghan ancestors were here as cameleers. A lot of it is in calligraphy so it is very hard to understand because of the writing which is from way back.”
