The term “mixed descent” can be used to describe the geneology of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person whose parents are not of the same racial or cultural background. For example, one parent is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, and the other parent may be:
- Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, but from a different nation/clan; or
- of a racial background other than Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
“Mixed” descent is most commonly used to describe the second group of people, and particularly when those people have a lighter skin complexion.
Unlike the historically used racist terms “caste” or “blood quantum”, “mixed descent” does not attempt to quantify the ratio of maternal and paternal race which is genetically present within the individual, nor to qualify or quantify the degree of that person’s skin pigmentation.
Some Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander peoples may identify themselves as an “Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person of mixed descent”, particularly when attempting to circumvent questions about their identity or heritage. However, some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples find the term “mixed descent” inappropriate and offensive, as it can be used to try and differentiate them from their identity as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person. For example, a person with an Aboriginal father and a mother of Irish descent may refer to themselves as Aboriginal rather than a person of “mixed descent” because their Aboriginal heritage and culture is the one they most closely identify with.
As such, using the term “mixed descent” should be up to the person to which the term is being applied, and not as a label for others to put upon them.