Tristan Sharrock
Colour Me Creole

My name is Tristan Sharrock. I am a 24 year old woman born and raised in Sydney Australia. My father was born in Port Louise, Mauritius and came to Australia with his parents and 4 siblings at age 2. My mother was born in Durban, South Africa, and came to Australia at age 15 along with her parents and sister. My grandparents brought my family to Australia for the same reason many other people migrate to Australia, for a better life. I created this piece after the passing of my Mémère (my dads mum) in 2021.  

Around this time, I was doing a lot of research and digging into my family’s history and ancestry. I really wanted to know more about my roots, who my ancestors were, their stories and the journey they took that lead us to where we are today. I strongly believe in honoring our ancestors and remembering them for you wouldn’t be who you are or where you are today without them. Mauritians who are mixed identify themselves as Creole. South Africans of mixed decent identify themselves as Coloured. It’s important to note that both these terms are not considered racist nor offensive in their country of origin and instead a sense of pride is associated with the identity.  

When you are “coloured” or “Creole” it can be really hard to know “where you come from.” Because you are usually “a great big melting pot” of African, European and Asian. I definitely have experienced an identity crisis or two throughout my life. Especially in high school, I use to ask myself a lot what did it mean to be coloured? was I black? Or white? I’ve had people ask if I’m black or white which usually led to a long explanation of where my parents come from, but even then my knowledge was limited. All I knew was my dad was Mauritian, and my Mum South African. I’ve had many people tell me what I am, and what I am not. “You’re light-skin.” “You’re as white as white can be.” “Are you African?” “You’re coloured.” “You look Asian.” “Wait… are you African???” “You’re not black.” “You’re not white.” I remember asking my Dad, “what are we? Where do Creole people come from?” He told me how my papys dad was Irish and his mother, a coloured woman with heritage in reunion island.  

Since 2021, I’ve been on a bit of a family history journey. After discussing with my mum about our family history, we decided to take ancestry tests, along with my grandparents (on my mums side). I learnt a lot about my grandmother Rita’s family tree tracing all the way back to 1800’s in Mauritius. I learnt of my great great grandmother, Karhia, an Indian woman who was an Indentured labourer in Mauritius and about her daughter Alice, my grandmothers mother, and how she arrived in South Africa at the age of 2. I am still discerning and learning about my ancestors and family history today. I don’t believe you ever really know “who you are” completely. I believe self discovery is a never ending journey. You will re-discover and learn new things about yourself many times throughout your life.  

So to those who ask, I say, I am who I am – I am Mauritian, I am South African, I am Australian, I am black, I am white, I am Asian, I am coloured, I am Creole, I am a bit of my mother, I am a bit of my father, I am a bit of my grandparents and my great grandmothers and great grandfathers, I am a bit of all those who came before me. I am Tristan, a 24 year old woman living in Sydney Australia with one big colourful melting pot of ancestry! I’ve titled this work “Colour Me Creole” It is a self-portrait digital painting and collage.