Aborigines in Australia Foreword: The aborigines in Australia have been the subject of controversy and attention towards the end of the 20th century because of their maltreatment in the hands of their British colonizers and continued persecution in a land they rightfully own. Their rich culture, which dates back to the Ice and Stone Age, is near extinction because of the oppression they suffered through time. In spite of the odds, however, the remaining children of this near extinct but proud race are fighting valiantly to survive and preserve their proof of existence in a world dominated by educated and civilized people. This essay analyzes the plight of this minority group in three theoretical perspectives namely: Functional Theory, Conflict Theory, and Interactive Theory. A comparison of the circumstances of Australian aborigines with a minority group in the United States, the American Indians, will likewise be discussed in the concluding section. Overview of the History of the Relationship The Aborigines arrived in Australia sometime 20,000 to 70,000 years ago and are said to have cross from Indonesia by foot traversing through rough mountain ranges, probably connected with hanging bridges. Anthropologists claim that the aborigines' physical appearance and way of life approximates that of an extinct era - the Ice and Stone Age. They generally have brown skin, small figure and long thin legs, small head with black and wavy hair, and flat face with wide nose (Riedlinger, 1996). They were hunters, practically depending on wild animals and plants for food, only equipped with the basic paraphernalia of gravin... ... middle of paper ... ... Works Cited ----------- Justice for the Aborigines of Australia on Angry website at http://www.angry.org.au/ ap12/justice.html Lonely Planet World Guide: Australia on lonely planet website at http://www.lonelyplanet.com/ destinations/australiaasia/australia/printable.htm Riedlinger, Joseph. The Aborigines in Australia, April 1996 at http://www.ebgymhollabrunn.ac.at/ projekte/abori.htm Tatz, Colin. Genocide in Australia: AIATSIS Research Discussion Papers No 8, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Studies, Canberra, 1999. The Perth Press and Problematizing Aboriginal Status on WMCC website at http://www.mcc.murdoch.edu.au./ReadingRoom/dreamtime/press.html Washita Battlefield on Georgia website at http://www.ngeorgia.com/history/nghisttt.html
The over-representation of Aboriginal children in the Canadian Child Welfare system is a growing and multifaceted issue rooted in a pervasive history of racism and colonization in Canada. Residential schools were established with the intent to force assimilation of Aboriginal people in Canada into European-Canadian society (Reimer, 2010, p. 22). Many Aboriginal children’s lives have been changed adversely by the development of residential schools, even for those who did not attend them. It is estimated that Aboriginal children “are 6-8 times more likely to be placed in foster care than non-Aboriginal children (Saskatchewan Child Welfare Review Panel, 2010, p. 2).” Reports have also indicated that First Nations registered Indian children make up the largest proportion of Aboriginal children entering child welfare care across Canada (Saskatchewan Child Welfare Review Panel, p. 2). Consequently, this has negatively impacted Aboriginal communities experience of and relationship with child welfare services across the country. It is visible that the over-representation of Aboriginal children in the child welfare system in Canada lies in the impact of the Canadian policy for Indian residential schools, which will be described throughout this paper.
“Indigenous Australian peoples are people of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, who are accepted as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person in the community in which they live, or have lived” (Queensland Government, Australia, n.d). Indigenous Australians have made considerable contributions in the field of arts, media, sport, education, politics/government, and history. One of the famous Indigenous person is Evonne Fay Goolagong-Cawley, who has gained name and fame for Australia in the field of tennis on world level. Evonne Goolagong-Cowley’s life, opportunities, achievements and contributions and the ability to rise out of the cultural barriers gave her a unique place in Australian society.
As European domination began, the way in which the European’s chose to deal with the Aborigines was through the policy of segregation. This policy included the establishment of a reserve system. The government reserves were set up to take aboriginals out of their known habitat and culture, while in turn, encouraging them to adapt the European way of life. The Aboriginal Protection Act of 1909 established strict controls for aborigines living on the reserves . In exchange for food, shelter and a little education, aborigines were subjected to the discipline of police and reserve managers. They had to follow the rules of the reserve and tolerate searchers of their homes and themselves. Their children could be taken away at any time and ‘apprenticed” out as cheap labour for Europeans. “The old ways of the Aborigines were attacked by regimented efforts to make them European” . Their identities were threatened by giving them European names and clothes, and by removing them from their tra...
In the nineteenth century, the “History wars” became the fight between the most prominent historians revolving around the deception of frontier conflict between the labor and coalition. The debate aroused from the different interpretations of the violence that took place during the European colonization and to what degree. It became a crisis in history, emerging from the dispossession of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders (ATSI) that resulted in exclusion of their traditions and culture. The ATSI were the first people of Australia that brought along a different culture, language, kinship structures and a different way of life (Face the Facts, 2012). Post European colonization was a time where the ATSI people experienced disadvantage in the land they called home. With the paramount role as future educators, it demands proficient knowledge on the Australian history and one of the most influential moments in our history started from the first European settlers.
Major settlements occurred after the nineteenth century. The British had quickly out-numbered the Aboriginal community, leaving them powerless to the changes or the invasion. The belief systems of the Europeans overpowered the aboriginal’s way of life, pressuring them to conform to the...
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have faced disadvantages in various areas, particularly housing. The disadvantages these people face now are the result of policies introduced by the European settlers, then the government. The policies introduced were protection, assimilation, integration and self-determination. It is hard to understand the housing disadvantages faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people if their history is not known.
Australian indigenous culture is the world’s oldest surviving culture, dating back sixty-thousand years. Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders have been represented in a myriad of ways through various channels such as poetry, articles, and images, in both fiction and non-fiction. Over the years, they have been portrayed as inferior, oppressed, isolated, principled and admirable. Three such texts that portray them in these ways are poems Circles and Squares and Grade One Primary by Ali Cobby Eckermann, James Packer slams booing; joins three cheers for footballer and the accompanying visual text and Heywire article Family is the most important thing to an islander by Richard Barba. Even though the texts are different as ….. is/are …., while
Indigenous Australian land rights have sparked controversy between Non Indigenous and Indigenous Australians throughout history. The struggle to determine who the rightful owners of the land are is still largely controversial throughout Australia today. Indigenous Australian land rights however, go deeper than simply owning the land as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have established an innate spiritual connection making them one with the land. The emphasis of this essay is to determine how Indigenous Australian land rights have impacted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, highlighting land rights regarding the Mabo v. the State of Queensland case and the importance behind today’s teachers understanding and including Indigenous
According to the Métis Elder, Tom McCallum, “The more we listen to other people’s views, the more our vision will open up and we will start to…be able to see from all perspectives and respect those perspectives. That is what creates our wholeness, to walk in balance and harmony, to respect other people’s way, their journey of life, their way of interpreting, to treat each other with much more kindness and respect.” This quote explains the idea that, because all people have different experiences, we all see the world differently. People of similar communities or groups, however, may have similar views because they have similar experiences. Although it can be easy to dismiss someone else’s thoughts if we do not understand them, we must listen to the opinions and views of people of other communities so that we can gain insight a
Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.
The documentary Finding Dawn by Christine Welsh portrayed the violence and discrimination experienced by Aboriginal women and girls in Canada as a national tragedy. The national tragedy is illustrated as the overlooked murders and disappearances of an estimated 500 Aboriginal women in Canada over the past 30 years (Finding Dawn, 2006). It was apparent while viewing this documentary that embedded historical, social and economic factors have negatively contributed to this national tragedy receiving meager attention in Canada. Thus, the issues presented in Finding Dawn is in fact a representation of wider social problems correlating to issues of oppression, ethnocentrism, racism and assimilation in our society.
First Nations are Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are not Metis or Inuit. They are original inhabitants of Canada that have been treated harshly by the Canadian government. First Nations peoples played a major role in the twentieth century. A defining moment is when Canada passed the Indian Act. Another moment is when Residential schools were built. The third defining moment is the White and Red Paper situation.
Pre-dating to the early 15th century, when contact with European settlers was originally established, Indigenous peoples have been required to succumb to settler – colonization in an attempt to be integrated into mainstream culture. The initial purpose of colonialism was to be used as a tool to gain access to resources not otherwise available. As colonialism evolved, it has become a method by which foreign populations move into unfamiliar territories, and attempt to remove the colonized group from the currently occupied space.
Oppression (of their identity) eg. on their cultural practices due to their land (what was originally their ancestor’s land) being adjusted by other cultures, laws and expectations eg. to find employment/seek (westernised) medical advice that are westernised (as opposed to being like what the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders’ culture was based on)
Many factors, such as our personal experiences, can influence how we establish a nurse-person therapeutic relationship. In order to achieve this relationship one must have understanding of the various issues Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face within the healthcare system. As a second year nursing student my understanding and experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture is limited. My current understanding is that substantial inequalities exist between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and non-Indigenous Australians, particularly in relation to access to safe and quality healthcare. But in regards to their culture I have limited knowledge and understanding. Due to my little knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres