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Colonization and aboriginal health
Colonization and aboriginal health
Impact of colonialism and government policies on Aboriginal people
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British colonization of Australia had many long term and immediate effects on Aboriginal people. Disease was prevalent in the colonial period and without modern medicine, or in the case of Aboriginal people having access even to the medicine of the time, many people would often die from disease. In 1789, 50% of all Aboriginals in the Sydney area, died as a result of a small pox epidemic. Disease was even more prevalent in the Aboriginal communities as Aboriginal women were used as a sex resource by the British colonial men. These diseases were new for Aboriginal people and therefore they did not have the same tolerance for it, as the settlers did. Disease wasn’t the only thing that the colonies brought which impacted upon Aboriginal people,
Aboriginals have inhabited Australia tens of thousands of years before any European powers had reached the land. Aboriginals lived simply lives and valued the lands which they lived on. Lifestyles of Aboriginals were threatened with the arrival of British colonizers in the late 1700s and early 1800s, who tried to integrate them into their society. The colonizers also saw the Aboriginals as a backwards, inferior people who were unable to develop. The notion that Aboriginals are inferior to whites may have caused the impacts Aboriginals have had in shaping modern Australia to be overlooked. This effect appears to be apparent in the development of Australian sport, however, Aboriginals have played a significant role in shaping Australian Rules
The poor health of the Australian Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders is well known. Since the 1970s, mortality rates have been declining, but life expectancy has not changed and the gap between the Aboriginal population and the total Australian population has widened. This pattern contrasts with that of the Indigenous population of Canada where marked improvements in health have occurred. From that standpoint, this paper will discuss the important issues of health care inequalities that exist with the Aboriginals in Australia and compare them to those which subsist in the First Nations of Canada.
Many of the inequalities in the health of the Aboriginal people can be attributed to the
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a well diverse culture with a rich and meaningful background. The impact of the British colonisation in 1788, legislation and ‘stolen generation’ created a range of significant hardships for these individuals to face. These issues continue to cause problems and impact these individuals and their mental health. The issues that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face include but are not limited to Grief and loss in the Aboriginal Community, Living in Continual Poverty, loss of identity, loss of culture, incarceration, premature death, poor education outcomes, substance abuse, sexual abuse, murder and alcoholism (Design)
The Effects of Colonization on the Native Americans Native Americans had inherited the land now called America and eventually their lives were destroyed due to European colonization. When the Europeans arrived and settled, they changed the Native American way of life for the worse. These changes were caused by a number of factors including disease, loss of land, attempts to export religion, and laws, which violated Native American culture. Native Americans never came in contact with diseases that developed in the Old World because they were separated from Asia, Africa, and Europe when ocean levels rose following the end of the last Ice Age. Diseases like smallpox, measles, pneumonia, influenza, and malaria were unknown to the Native Americans until the Europeans brought these diseases over time to them.
In the late eighteenth century prior to the arrival of the first European settlers, Australia was once believed to be a terra nullius, an uninhabited “nothing land.” The European colonizers of Australia sought to make something of this land they believed they had discovered. Operating under this false notion, colonizers systematically invaded and conquered Australia, imposing their own ways onto the land and its original custodians, the Aboriginal people. The introduction of western settlements disrupted much of Aboriginal life. In a publication titled, Is it in the Blood? Australian Aboriginal Identity, author Myrna Ewart Tonkinson discusses Western imperialism and its implications on Aboriginal identity.
History continues to impact Aboriginal / Torres Strait islander people today. There has been some improvements over the years but not enough when compared to other Australians. They have the highest growth rate, birth rate, death rate, the worst health and housing and the lowest educational, occupational, economic, social & legal status of any identifiable section of the Australian
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders continue to have the worst health out of all Australian population groups, with an extremely low life expectancy compared to that of a white Australian which is, on average, 10 years higher. An alarmingly large proportion of aboriginals are dying prematurely with 81% dying before 75, with many of these deaths being diseases linked to a high sugar diet.
Indigenous Australians have been subjected to many forms of disadvantage since the European invasion in 1788, including racial discrimination, oppression, and inequality. The attempted ethnocide perpetrated against the Aboriginals has
Australia was declared a British colony in 1770 (Hollinsworth, 1996). The first colony was established in 1788. From the very beginning, the Aborigines were treated as less human through racist attitudes and government policies. This paper will discuss the different policy periods and ...
Australia has the highest differences in life expectancy and infant mortality between non-indigenous and indigenous people compared to New Zealand, Canada and the United States (Pascoe,2008,p.34). Indigenous people have a life expectancy 17 years less than non-indigenous people (Mackean,2009,p.18) and the infant mortality rate for aborigines is three times higher (Pascoe,2008,p.34). It is quite embarrassing that out of countries with similar colonial history, Australia is so far behind. On the slide you can see other upsetting statistics in indigenous health. Whilst indigenous people make up 2.5 percent of the nation (Creative Spirits – Aborignal Health,online,14/8/15) it seems they suffer the most health issues out of the total population. Damian Griffiths the Executive Officer of the First Peoples Disability Network said “The prevalence of disability amongst Indigenous Australians is significantly higher, approximately twice that of the non-Indigenous population.” And that “Disabled aboriginal people are among the most disadvantaged in Australia” These are upsetting but true facts and obviously action is needed. According to Creative Spirits, an indigenous website, 50 percent of indigenous people have some form of disability or long term health condition. It becomes apparent that this percentage would never be a reality for the non-indigenous population as serious action in
They were deprived of their lands and scared sites. Punished and humiliated in detention camps. The Aboriginal population was overwhelmed by diseases brought in the wake of European settlement. For which they had no immunity, and many died. The change of diet brought by the Europeans, upset the natural and balanced diet that was found from hunting and gathering. Diabetes, heart disease, obesity and alcoholism are now common problems among the Aboriginal population. The indigenous people were also exploited as cheap labour, if they were lucky enough to get payed. More often than not, they were paid with food or alcohol. Once the European way of life was imposed on the people, they were denied the right to practise their own culture, language and Dreaming. This meant a significant loss of Aboriginal identity. (Australians-Together,
Aboriginal people have been living in Australia between 50,00 to 120,000 years ago and their population size was about 300,000 when the British arrived in 1788 (Commonwealth of Australia, 1998). They are known to be non-materialistic and lived in small family groups which survived on food from the land (hunter-gatherer people) hence their deep connection to their land. Each small family group have their own history and culture, membership to each group is determined by birthright, shared language and cultural obligations and responsibilities. They place great importance to their social, religious and spiritual activities hence their belief that the physical environment is controlled by spiritual rather than physical means. They also believed
In my opinion, colonization is the foundation and origin of all health events that have impacted Aboriginal populations. This is not to say that prior to colonization; there was no history of ill health in Aboriginal peoples because pre- European contact, evidence shows that there were various types of diseases in different regions of Canada (Waldram, Herring, & Young, 2006). However, colonization introduced numerous changes to the culture, lifestyle, health behavior and diet of Aboriginal people that has manifested as an increase in infectious and chronic diseases. Presently, many of the chronic diseases that afflict Aboriginal peoples of Canada are caused by these changes due to displacement from lands and treaty agreements that impacted
“Colonialism is the control or governing influence of a nation over a dependent country, territory, or people.”[1] (Colonialism). Colonialism has caused several factors including the north-south gap which occurred after World War II. Colonialism began in the 1500s; the process works by a mother country using the colony’s natural resources, money savings and their lands to overpower the dependent country. This causes the country to be forced to rely on the mother country. Therefore the world wide scramble for colonies, particularly in the late 19th century- early 20th century had a tremendous negative effect on the economic, social, and political structures of indigenous, non- industrialized peoples.