European Settlement On Aboriginal

Short and Long Term Effects of European Settlement on the Aboriginal People

Almost upon arrival in Australia, colonial governments began to grant, lease, and sell land to free settlers. The Europeans did not recognise the aboriginals’ views on land and therefore viewed any land in Australia unoccupied by the European people to be land belonging to the crown. As squatters began to claim more and more unoccupied land, they began to encroach on not only aboriginal land but indigenous sacred sites too, ignoring the spiritual connection that the aboriginals had to the land. Because of the aboriginals’ nomadic lifestyles, the Europeans assumed that they in fact just had no homes, and thus happy to move on to new land if it were to be claimed. But,

The intent of the Europeans was never that of cultural syncretism, they were under orders to treat the indigenous population kindly but their ultimate goal was always to make a nation of their own, and for them there was simply no place in that nation for the aboriginal people in the way that they were seen. Although the creation of Australia was beneficial for the millions and millions that have lived there since, the rapid and total spread of European culture did not have a place for the indigenous population. There were many attempts to introduce the aboriginals into European society, even if somewhat misguided, but the thriving nature of European culture in Australia warranted no need for them to take on any aboriginal culture. As a result traditional aboriginal culture was left to only the ones not forcibly introduced into the new society, in later years less still were left as the attractive promises that European life offered lured many to a dream of extravagance and wealth. In recent years attempts have been made for aboriginal welfare and some incorporation into Australia’s now very different culture, but still the continued disregard for aboriginal culture could be argued. Australia is now seen as a multicultural country and it is still seen that the incorporation of new foreign cultures is continuously prioritised over learning from the traditional owners of the land and incorporating the most Australian culture there could be. The long term effect of the aboriginals losing their image and culture to the expanding Australian culture has been happening since the arrival of the first fleet and will most likely will still happen as the extravagant culture of Australia continues to become more and more