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Indigenous literatures
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Incorporation of Indigenous studies in the recently released national curriculum requires the sourcing of literature to assist students’ comprehension of the past and ongoing ramifications of The Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 (Qld). The inclusion of Hegarty’s ‘Is that you Ruthie?’ is recommended to Queensland Education as one such text to be utilised in secondary schools. A different genre to traditional texts reflecting European accounts of history, Hegarty’s autobiographical account provides an Indigenous perspective whilst allowing students to connect legislation and policy of the past with the impact on the personal. This essay explores the premise and implications of ‘the 1897 Act’ and its various amendments on the lived experiences of Indigenous Queenslanders both historically and today, illustrated by excerpts from Hegarty’s autobiography, thereby qualifying ‘Is that you Ruthie?’ as a suitable text in secondary school Indigenous Studies Programs.
The dramatic decline of the Aboriginal population in conjunction with the extrapolation of Darwin’s theories of natural selection on Spencer’s ‘survival of the fittest’ regarding race, instigated the development of legislation to ‘protect’ the Indigenous population from complete annihilation (Cunneen & Libesman 1995:34; Parbury 1999:68). Subsequent to Meston’s report on the condition of Queensland Aboriginals (Donovan 2008:113) regarding the exploitation and payment of labour by opiates and alcohol (Castle & Hagan 1997:67); prevalence of abuse of women and children by white men (Donovan 2008:117-8); and the extent of violence of settler populations (Smith 2008:203); reserves were established in which Indigenous people could be separate...
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...d teaching, 3rd edn, Thomson, Melbourne.
(eds.) Mellor, D & Haebich, A 2002, Many voices: reflections on experiences of Indigenous child separation, National Library of Australia, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory.
Parbury, N, ‘Aboriginal education: a history’, in R Craven (ed.) 1999, Teaching Aboriginal studies, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, New South Wales.
Rycus, JS & Hughes, RC 1998, The field guide to child welfare volume III: child development and child welfare, Child Welfare League of America Press, Annapolis Junction, Maryland.
Smith, BR 2008, ‘Still under the act? Subjectivity and the state in Aboriginal North Queensland’, Oceania, vol. 78, pp. 199-216.
The Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 (Qld).
Watson, C 1999, ‘Review: Is that you Ruthie?’, The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, vol. 27, no. 2, p. 55.
This again shows the traumatic effects of residential schools and of cultural, psychological, and emotional upheaval caused by the intolerance and mistreatment of Aboriginals in Canada. Settlers not only displaced Aboriginal people from their land and their homes, but they also experienced emotional trauma and cultural displacement.
Of the 8 successful, the 1967 referendum which proposed the removal of the words in section 51 (xxvi) ‘… other than the aboriginal people in any State’ (National Archives of Australia ND), and the deletion of section 127, both, which were discriminative in their nature toward the Aboriginal race, recorded a 90.77% nationwide vote in favour of change (National Archives of Australia, 2014). As a result, the Constitution was altered; highlighting what was believed to be significant positive political change within Indigenous affairs at the time (National Archives of Australia, 2014). Approaching 50 years on, discussion has resurfa...
During the late sixteen century, when the first fleet arrived to Australia and discovered the free settlers or known as Australian Indigenous inheritors (The Aborigines), the community of aboriginal inhabitants since then have experienced vast levels of discrimination and racism against their gender, race, colour and ethnicity. The term over representations refers to the presents of minority or disproportionate ethnic aboriginal groups represented in the criminal justice system (CJS). This essay will further explain the relationship between aboriginal communities and policing discussed in Blagg (2008) and Cunneen (2007, the three major sources of concern in association to aboriginal over representation in CJS which include; systematic bias,
Reynolds, H. (1990). With The White People: The crucial role of Aborigines in the exploration and development of Australia. Australia: Penguin Books
This essay will discuss the Aboriginal Education policies in Victoria and Federally and how these policies impacted upon the children of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. This essay will further analyse the impact these past policies had on the Aboriginal and Torres strait Islanders’ families and children’s education and how current policies were put in place to assist indigenous students’ access to education. Further to this an analysis of how teachers can implement these changes in the curriculum and classroom.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders people are informed that this paper contains images, written/reference materials on Aboriginal and Torres Strait
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
Within Australia, beginning from approximately the time of European settlement to late 1969, the Aboriginal population of Australia experienced the detrimental effects of the stolen generation. A majority of the abducted children were ’half-castes’, in which they had one white parent and the other of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent. Following the government policies, the European police and government continued the assimilation of Aboriginal children into ‘white’ society. Oblivious to the destruction and devastation they were causing, the British had believed that they were doing this for “their [Aborigines] own good”, that they were “protecting” them as their families and culture were deemed unfit to raise them. These beliefs caused ...
The assimilation policy was a policy that existed between the 1940’s and the 1970’s, and replaced that of protectionism. Its purpose was to have all persons of aboriginal blood and mixed blood living like ‘white’ Australians, this established practice of removing Aboriginal children (generally half-bloods) from their homes was to bring them up without their culture, and they were encouraged to forget their aboriginal heritage. Children were placed in institutions where they could be 'trained' to take their place in white society. During the time of assimilation Aboriginal people were to be educated for full citizenship, and have access to public education, housing and services. However, most commonly aboriginal people did not receive equal rights and opportunities, for example, their wages were usually less than that paid to the white workers and they often did not receive recognition for the roles they played in the defence of Australia and their contribution to the cattle industry. It wasn’t until the early 1960’s that expendi...
“It might help if we non-Aboriginal Australians imagined ourselves dispossessed of the land we lived on for 50,000 years, and then imagined ourselves told that it had never been ours. Imagine if ours was the oldest culture in the world and we were told that it was worthless.” (Keating, 1993)
Summary of Text: ‘The Redfern Address’ is a speech that was given to a crowd made up of mainly indigenous Australians at the official opening of the United Nations International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples in Redfern Park, New South Wales. This text deals with many of the challenges that have been faced by Indigenous Australians over time, while prompting the audience to ask themselves, ‘How would I feel?’ Throughout the text, Keating challenges the views of history over time, outlines some of the outrageous crimes committed against the Indigenous community, and praises the indigenous people on their contribution to our nation, despite the way they have been treated.
Ronald, M, Catherine, H, 1988, The World of the First Australians Aboriginal Traditional Life: Past and Present, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra
“In my mind, the ultimate objective is to cause all Australians to have about them a spontaneous national pride in Indigenous Australia”, Kevin Rudd. It is important that Australian schools provide students with the opportunity to learn about the Australian Indigenous people. This is because they are a part of Australia’s history and cultural background and we need to appreciate their uniqueness. This is illustrated though the poems ‘No More Boomerang’ and ‘Then and Now’, by Oodgeroo Noonuccal. It is also represented in the picture book ‘The Rabbits’, by Shawn Tan and John Marsden. These texts demonstrate how the Aboriginal people experienced a loss of culture, land and traditions due to the colonization of Australia.
The stolen generations, the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children that occurred in the late 19th Century to the 1970s have had effects on Indigenous people of Australia today. The 1997 report Bringing Them Home, from the Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, reports that up to one in three Indigenous children were forcibly removed during this time period. The vast number of indigenous children stolen and the immense amount of sorrow that had been caused has left a lasting impact in today’s Indigenous society. The physical, emotional and sexual abuse that was faced by the overwhelming number of members of the stolen generations has left some incapable of loving and maintaining relationships, leading to
160). If historically Indigenous students were excluded from the educational context (Jorgensen, Sullivan and Grootenboer, 2014, p. 6), it is more urgent now than ever that Indigenous students feel as if they are valued in the classroom through learning about their own culture and histories. Through the process of teaching Indigenous education, Indigenous students learn about their own cultural contexts while non-Indigenous students learn about the diverse and rich culture that has inhabited Australia for hundreds if not thousands of years. It is only through education that all students, Indigenous or non-Indigenous, can learn about Australia and the richness of the history, cultures and societies within it. The purpose of Indigenous education is therefore clearly to optimise the confidence and capability of Indigenous students and communities and to educate all Australians that Indigenous cultures and knowledge is as equally valid as non-Indigenous cultures in Australia (Beresford et al, 2003 as cited in Young,