Dominant and Subordinate Cultures

Dominant and Subordinate Cultures Some of the greatest assaults committed on particular cultures have

been with good intentions. In some cases, the cultures just may have

different viewpoints as to what is right, or best in that specific

situation. For the Australian Aboriginals, the greatest assault may

well have been the taking of children from their families; they later

became known as the ‘Stolen Generation’. These children were then

raised among the white community, usually with minimum knowledge of

their true identity. This essay will focus on the good intentions of

the white Australians, the objective of which was to incorporate these

Aboriginal children into the white Australian culture, as well as the

reasons for such a drastic failure of this effort. This effort caused

families to be torn apart and children to grow up in a culture that

was not naturally their own.

From the late 1800’s until the practice was officially ended in 1969,

Indigenous children were taken from their families to be raised by

white Australians. This was a common occurrence in every Australian

state and could generally be separated into three forms: some children

were placed into Government run institutions, others were adopted into

white families and the remaining children were fostered into white

families (Stolen Generation [accessed July 2003]). The adoption and

fostering of Indigenous children was more common among the

‘fair-skinned’ children, as they were expected to be less cons...

... middle of paper ...

... BIBLIOGRAPHY:

* Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Social Justice, [access July

2003]

Brining them home: The ‘stolen generation’ report

<

http://www.humanrights.gov.au/social_justice/stolen_children/index.html>

* Davies, Nick 1996. Of white lies and stolen lives. The Age 6/7/96,

14.

* Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, [access July 2003]

Bringing Them Home- The Report.

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/special/rsjproject/rsjlibrary/hreoc/stolen/part1.rt

* McGuinness, 1994, ‘A history of invasion ignores more balanced

school of thought’ The Age: 15.

* Muecke, Stephen 1999, Postcolonial Studies.

Volume 2, Issue 1- The Institute of Postcolonial Studies

* Stolen Generation [accessed July 2003]

Stolen Generation. www.dreamtime.net.au/indigenous/family.cfm