Aboriginal Australians

Work By: Mohammed F. Al-Ajji 8B

UNIT QUESTION How have indigenous peoples been impacted by foreign populations? (How can cross-cultural exchanges impact society?)

SIGNIFICANT CONCEPT People around the world are all connected. (Cross-cultural exchanges impact peoples lives)

AOI HEALTH AND SOCIAL EDUCATION

HUMANITIES KEY CONCEPT Global Interactions

Pre-Colonization

Aboriginal Australians, also referred to as Aborigines, are people whose ancestors were indigenous to the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia or to the island of Tasmaniabefore British colonization of the continent began in 1788. Aboriginal people mainly lived as hunter-gatherers, hunting and foraging for food from the land. They moved from place to place in search of food and water. For food, Aboriginal people caught fish and shellfish from the sea and rivers, hunted kangaroos, possums and birds, collected plants or caught lizards. They used wood, bone and shells to make tools and weapons. When the natural resources of an area began to run low, Aboriginal people moved on to the next place. They did not farm the land, plant or harvest crops or herd animals. Although Aboriginal society was generally mobile, or semi-nomadic, moving due to the changing food availability found across different areas as seasons changed, the mode of life and material cultures varied greatly from region to region, and there were permanent settlements and agriculture in some areas. The greatest population density was to be found in the southern and eastern regions of the continent, the River Murray valley in particular.

To the aboriginals, family, community, land and the environment were the most important aspects of their culture. Each person had their own totem, either an animal or plant, with special ceremonies to perform each year to ensure the constant supply of that totem. You could not harm your totem.

Laws and Dreamtime

The aboriginals focused on family relationships, marriage, and rituals. If you broke the law you had to face a spear-throwing, and a group of men would hurl their spears at the law-breaker, who was usually allowed to defend himself with a shield.

Like many other indigenous peoples around the world, Aboriginal Australians have a deep connection with the land. They believed their ancestors lived in Australia since the beginning of time. Traditional beliefs explain their origins and relationships through stories of the Dreaming. The stories were usually works of art done by any aboriginal.

During the Colonization

British colonization of Australia began with the arrival of the First Fleet in Botany Bay in 1788. One immediate consequence of British settlement was a series of European epidemic diseases. Initially, the European explorers had reasonably friendly relations with the Aboriginal people. The relationship became hostile when Aboriginal people realized that the colonizers would seriously disturb their lives. The settlers took away land, natural food resources and the order of a nomadic life from Aborigines. Another consequence of British settlement was appropriation of land and water resources, which continued throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries as rural lands were converted for sheep and cattle grazing.

Between 1788 and 1900, the Aboriginal population was reduced by 90%. Three main reasons for this were the introduction of new diseases, loss of land and loss of people through direct fighting with the colonizers. A bad consequence of British settlement was the reduction of access to land and water resources. The settlers took the view that Aboriginal people, with a nomadic lifestyle, could easily be driven away from their lands. By the 1870s all the fertile areas of Australia had been taken from Aboriginal people and given to the white settlers. The loss of land and other essential resources such as food and water posed great danger to Aboriginal people who were left with no place to live and nowhere to hunt food. Already weakened by the new diseases spread by the new settlers, Aboriginal people had dramatically reduced chances for survival.

Land Rights

When the British arrived, they also claimed Australia as Terra Nullius (No Mans Land). All the Australian land was taken away from Aboriginals and given to the European settlers. The independent Aboriginal farms were confiscated in the 1920s without a compensation being paid. A known land rights activist is Vincent Lingiari. He though that The Wave Hill strike would eventually reshape the agenda of relationships between indigenous Australians and the wider community. Although initially an employee-rights action, it soon became a major federal issue when the Gurindji people demanded the return of their traditional lands.The strike lasted 8 years. Over that time, support for Aboriginal rights grew as the struggle intensified. The protest eventually led to the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976. This act gave indigenous Australians freehold title to traditional lands in the Northern Territory and, significantly, the power to negotiate over mining and development on those lands, including what type of compensation they would like.An important and symbolic event in Australian history occurred when, during an emotional ceremony in 1975, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam poured the local sand into Vincent Lingiari's hands, symbolically handing the Wave Hill station back to the Gurindji people. A photograph of the moment captured by Mervyn Bishop was purchased by the National Portrait Gallery and is displayed in Old Parliament House.On 7 June 1976, Lingiari was named a Member of the Order of Australia for his services to the Aboriginal people

Protection Policy

Protection was the policy, which gave state/territory governments powers over the lives of Aboriginal people, including: where they could live, employment, money and marriage. The government acted as their parent/protector. The government made this policy because it was seen as an act to save a dying race. It was made to separate Aboriginals from white Australians. They had a belief that aboriginal people were unable to care or make decisions for themselves. The government also thought they were inferior and uncivilized. These laws were in place from the mid 1800s until 1910.

Under the protection policy, aboriginal people were separated from white Australians and each other. The police had power to separate families and to force Aboriginal people to live on reserves, missions or stations. The Christian missions provided some protection for Aboriginal people but they also attacked Aboriginal cultural and spiritual beliefs in their aim to civilize and spread Christianity. On the reserves and missions, Aboriginals had few rights and their lives were completely controlled. They were often unpaid for their labour and marriage required permission. Protection resulted in great discrimination and control over Aboriginals.

By the 1920s, disease, despair and the removal from their traditional lands had led to a rapid decline in the Aboriginal population. As a result, reserves and missions began to be closed down. However, some remained until later in the 20th century.

Rabbit-Proof Fence

In the rabbit-proof fence movie we can see the changes the British made during the colonization. A quote from the movie is:

Mr. Neville was Chief Protector of Aborigines in Western Australia for 25 years.

He retired in 1940.

Here it talks about Mr Neville the chief protector that ordered people to get half-caste children to a camp near Moore River. In the name of the British, Mr. Neville wanted to breed out the black, and so he had to send them a thousand miles away, "to save them from themselves." Another quote clears out the point of the film:

Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their families throughout Australia until 1970.

Today many of these Aboriginal people continue to suffer from this destruction of identity, family life and culture.

We call them the Stolen Generations.

The stolen generations are the children that were stolen from there Aboriginal mothers, to then marry a white person from the British and give birth to a quadroon daughter, then a octaroon grandson. In the movie Mr. Neville explained that using this diagram:

Bibliography

PRIMARY SOURCES:

Rabbit Proof Fence. Prod. John Winter. Dir. Phillip Noyce. Miramax Films, 2002. DVD.

SECONDARY SOURCES:

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