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 20
th
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.

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