The Impacts of Colonization on Hauora for Maori and Australian Aborigine - Coursework Example

The Impacts of Colonization on Hauora for Maori and Australian Aborigine The Impacts of Colonization on Hauora for Maori and Australian Aborigine 1.1 The impact of colonization on Hauora Maori and Aborigines at a Regional and National level with Regards to Cultural Customs The British colonization significantly impacted on the cultural customs of the Haura Maori and the Australian Aborigines both at the regional levels as well as at the national level. For example, with regard to the Maori people, colonization had a lasting impact on the cultural customs which are commonly referred to Tikanga (Ministry of Māori Development, 2004). One of the major impacts of the colonization on the cultural customs of the haurora Maori at the regional level is that the effects of colonization such as urbanization significantly endangered the cultural heritage of the Maori at the regional level. For example, many cultural sites were destroyed or modified. On the national level, one of the effects of colonialism on the Tikanga of the Maori people was attributed to the confiscation of their land by the colonialist and the consequent exclusion of the Maori people from both their land as well as from their culture. Despite the treaty of Waitangi that guaranteed the protection, the violation Maori rights such as discrimination against the use of Maori language in schools by the colonialists significantly impacted on their cultural customs and identity at the national level. On the other hand, indigenous Australian aborigines were also affected by colonization both regionally and nationally. For example, regionally, the Australian aborigines just like the Maori had strong cultural and spiritual connection to their land. As a result, the confiscation of their land particularly their traditional areas significantly affected their cultural and spiritual practices. At the national level, the demonization of the Aboriginal culture by the colonialists such as through the missionary influences played a critical role in the destruction of the traditional Aboriginal cultural practices. 1.2. The impact of colonization on the cultural base and the effect these have on hauora Maori and Australian Aborigine Colonization had a great impact on Hauora for Maori and Australian aborigine. These changes not only affected the way people lived but also their psychological and spiritual wellbeing. To a larger extent the community was organized in a way to distinguish specific roles for men and women. The cultural orientation of the people isolated what a woman was expected to do and what men were expected to do. As colonization took effect these roles changed and the view and native way of living of the people changed as they became more money oriented and everyone ended up believing that any person could do any work irrespective of gender (Hill, 2009). With increased ideas about feminism and the need to identify the place of a woman in the community changed the way of living as a result eroded the communal way of living. Colonization therefore destroyed the social organization of Maori society. The major negative impact of colonialism was associated with racism as people became more concerned with which race they came from and the socioeconomic status of such races. This brought about class distinction and essence destroyed the value attached to communal life. This kind of racial segregation inflicted fear and anxiety to people as they saw the other races as enemies. Before colonization kinship and family ties were valued to great extent and children could freely identify with kinship from either parents or both parents and conception was not seen as a sin but as away of ensuring continuity in the linage of the family. The impact of colonization changed the whole view of marriage and family and as a result several marriages have broken and there has been a reduced number of children within a family. Additionally, with the economic pressure and stress associated with industrialization as a result of colonialism there has been increased rate of sexual assault on women which in the Maori society was considered improper and could attract heavy penalty and punishment including death. Lastly, colonization brought lasting impacts on the spiritual; health of the indigenous Australian people. Originally, the indigenous inhabitants of Australia had their religious and spiritual beliefs before colonization. However, the European colonialists introduced Christianity and many indigenous communities eventually abandoned their traditional religions. Many people converted to Christianity and they became more confident to ensure economic progress of their families and the country as a whole. Although Christianity and education to Maori society were largely beneficial to the community and the country as a whole, it negatively impacted don the traditional religions of the indigenous people. 1.3. Three (3) contemporary issues affecting hauora Maori and Australian Aborigine as a result of colonization in accordance with cultural customs There are a number of contemporary issues affecting hauora Maori and the Australian aborigines that can be attributed to the lasting effects of the British colonization. According to Larson et al. (2007), some of the major issues include racism and discrimination as well as issues of rights, access, and participation and achievement rates across developmental activities. Generally, New Zealand efforts to repeal and reform the foreshore and seabed act 2004 and support for the declaration of United Nations on indigenous people’s rights have significantly promoted the rights and concerns of the Maori. These steps have promoted their rights. The right of Maori people to their indigenous lands should be respected. The Waitangi treaty, New Zealand laws and other international human right laws should be implemented. Domestic laws contravening these laws and treaties should be amended. The Maori people are under treaty settlement negotiations with the government. It should explore and develop meaningful ways of solving the negotiation process. The imbalance between powers of the government negotiators and the Maori should be resolved. Colonization had a great effect on traditional Maori healing. Tohunga affecting their confidence in Tohunga could not combat new disease brought by Europeans (Larson et al., 2007). Assimilation language policies have left new generation Maori unable to speak Te ro Maori. It is very difficult for modern Maori to inherit culture from old generations especially parts that were to be though by Maori language such as Tohunga. The Aboriginal’s culture was lost through government policy of cultural reprogramming. 250 indigenous languages existed before colonization. Significantly, fewer languages exist today. They were dispossessed of their land and as a result many people cannot access their traditional hunting grounds and fertile lands where plenty of food could be found. Their native fish traps and native habitats were destroyed. Their fishing grounds have been polluted significantly affecting their food sources and health outcomes. Colonization has led to low income and social status for indigenous people in Canada and New Zealand. This has contributed to significant health disparities between indigenous and non-indigenous people. With their culture and customs gone, understanding health perspectives of indigenous people is difficult. It can be the key for better health outcomes for all indigenous people. 2.1. Conclusions on how Colonization has Impacted Hauora Maori and Australian Aborigine Colonization has impacted on Hauora maori and Australian Aborigines in a number of ways including on areas such as education, urban migration, employment and housing. With regard to education, the colonialist introduced western education that significantly changed the lives of the Maori and the Australian aborigines. Today, the indigenous people currently have a right to establish and manage educations systems of their choice. They should align their education systems in a manner that considers their cultural methods of learning. All people and children from all people should have an equal right to access all forms of education. The Maori people should have the right to teach their children their indigenous languages and customs in their education systems. Generally, the colonialists implemented a British education system with schools provided for by the government and taught in English. Education is critical to future success and development of individuals as it determines employment and occupation status. On the other hand, the British also provided unequal education opportunities for indigenous people for many decades. Their biases are still effective in many education institutions today. Programs such as te kotahi tanga were developed to bridge the inequitable teaching provided to Maori children. They serve to improve teacher performance and engagement with Maori students and are key to the provision of high quality education to Maori children. These programs are expensive and time consuming despite providing an avenue for Maori to access tertiary and higher education. However, the inequality of Maori students and non-indigenous students is a failure of the education system. These inequalities lead to higher costs for education for Maori. Structural inequalities in social, economic, environmental, and political aspects should be removed through radical strategies. The aboriginal children are disadvantaged and fall behind other non-indigenous children in education. Effects of colonization still affect their performance due to poverty, reduced family ties, crime, and violence. School attendance rates are disproportionally lower for aboriginal youth. With regard to urban migration, the Government policy for migration of Maori society prevented Maori families from rural areas from living together in urban centers. They were allocated housing in white neighborhoods reducing their chances of using their native language. This allowed the dominance of the English language (Ministry of Maori Development, 2004). Currently, the Maori and the aboriginal people living in urban centers such as Sidney and Melbourne are more likely to live in poverty than non-aboriginal people are. Their living conditions are deplorable compared to the general living conditions for all Canadians. On the other hand, on matters of employment, the unemployment rates of the indigenous people remain three times higher compared to that of Europeans aged 15 years and over. The Maori people continue to face discrimination in the labour marketing getting jobs. They get lower cadre jobs with lower wages for the work done. For example, the aboriginal people in Australia have very low employment rates. Compared to other Australians, they are not visible in the labour force as their unemployment rates are two to three times higher than that of other Australians. Lastly, colonialism has also significantly impacted on housing. For example, major differences exist between the quality of housing in Maori and non-Maori in New Zealand. Discrimination in renting and buying housing properties for the Maori exists. Most Maori people live in rental and temporary housing. They are also more likely to live in crowded housing environments than non-Maoris are. This significantly influences their health outcomes due to higher risks of bad lifestyles. The aboriginal people continue to live in crowded reserve housing. They cannot access to clean water and sanitation making them suffers high rates of infectious diseases and mortality rates. Lack of access to traditional foods in this housing has contributed to poor health outcomes and overreliance on government. Lack of diversified diets due to poverty and environment has contributed significantly to poor health outcomes. 2.2. Conclusions about the Social Status and its Impact on Hauora Resulting from Colonization of Maori and Australian Aborigine The changes that were brought about by colonialism to the way of life of Maori society affected their social wellbeing and interfered with their cultural values as well as social organization. Beneficial changes were seen in empowering women to take up more leadership roles in the society and the country. By confiscating the native lands from the Aborigines and other Australian natives such as the Maori, the colonists succeeded in reducing the indigenous people to mere savages occupying the lowest social class in the society. For example, with the loss of their land, food increasingly became harder to find and many Aborigines and Maori people became poorer thereby further widening their class differences with the White colonists. This was particularly the case in hapū and Tauranga iwi were large swathes of land were lost to the colonialists notably through public works and crown purchasing. According to (AIHW, 2005), one of the most important conclusions about the Social Status and its Impact on Hauora resulting from colonization of Maori and Australian Aborigine is that it resulted in the disparities in terms of health and lifestyle between the indigenous people such as Maoris and Aborigines and the settlers on the other hand. This was particularly evidenced in the mortality and morbidity gaps between the indigenous people who were economically deprived and the colonial settlers. For example, a significant percentage of the deaths of the indigenous people are attributed to diseases whose healthcare is available. 2.3. Conclusion for Three (3) Issues Below for Maori and Australian Aborigine Which can be Attributed to Colonization and how it has Impacted on their Hauora Based on the analysis, the three main issues on which the Maori and the Australian aborigines were most affected include social structure, language and religion. For example, with regard to the potential impacts on colonialism on the social structure of the Maori and the Aborigines, the introduction of the assimilation policies by the British colonizers sought to persuade the indigenous Austrian tribes such as the Maori and the Aborigines to abandon their traditional structure. Before colonization, the indigenous people of Australia were organized in a social structure that distinguished specific roles for men and women in the society. However, as colonization took effect these roles changed and the view and native way of living of the people changed as they became more money oriented and everyone ended up believing that any person could do any work irrespective of gender. As a result, the social structure of the indigenous groups was significantly affected and many tribes and communities struggled to stay together. This was particularly evidenced in “the lost generation” when hundreds of Aborigine children were forcefully removed from their parents and taken to European schools. On the other hand, language of the indigenous people was also significantly affected as the colonists imposed their English language and discriminated against the use of local languages. For example, although 250 indigenous languages existed before colonization, significantly fewer languages exist in Australian today. Lastly, on matters of religion, the indigenous inhabitants of Australia had their religious and spiritual beliefs before colonization. However, the European colonists introduced Christianity and many indigenous communities eventually abandoned their traditional religions. References Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2005). The Health and Welfare of Australias Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra. Hill, R. (2009). Maori and State Policy. In Byrnes, Giselle. The New Oxford History of New Zealand. London: Oxford University Press. Larson, A., Gilles, M., Howard, P. J. & Coffin, J. (2007). The impact of racism on the health of Aboriginal Australians. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 31,4, 322–329. Ministry of Māori Development, (2004), Māori Language in the Community, Ministry of Māori Development, Wellington  Ramsden, I. (2004). The Outcomes of Colonisation for Maori people and Maori Health Status. Palmerston: Maori Development Conference. Read More