The Impact and Effects of Colonization on Aboriginal People - Essay Example

The Relationship between People’s Personality Traits and Their Creative Ability Name Institution Explore and Discuss the Impact and Effects of Colonization on Aboriginal People The aboriginal people refer to people who had their ancestors originally living in the mainland Australia before it was colonized by the British in 1788. The first interaction between the two parties was friendly but it later on turned violent. The main reason for this feud was that the Aborigines were being forced out of their land and they saw the need to defend it. Despite their strong will to fight the British, their weapons disadvantaged them compared to those of their enemies. It was made legal in 1880 by the British government for settlers to use force to acquire land and many Aborigines lost their lives trying to defend themselves. Diseases coupled the natives’ problems because they did not have immunity to diseases brought over by the British. Diseases such as influenza, smallpox and tuberculosis killed almost half of the Aborigine population. The natives’ numbers reduced significantly and it constituted only two percent of the Australian population by the 1900s. This remaining portion opted to assimilate into the Australian culture despite experiencing harsh treatment from the colonists. The country of Australia was established in 1901 and laws that limited the Aborigines in terms of where they can work or live were created. Mixed children were taken from the Aborigines and they gradually lost contact with their own culture and parents. This was done with the main intention of ending the natives’ culture (Narine, 2010). However, the Australian government started changing some of its policies against the Aboriginal people. During the 1980s and the 1990s, the government came to a realization of how unnecessary the harsh mistreatment against the natives was. They Prime Minister, in 2008, later apologized to all the Aborigines on behalf of all Australians. This essay mainly focuses on discussing the impacts and effects that this colonization brought to the Aboriginal people. It narrows down its approach to reconciling Australia’s colonial past. The essay further analyses whether the measures taken by the government to materialize this reconciliation will work or not. The term ‘Aboriginal’ was coined by the British referring to the people that they had initially found occupying Australia. Before the European invasion, the Aboriginal people had an ideal lifestyle. They were hunters and gatherers and mostly did some farming too. The part of the population which lived along the coast practiced fishing by setting fish traps. They moved across the country depending on seasons. Each family member had a role that had some level of significance to the native culture. They only worked for their survival and this availed them with a lot of spare time. They used this time to develop and strengthen their beliefs, languages, laws and customs (Hipwell, 2007). The Europeans’ arrival was surprisingly welcomed by the unsuspecting natives. They even supplied them with food and water because this was in abundance. But the British saw them through different eyes. They considered Australia as a land being wasted and unoccupied, hence they moved to take over and control every aspect of it by colonizing the natives and working towards killing their culture. Many inhumane issues cropped up as a result of this discrimination against the Aborigines that hovers above Australia’s history. These issues include the brutal killing of many natives while they defended their land, the diseases brought by the British that further increased the number of dead bodies, the foods and alcohol introduced by the British reduced the natives’ life expectancy despite them being harmless, introduction of new plants by the Europeans took over native habitat that the Aborigines depended on, by taking the Aboriginal children from their parents, culture was lost and many legends concerning their beliefs simply disappeared. Each of these effects is discussed below (Bush, 2003). Many Aborigines were killed trying to defend their land and protect themselves. Many massacres took place all over Australia. They include the Massacre at Myall Creek, the Coniston massacre, the “Battle of Risdon” and many others were executed against the Aboriginal people by the British. Continued years of conflict was witnessed between the Aborigines and the white settlers and the native’s population grew smaller and smaller. Diseases that the Europeans came with into Australia further killed the Aboriginal people even more. This was mainly because they did not have any immunity to these diseases and did not also have access to their cure. The Aboriginal people reduced significantly in their numbers and as said earlier, by 1900s, it had shrunk to almost two percent of the entire Australia population (Bader, 2013). The British also brought foods which, as harmless as they were meant to be, had the effect of reducing the Aborigine’s life expectancy. Foods that constituted sugar and wheat brought obesity and heart diseases among the indigenous people of Australia. Being introduced to drinks containing the alcohol substance made the natives get addicted to it and loose much control of their lives and culture. New Flora and Fauna was introduced by the British and this took over the natural habitat that had initially existed. Some of the plants that were being used as herbal medicine or for ritual purposes became extinct. The entire ecological balance was somehow disrupted because the animals that depended on these plants moved to other areas in search of the same. The constant human-wildlife conflict brought about by the British encroachment completely changed the initial surroundings. The Aboriginal people existed in sync with their surroundings. How much game they hunted or where they lived depended on the amount that the environment can provide for them and hence they utilized the land to the maximum (Bader, 2013). The move to kill the Aboriginal culture is explained by the act of removing a mixed Aboriginal child from his or her parents and is taken away from their culture to be raised by a European family. The mixed child was supposed to be an offspring of an Aboriginal mother and other than Aboriginal father. Otherwise, the children were forced into reserves for their own “protection”, forced to work for rations and were given limited education. In the process, the Aboriginal culture slowly withered away. By the time the British were colonizing Australia, there were almost two hundred and fifty native languages but it has shriveled to only a fraction of that. All these effects have made the Aboriginal people to generate distrust for the whites in Australia. Over time, around 1980 and 1990, the Australian government realized that the discrimination and harsh treatment of the Aboriginal people was uncalled for. In 2008, the government moved through the Prime Minister and apologized to the natives on behalf of all other Australians. This was seen as a step towards creating measures that will see that there will be reconciliation between these two parties, the Aboriginals and the Islanders (Povenilli, 2013). The formal apology to the Aboriginal people was a reconciliation measure in itself. Other measures or events that occurred with the aim of reconciling the Australians include; Civil rights campaign of 1957-1967, a campaign for equal wages and the Wave Hill walk-off, amending laws concerning land ownership, the National Reconciliation week, the anniversary of the 1967 referendum (27th May), Anniversary of the high court judgment on the Mabo case (3rd June), Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and Reconciliation Australia, Corroboree (2000), Reconciling the nation (2000), a Wukidi ceremony for DhakiyarrWirrpanda (2003), Respect and healing (Povenilli, 2013). Activists converged and brought together both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people in the late 1950s to protest against laws that undermined the indigenous people. They wanted these laws reprieved. Warburton Ranges controversy was among the first of these campaigns. They launched a petition on 29th April 1957 for a referendum that will make the Aboriginal affairs a federal responsibility. The Conciliation and Arbitration commission ruled in 1968 on equal wages in the cattle industry. The Aboriginal people walked off Wave Hill Station as a sign to protest against mistreatment and bad working conditions. In 1967, the government recognized the Aboriginal people as rightful traditional land owners based on their historic rights as indigenous people. There is a national reconciliation week in Australia which was first celebrated in 1966. This is a week set aside for the Australians to put aside their differences as Aboriginal people and focus on reconciliation. The Mabo case has an anniversary that is celebrated on 3rd June. He argued that the rights of the Islanders to the land were not extinguished. The court agreed with this idea and ruled to their favor. They discarded the idea that Australia was empty of people when the British settled (Povenilli, 2013). 27th May is a date that celebrates the anniversary of the 1967 referendum. The referendum saw to it that the Aboriginal people were included in the census and the government mandated with the obligation of implementing policies that will benefit the indigenous people. The council for Aboriginal reconciliation was mandated with the mission of reconciling the Aboriginal people and the white Islanders and the entire Australian community living in Australia. However, it was replaced by a private body called Reconciliation Australia in January 2000 (Jull, & Giles, 2012). The Corroboree 2000 was a major National event celebrated to honor the milestones that have been made so far in the process of reconciling the Australian people. It was celebrated on May 27th to May 28th. On Sunday 28th May 2000, the Corroboree 2000 Bridge Walk took place with over two hundred and fifty thousand participants in support of the indigenous Australians. Finally, respect and healing was encouraged by the Council of Aboriginal Reconciliation by suggesting some activities to be carried out by the Australians. Some of the suggested activities included taking part in the reconciliation events and ceremonies, encouraging local businesses to erect reconciliation posters, sharing and finding more concerning the history of indigenous people including many more others (Bader, 2013). The measures put in place, the major events that have occurred and the active participation of the government in reconciling and healing Australians have a substantial basis and promising results. More should be done and many other avenues should be explored for as long as they help in the process of reconciliation. This includes incorporating the idea of including the indigenous people in the government. The reconciliation process should be conducted cautiously because of the distrust that exists between the Aboriginal people and the non-Aboriginal people. Misuse of words or suspicious acts by the government can destroy every reconciliation achievement that has ever been made (Shultis, & Browne, 1999). However, given the fact that there is active involvement in the reconciliation process, there is no guarantee that there will be a full and complete reconciled situation in Australia. There is no equal sign between these two ideas. Some things that happened can never be undone and there will be slips that might remind the indigenous people of the past happenings. Reconciliation does not have to take place on the front pages of newspapers but in the true acts from honest hearts of the Australians. Given that many reconciliation events may miss media coverage or not get as much media attention that it was getting fifteen years ago does not mean that the process is dead. The agenda should be kept straight with a clear mind. The many myths held against the indigenous people should be discarded because this does not help in reconciliation and they are often not based on the truth but mere tales (Fredericks, 2010). In conclusion, it should be in every Australian’s mind, especially the indigenous people, that reconciliation is not an event that will take place in a day, but a journey that will take time. It is not a process that attempts to make the white Australian feel guilty but a process that is capable of accommodating acceptance despite each other’s differences. Complaining to the government on every opportunity that presents itself does not hasten the process of reconciliation. A mutual understanding should exist amongst every individual in Australia concerning the issue of reconciliation and there will be a high chance of seeing the objective of complete reconciliation come to fruition and total harmony restored. References Bader, B. (2013). Uluru: Australia's Aboriginal Heart. The Horn Book Magazine, 79(6), 760. Bush, E. (2003). Uluru: Australia's Aboriginal Heart. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, 57(4), 139. Fredericks, B. (2010). Reempowering Ourselves: Australian Aboriginal Women. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 35(3), 546 – 550. Hipwell, W.T. (2007). Taiwan aboriginal ecotourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 34(4), 876 – 897. Jull, J., & Giles, A. (2012). Health equity, aboriginal peoples and occupational therapy. Canadian journal of occupational therapy, 79(2), 70. Narine, S. (2010). Survey shows Aboriginal colonization shapes history. Saskatchewan Sage, 14(11), 5. Povenilli, E. (2013). The ABORIGINAL People of Australia Today. Faces, 29(4), 8. Shultis, J., & Browne, A. (1999). Aboriginal collaboration. Parks & Recreation, 34(9), 108. Read More