Aboriginal People in Australia - Essay Example

Aboriginal people in Australia Name Subject Professor Date Australian history includes famous Aboriginal people who have overcome hardships caused by colonisation, segregation, and genocide and child removal. Choose three individuals and describe their place in history and how they emerged as identities and what they do or do not have in common.  Famous Aboriginal people in Australia The Australian history is not complete without the mention and discussion of the aboriginal people. The aboriginal community in Australia has experienced various challenges especially in the past. For this reason, most of them have had to overcome great difficulties in order to attain great things for themselves as well as for their communities and the country as a whole. Even in the contemporary times, there are still numerous aboriginal individuals that are greatly disadvantaged in one way or the other. Some of the characteristics that are linked with the indigenous people of Australia include poor health, living in extremely remote areas, low chances of employment and low life expectancy among others (Davis and Bartlett, 2008, p. 57). This piece of paper will give an in-depth discussion of the indigenous people of Australia, who have overcome hardships, in one way or the other, and emerged victorious. The individuals of choice for this assignment are Cathy Freeman, Lowitja O’Donoghue and Neville Bonner. Their place in history and the manner in which they grew as identities will be highlighted. According to Sullivan (2006, p.56), most aboriginal people faced various life challenges as a result of aspects such as colonisation, genocide, child removal and segregation. Negative social attitudes are also an issue that they still have to handle on a day to day basis, alongside other challenges such as poor health and education chances. The good thing is that there are efforts to help the aboriginal people in the country. However, to achieve success and uplift the people, much more needs to be done by the involved parties. Not much is known about the famous aboriginal individuals in Australia. Nonetheless, the activists and role models among the aboriginal communities have a considerable influence to the next generation of the Australian youth. Cathy Freeman Stephenson (2007, p.112) argues that Cathy Freeman is an individual who is linked with a difficult childhood but later become successful in life. In the largest part of the 20th century, numerous aboriginal children faced the challenge of being taken away from their homes and families to be brought up in institutions that were run by the state. The fact that this act is out of the norm means that there were some disruption in their lives, which would in turn come along with different challenges. The main aim of the move was positive since it aimed at removing the children from aspects such as disease, poverty and addiction that were common among the aboriginal people. Nonetheless, the practice did not have only positive results but also negative ones such as erosion of ancient cultural traditions and broken family ties (Flood, 2006, p. 98). Cathy Freeman was lucky not to have been taken away from her family. However, she went through a difficult childhood that could have negatively affected her future life. For instance, she was molested as a child; an aspect that affects one’s psychologically and without proper intervention, could negatively affect one’s social life in the future. Freeman also lost her younger sister and father at a tender age (Bruce and Wensing, 2009, p. 90). Dealing with the loss of family members was not a good thing to experience at a young age. It is worth noting that Freeman did not lose hope of prospering in life despite the odds. Her talent of running was palpable even in her early days. Her mother played a great role in encouraging her to pursue her passion and interest in athletics. When Freeman was only ten, her stepfather hinted to her that through proper training, she would be in a position to win a gold medal at the Olympics. Being a member of a minority group, Freeman had no access to resources as it was the case for other athletes. She was however lucky to win a scholarship to a boarding institution of learning where she had a chance to learn and train. Through hard work and determination, Freeman competed at the National School Championship at the age of 15. She performed well, an aspect that inspired her to try out for the Commonwealth Games of 1990. She participated in the Australian National Championships where she performed well in different races (White, 2013, p. 158). It was during her athletic adventures that Freeman met an Australia track official, Nick Bideau, who became her manager, coach and life partner. Freeman’s life that was characterized by a difficult childhood but succeeded later is a clear indication that people are capable of overcoming life difficulties and emerging victorious in life. It however requires self-drive and a good support system. Lowitja O’Donoghue Krieg (2009, p. S29) asserts that just like Cathy Freeman, Lowitja O’Donoghue is another aboriginal individual that managed to overcome life challenges and become successful in life, despite coming from a less advantaged community. Lowitja was born in 1932, in a remote indigenous community. Like Freeman, Lowitja had a difficult childhood since she did not know her father. Lowitja talks of her life as a stolen child. At only two, Lowitja was taken away from her mother. Instead of living in a normal family set up, Lowitja lived at Colebrook Mission. She later reunited with her mother, after a period of 33 years, but it was not a good experience. This is more so because when her mother learnt that she was coming, she waited on the road for three months but still, they were not in a position to communicate in the manner that they would have wanted (Hartz-Karp and Carson, 2009, p. 28). When they greeted one another, the mother seemed to lose interest fast and wanted to leave, an aspect that made Lowitja assume that the mother was worried that it was expected of her to accommodate them. Despite the childhood hardships, Lowitja was in a position to succeed in life. After a long fight to win admission to a training hospital, Lowitja became the first black nurse in South Australia, which was a great achievement. Lowitja also became the first aboriginal woman to be awarded an Order of Australia in 1976. Other achievements associated with Lowitja, as a member of an aboriginal community, is the 1983 honour with a CBE and becoming Australian of the year in 1984. In addition, Lowitja secured the position of the founding chairperson of the aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (Arabena and Moodie, 2011, p. 532). All the achievements are a clear indication that a poor and difficult childhood should not always be a factor that leads to failure in later life. One’s determination and motivation is fundamental in rising against all odds and becoming a productive member of the society who is not only beneficial to self but the community at large. Lowitja rose from a poor girl with little exposure and less resources to a powerful politician and a leader. Both Freeman and Lowitja had difficult childhood, not living in a complete family set up and other challenges. However, they both turned out to be successful women by overcoming the difficulties through pursuing their dreams and working hard in life. Neville Bonner Neville Bonner is an aboriginal individual who cannot be underrated when it comes to the history of Australia. This is more so when counting those who have managed to overcome life challenges and become role models to others through their success stories. Neville was born in 1922 and he did not know his father since he went back to England even before Neville was born. He was born in poor conditions since his mother, as an aboriginal person, was not allowed to go to the hospital to give birth. They lived on an island and would only be in town after sunrise and out before sunset. At five years, they left the island to live with his grandparents who were also living in poor conditions (West and Murphy, 2010, p. 48). Due to poverty and hard life, at only seven, Neville had to help his grandfather and stepfather earn cash through the hard way, clearing the bush. Neville’s mother later died and he had to live with the grandparents, together with his brother. The grandmother motivated him to get education although they were not allowed into state-schools. Neville dedicated his life as a politician to fight for the rights of the aboriginal people (Halse, Deane, Hobson and Jones, 2007, p. 732). He counts making the lawmakers aware of the aboriginal people as a great achievement in his lifetime. Despite the challenges that Neville went through, he became the first aboriginal individual to sit in Federal parliament in the position of a Senator for Queensland for 12 years. During his journey from poverty to politics or parliament house, Neville experienced challenges such as discrimination and unemployment. Having known how it feels to be disadvantaged in the society, Neville used his political position to enhance the living conditions for the aborigines (Maddison, 2010, p. 671). He literary became a voice for his people who were hopeless and subjected to poverty and other harsh conditions. Freeman, Lowitja and Neville share the fact that they grew up in hardship and their childhood was not easy. None grew up with both parents and a complete support system. For this reason, their success in life is not attributed to having come from an advantaged background but rather by the zeal to be successful and pursue their dreams irrespective of the manner in which life unfolded itself to them. They all used their positions to help and uplift their people especially in fighting for their rights. With determination and personal drive in life, one is in a position to achieve a lot and even become a role model to others. Despite the fact that a good childhood or life foundation is a necessity to a good life, it is not the only factor that enhances success in life. Conclusion From the above discussion, it is clear that the indigenous people of Australia have suffered various problems in the past and are still disadvantaged in some areas even today. Some of the challenges they face include poor education and employment chances, poor health, remoteness, negative social attitudes, and proving land ownership among others. Despite the hardships, some have been in a position to overcome the odds and emerge victorious in life. This is a positive aspect that serves as a lesson to the rest that through hard work and determination, one can succeed in life and be a positive agent in their community and the nation as a whole. Some of the individuals that have risen amid life hardships are Cathy Freeman, Lowitja O’Donoghue and Neville Bonner as discussed above. They are a proof that difficulties in life can be used as stepping stones towards greater things in life. For a country such as Australia to move forward, there is need for equality among all communities. References Arabena, K. and Moodie, D., 2011. The Lowitja Institute: Building a national strategic research agenda to improve the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples—Research enterprise. Medical Journal of Australia, 194(10), p.532. Bruce, T. and Wensing, E., 2009. 'She's not one of us': Cathy Freeman and the place of Aboriginal people in Australian national culture. Australian Aboriginal Studies, (2), p.90. Davis, S. and Bartlett, H., 2008. Review Article: Healthy ageing in rural Australia: Issues and challenges. Australasian Journal on Ageing, 27(2), pp.56-60. Flood, J., 2006. Original Australians: Story of the Aboriginal people. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. Halse, C., Deane, E., Hobson, J. and Jones, G., 2007. The research–teaching nexus: what do national teaching awards tell us?. Studies in higher education, 32(6), pp.727-746. Hartz-Karp, J. and Carson, L., 2009. Putting the people into politics: The Australian citizens’ parliament. International Journal of Public Participation, 3(1), pp.9-31. Krieg, A., 2009. The experience of collective trauma in Australian Indigenous communities. Australasian Psychiatry, 17(sup1), pp.S28-S32. Maddison, S., 2010. White parliament, black politics: The dilemmas of Indigenous parliamentary representation. Australian Journal of Political Science, 45(4), pp.663-680. Stephenson, P., 2007. The outsiders within: telling Australia's Indigenous-Asian story. Sydney: UNSW Press. Sullivan, P., 2006. Indigenous governance: The Harvard Project on Native American economic development and appropriate principles of governance for Aboriginal Australia. Canberra: AIATSIS. West, B.A. and Murphy, F.T., 2010. A brief history of Australia. New York: Infobase Publishing. White, L., 2013. Cathy Freeman and Australia’s indigenous heritage: A new beginning for an old nation at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 19(2), pp.153-170. Read More