Aborigines Best Practice - Essay Example

Aborigines Best Practice Students Name Institution Supervisor’s name Date Introduction The aborigines are indigenous Australians who originated specifically from the island of Tasmania. As part of best practice, the aborigines of Australia have had to work on their traditional practices in order to fit in to the changing times. In the past the Aboriginal community often divided themselves up in societies which were defined through a lineage on the mother's side or on the father's side. The families are called "local groups" due to the emphasis on the location and territory of the group. The antithesis to the tribe was the nuclear family. They went hunting and gathering through an area but they were always open to come in touch with other tribes. Some of the eldest men of a tribe were responsible for the land and for other fields there were. Because of those structures, no one was allowed to ever talk for the group as a whole or for someone else. Since early childhood, they are taught to accept their position in the tribe, meaning girls were encouraged to follow their mother while boys learnt how to use tools, hunting strategies and with other tribes from the father (Anonymous, 2013). There continues to be a commotion brought about in aboriginal civilization due to the post-colonial era and this has led to the detaching of close cultural ties of kinship which existed previously among the Indigenous communities all across Australia. Due to this reasons, the Aborigines currently are composed of a number of groups of tribes that share a similar community. The challenges faced by the Indigenous people have increased especially matters involving family violence as well as dependency on drugs. Basing on all these issues mentioned above, the indigenous community needed development with the aim of ensuring that they avoid these problems (Goodall, 2008). According to the critics, it is of most importance that the Aboriginal development strategies discuss significant community based observations. A great number of Aborigines living in Australia live below the poverty line and their life expectancy is extremely low as compared to that of an average non-indigenous Australian. Generally, their health status of these people is much poorer as compared to that of the other population living in Australia. The aboriginal Australians are known for their bad life practices that often end up affecting their lives (Smith, 2007). After populating several parts of Australia, they started to change their way of living and lived from then on in a nomadic way. The change in their living conditions is perhaps a reason of drastic climatic changes in certain times of the year. Living in the southeast and in the southwest is different from living in central Australia, the desert. The economy depended on the mobility of the groups hence storing nourishments was impossible and unnecessary. The mobility however is not limited since it was possible to come in touch with other tribes so as to develop trade and to exchange cultural aspects with each other (Elkin, 2003). Aborigines are known for being great hunters as well since they had good skills to build simple tools which made it possible for them to hunt in the harsh and unwelcoming Australian outback. Nonetheless, they did not take more than they needed from the land since the land was a sacred place for them thus they took care of natural resources. However, if a tribe killed more animals than they could eat, they invited other tribes (Anonymous, 2013). In the past community engagement if aborigines and other native Australians would involve violent confrontations with other groups, however different mechanisms have been placed in order to fight this. This is because the community realizes that for there to be an ongoing engagement the aborigine communities have had to develop governance arrangements which enable them to collectively engage with the Australian government and also in the same way realize the Australian government engaging with them depending on the purpose of engagement and scale (Elkin, 2003). When it comes to governance, the community will look at the relationships, processes, structures and instititutions by which the aborigine community organize in order to represent themselves. The nowadays we can find various aborigine groups set up to negociate their civil rights and interest with other Australian communities, they do this by being able to participate on how their affairs should be managed. There is a call for governance to me legitimate in the eyes of the aborigine community, meaning that those who make decisions for the aborigine community need to engage them in such forums (Lawlow, 2005). By doing so, the community governance bodies are able to represent diversity of the people whom they are representing through governance arrangements. However, with all this said, the aborigines still face challenges when it comes to governance. This is because governing the aborigine community has from time to time proved to be complex (Cowan, 2002). This is because modern western influence will always clash with the historical governance systems that were set up by the Australian elders. This means that governance systems will have to be renewed and made both effective and culturally legitimate for other community needs and actions. Governance and intervention in this way will need to also deal with the historical mix of the people and the kind of relationships that they would want to see maintained. The community also has cultural expectations when it comes to observing protocols that gives the Australian governance structures legitimacy in the eyes of indigenous people. In order for the communities to blend well with the existing government, the community realizes that their legitimacy also has to meet the expectations of the governments of Australia for a comprehensive decision making process. This has always been a challenge from both sides. However it is deemed achievable. One of the ways that his has been done is coming up with sound governance structures that are effective in engagement (Elkin, 2003). In order to build a lasting partnership and responsibility taking, the government requires providing effective engagement with aboriginal communities. This kind of partnership can only exist if organizations are sensitive to the challenges and constraints that aborigine communities face with engaging with other bodies. One of the most realized challenge when it comes to building partnerships and responsibility is how to manage and blend in to the different institutional demands that are placed on the indigenous aborigine communities (Rose, 2005). Like in the way they operate, the Australian government must interact with the aborigine community in ways that will impact positively on both of them. The government should also work towards providing independence to the aborigine community to continue practicing their long time culture so long as this is organized and does not infringe on the rights of other Australian communities (Goodall, 2008). The aborigine communities have come a long way to get to where they are at the moment. Racial discrimination has always been observed with the way the aborigine community is treated with regard to social, economic and political governance of the country. Best practices will thus mean that the Australian government needs to engage this minority indigenous group in all spheres of governance. One of the way that the government can be able to implement best practice among the aborigine groups is by introducing equal access to health, education and economic opportunities to these groups (Johnston, 2001). Conclusion They country needs to embrace the aborigine community as part of the country’s history. Governance systems may be different; however this can be remedied when more aborigine leaders are allowed to participate highly in the government structures. This will make them feel part of the larger Australian government thus reducing the continuous conflict that has always existed among the indigenous groups and the other groups of Australia. Lastly, more and more capable organizations from the aborigine community should come up and assist the aboriginal people to engage in a more strategic way, with dominant societies. This can be done if they use a wider range of options that will enable them to exercise a degree of control than would be the case if they were dealing directly with the government as individuals. If this is done, they will be able to keep their culture and at the same time, blend in with the changing times. Bibliography Anonymous. (2013). Aboriginal People Today and Their Struggle for Survival. GRIN Verlag. Cowan, J. (2002). Aborigine Dreaming: An Introduction to the Wisdom and Magic of the Aboriginal Traditions. Thorsons. Elkin, A. (2003). Aboriginal Men of High Degree: Initiation and Sorcery in the World's Oldest Tradition. Inner Traditions. Elkin, A. (2003). Aboriginal Men of High Degree: Initiation and Sorcery in the World's Oldest Tradition. Inner Traditions. Goodall, H. (2008). Invasion to Embassy: Land in Aboriginal Politics in New South Wales, 1770-1972. Sydney University Press. Johnston, S. (2001). Aboriginal Civilisation. Methuen Australia. Lawlow, R. (2005). Voices of the First Day: Awakening in the Aboriginal Dreamtime. Inner Traditions. Rose, D. B. (2005). Dingo Makes Us Human: Life and Land in an Australian Aboriginal Culture. Cambridge University Press; 1 edition. Smith, M. T. (2007). Archaeology of Aboriginal Culture Change in the Interior Southeast: Depopulation during the Early Historic Period (Florida Museum of Natural History: Ripley P. Bullen Series). University Press of Florida. Read More