The Key Purpose And Rationale For Why The Government Had Policies Of Protection - Essay Example

Discuss the key purpose and rationale for why the government had policies of protection Table of Contents Introduction 3 Background 3 The Reasons for the Culture Clash 4 The Government Policies for the Aboriginal People 7 Conclusion 10 Introduction The culture clash between the Aboriginals and the European settlers in the 18th and 19th century decided the fate of the Australian history. Today, Australia is a developed nation, where the indigenous people are residing with the white settlers in peace and harmony. However, this peace had been the fruit of much bloodshed that continued for many decades. In this paper, I will attempt to introduce briefly the background of the clash between the Europeans and the Aboriginals and find out the probable reasons behind it. While doing so, governmental policies towards the Aboriginal people will also be analysed and interpreted. Background The history of Australia is full of violence and bloodshed. The Aboriginal people are considered to be the earliest human race of Australia and is believed to have arrived in this land from the South East Asia around fifty thousand years ago probably during the Ice Age. The Aboriginals who are “Australia’s first people are divided into two main groups- the Aboriginal people of mainland Australia and the southern island of Tasmania” (Bartlett. 2002)1. During the last half of 17th century, the European explorers including the British sailed down to reach the coast of Australia. During that period, it was known as New Holland. The primary reason for British settlement was to find a suitable place for their convicts to be punished. Then British Governor, Arthur Phillip reached Australia with “two warships, three supply ships and six ships which carried the main group, almost 800 convicts” (Virginia Tech, n.d.)2. The Europeans however decided to settle down in this land as they found it ideal for cattle and sheep rearing. The ensuing clash of cultures between the two societies (The European and the Aborigines) led to terrible violence and occasional bloodshed. The period of European invasion in Australia is often called as the dark period in the Aboriginal history. Such ruthless had been the invasion, that this period is known as the ‘Killing Time’ in the Australian Museum’s Aboriginal Gallery (Simpson. 2001)3. The Reasons for the Culture Clash Initially, the Australian Aboriginal people did not accept the European settlers and revolted against them. But the Europeans were well equipped with the latest weapons that they had brought with themselves from Europe. The Aboriginal people were unable to compete with them and thus the Europeans got an upper hand in the Land of Australia. The ownership of land was the major and the first reason for conflict between these two communities. The Aboriginals did not use the land for farming, building houses or for any other purpose and hence the Europeans did not recognise them as the owner of the land. The British looked down upon the Aboriginals as ‘uncivilized, and believed that the land could not belong them. Therefore, they declared the Australian land ‘terra nullins’ which meant, the land having no owner (Crawford and Tantiprasut. 2003)4. The Aboriginals were habituated to live in the forests of Australia and they needed it for hunting, whereas the Europeans wanted it to use this land for pastoral purpose. While discussing the relationships between the European settlers and the Aboriginals; Clark and Heydon stated that Europeans settlers banished the Aboriginal people from their own territory and discarded their ownership of their traditional land. However, this act of dispossessing the Aboriginals seemed quite justified to the European settlers (Clark, and Heydon. 2004)5. The European considered themselves superior than the indigenous people of Australia. During the Eighteenth Century, the Europeans were considered to be the most sophisticated as they were educated and knew the use of the latest technologies. The life style of the Aboriginal people was like that of a ‘forest-dweller’ with little or no covering on the bodies. This difference on ‘clothing’ was another factor that caused culture clash. Europeans were not accustomed nor were willing to stay with unclothed men. Mattingley in his book “Survival in our own land” have mentioned an instance where, the British Governor, Hindmarsh was shocked to see the unclothed men among them and decided to provide clothes to them (Mattingley. 1992)6. The missionaries from Europe found Australia an ideal place for spreading Christianity. The European religion necessarily demanded a paradigm shift in the Aboriginals’ lifestyle. The missionaries believed that ‘cleanliness is next to the godliness’ and hence, ‘the wearing of clothes’ and ‘laundry work’ were made compulsory in the Aboriginal society which the Aboriginal people did not find comfortable. They claimed that the clothes supplied by the Europeans for the station workers were inferior in quality (Mattingley. 1992)7. Another disappointing European interference was the distribution of ‘Kings Plates’ that was made of brass and specially designed for the Aboriginals. The natives however, did not appreciate this idea as their society never included any ‘hereditary chiefs’. Maynard realized that the primary objective of distributing the Kings Plates was to differentiate the Aboriginals and to impose Europeanised hierarchy value on the Aboriginal society (Maynard. 1994)8. This tradition of wearing King Plates continued till the twentieth century. The ‘progress’ that was initiated by the European towards the Aboriginal society was an attempt to subjugate the black community and to get rid of their traditional unhealthy and uncivilized clothing habits. Food was another important factor, with the help of which the British controlled the Aboriginal people. Prior to the European invasion, the food habit of Aboriginal people was dependant on the area of their habitation. Agricultural techniques were hardly known to them. The Europeans were the first to introduce exotic food habits into this native society. They used food as a ‘bribe’ to solve disputes related to land ownership. The European Government set up some ‘feeding stations’ that used to provide ration to the Aboriginal people. This resulted in the withering away of the aboriginal habit of hunting and food gathering. Moreover, the modern food stuffs provided by the Europeans were unsuitable for them as the quality of the supplied food was inferior. The food provided by the British included inferior flour, tea and sugar which proved to be unhealthy for the Aboriginals and they suffered from malnutrition (Mattingley. 1992)9. Missionaries provided food to them as a reward for being converted into Christians and for allowing their children to attend missionary schools. The native people as well as prisoners were discriminated and were given inferior food as compared to the European prisoners. The teachings of the missionaries too proved to be a bone of contention among the Aboriginals and the Europeans. In order to convert the Aboriginals into Christians, it was necessary to teach them English language so that they are able to read the Bible. During 1788, there were around 250 regional languages spoken by the Aboriginals and the population was more than 300000 (Jupp. 2001)10. The Aboriginal people found the foreign language very difficult and they feared that their own traditional languages would lose their importance. The Government Policies for the Aboriginal People The treatment of the European towards the Aboriginal people was unacceptable. The natives were discriminated and subjugated in their own land. The lives of this indigenous people were inextricably linked with that of nature. The clearing of forest for European settlements not only did away with their livelihood but also made them prone to diseases like small pox as their immune system failed to defend them from such diseases. Moreover, during the eighteenth and nineteenth century violence in the frontier was so terrible that it is often defined as genocide (Schimmel and Prize. 2005)11. In Tasmania, the violence was so brutal that most of them were killed and the rest escaped to the other places. The Europeans and the missionaries demanded rehabilitation policies for the Aboriginals. The colonial legislatures were formed to improve the conditions of the Aboriginals. However, the hidden objective of these colonial legislatures and policies was to suppress and control the Aboriginal people. The Aboriginals were a significant source of labour supply for the industries in Australia. The Aboriginal labours were exploited by the British. There were six Australian colonies, and in 1901, all these colonies became a ‘Federation’. The European settlers turned Australians realised that the Aboriginal people are becoming a dying race and the Federal Government constituted references for them (City of Sydney. 2002)12. Prior to this period, an initiative was taken in order to protect the Aboriginal people. The Australian State formulated an administrative department for this purpose. These departments were responsible for certain tasks. They were supposed to appoint protectors for aboriginals, to manage the Aboriginal reserves, to assist the church mission and to exercise a particular authority for the Aboriginal people on pastoral stations (Armitage. 1995)13. However, these policies were unable to bring much relief to the Aboriginal people whose condition had become dismal by then. In 1929, the compulsory voting was first introduced in New South Wales but the Aboriginal people were not given the voting rights as per the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 (City of Sydney. 2002)14 Until 1960, the Aboriginal people were excluded from the basic right in their own land. The two governments in Australia; the Federal Government and the State Government were responsible for maintaining the laws in Australia. The national referendum of 1967 helped to remove discriminatory policies from the Australian prevailing Constitution (Howells. 2007)15. According to this national referendum, the Federal Government was given the responsibility to control the affairs of the Aboriginals. The Aboriginal people were given the right to vote in Australia. According to referendum of 1967, the Aboriginals were included in the national census which gave them the identity of a true civilian in the state of Australia “(Brock, 1993)16. However, not until the Whitlam Labour government came into force in 1972, that these powers of the Federal Government were implemented properly in all the regions. From then on, the Federal Government has continued to look after the affairs of the Aboriginals and has taken necessary steps for the betterment of the indigenous people in Australia. However, it is the State Governments that are responsible for implementing the policies formulated by the Federal Government in their respective regions. Currently, Australian Government has strict laws against racial discrimination. In 1986, the Australian Government established ‘The Australian Human Rights Commission’ which is an independent body responsible for protecting and promoting the human right in Australia (The Australian Human Rights Commission-website. 2010)17. Conclusion After decades of suffering the Aboriginal people of Australia have finally settled down in peace. The cultural clashes ensuing after the European invasion brought along untold miseries to the Aboriginals. Not only were they deprived of their land but also of their livelihood, language and culture. Initially, the British Colonial Government tried to wipe out the very existence of the Aboriginal people as British settlers considered the indigenous people of the Australia as inferior and primitive human being. Some two hundred years later the Federal Government did make attempts to restore the dignity of the Aboriginal people. This Government acknowledged their identity and gave them the opportunity and the right to decide their own future. Read More