Housing for Aboriginal Australia - Essay Example

Housing for Aboriginal Australia Introduction Cultural identity of a tribe, a people, a nation or an ethnic group is best expressed through their housing structures. Australia's aboriginals have placed their signature on the canvas of the country's landscape by raising similar structural abodes of their own. These structures express their cultural and ethnic identity (AIAS, 1983). Indigenous communities like the Australia's aboriginals have been engaged in a unique effort of building dwelling structures that display a systematic process of qualitative design paradigms that are sui generis and practically infallible. Analysis Indigenous architecture necessarily identifies with the otherwise inexplicable participatory and consultative design methodologies (Memmott, 2008). Such methodologies or techniques are presumed to be not-so-well calculated or inarticulate though. Australian aboriginals have been known for their indefatigable behavioral tendencies in relation to habitat building efforts (Glascott, 1985). Despite their indigenous qualitative outcomes, a series of deficiencies too has been noted by analysts. The following dimensional analysis of the Australian aboriginals' abode building experience illustrates the whole process of community house building efforts of an indigenous community and their related outcomes (Vulker, 1990). (1). Indigenous cultural dimension The impact of indigenous culture on the design and construction processes of abodes or dwellings has received much wider attention, especially with emphasis on indigenous people's gregarious behavioral tendency. The community feeling or congregational behavior in indigenous communities such as aboriginals has been investigated with reference to many other aspects though it has very little been studied with reference to their effort to build structures for living (Trewin and ABS, 2006). Indigenous culture of Australian aboriginals has been necessarily associated with their community living experience that presupposes societal interaction at each and every level of social transformation. For instance the aboriginal houses built at Broken Hills in Mutawintji have communal living rooms, bigger cooking areas for preparation of hunted animals, dormitory-like bedrooms and huge compounds (www.heritage.nsw.gov.au, see Appendix). For instance despite the larger impact of migration on these cultures, still these indigenous populations have managed to remain relatively uninfluenced by exogenous forces of change. However the dichotomy between the traditional culture and the contemporary culture being absorbed by them cannot be emphasized too much. Under exceptional circumstances this dichotomy can be taken to identify a clash of sorts, viz. the contemporary culture might seek to influence the traditional culture to such an extent that societal transformation of the indigenous populations would acquire a heterogeneous element of identity (Flood, 2007). Thus Australian aboriginals have recognized the all too important dichotomy to be a phase just preceding the fluid situation (Burke, 2004). In fact Australian aboriginals have seen how their own culture in housing design and construction has been influenced by the contemporary culture of the heterogeneous diversity. This is an inevitable influence on structure, design and materials. (2). Indigenous design dimension Indigenous populations like the Australian aboriginals have particularly been able to develop their own design parameters and above all the participatory and consultative paradigms that have been essentially associated with such design processes occupy a still more significant place. Australian aboriginals have been noted for their exotic structural design perspectives in housing (Read, 2000). While autochthonous design traits persist to a greater extent there are also some exogenous characteristics that permeate through the design and construction process. For instance despite an elemental presence of traces of indigenous heritage, there is a substantial amount of contemporary influence on design process as seen in monolithic frames and shapes (See Appendix). (3). Indigenous technology dimension The use of indigenous technologies by Australian aboriginals has been seen as a vivid example of self-reliance though as already pointed out indigenous technical know-how has been influenced by modern technologies of the contemporary culture (Leach, Moulis and Sully, 2008). For instance natural shelters such caves and stone formations were/are used by aboriginals to provide them with the basic requirements. However when their needs become complex such structures are transformed into half-traditional and half-modern structures. The previously used hides, barks, boughs and branches to clad walls and floors have increasingly been replaced with water-proof and wet-proof modern materials. Indigenous technologies used to play a very big role in the past and in many instances such technologies as were seen in use then didn't make the life and living comfortable though. For instance natural structures like caves and densely grown tree canopies were not water-proof. Cement plasters were gradually used in such instances by aboriginals to ward off trouble during the rains. Neither did such technologies provide them with protection during the winter. However aboriginals' houses didn't acquire such a fast and rapid pace of conversion into modernity in a short time period (ABS, 2001). The transformation process was slow and steady and technology became a critical issue only when indigenous community living became more complicated due to migration. (4). Indigenous community living dimension Indigenous communities like the Australian aboriginals have been known for their preference to live a nomadic life. Unlike wandering nomads aboriginals used to concentrate in a single place and live a closely-knit life. The social conventions and customs served as the focal point for congregation and continuity. When it came to the construction of an abode or a shelter, they got together in a spirit of mutual support and helped each other to build structures (www.aboriginalculture.com). While community living had little regard for external threats from such sources as animals and serpents, houses weren't necessarily designed to afford this kind of protection either. Community living practices, among Australian aboriginals, weren't so complex then; however with the passage of time and the contemporary culture exerting its influence on the traditional culture of aboriginals, such practices began to be more complex and diverse (Bourke, 1998). Societal transformation brought with it some positive impact to bear on the housing needs of aboriginals. For instance community living reinforced the dynamic process of change with each day seeing some new concepts in housing being developed. (5). Indigenous social process and evolution dimension The impact of change has been the biggest development concerning the housing for aboriginals in Australia. The evolutionary process saw how the traditional culture had to come to terms with the modern culture. The latter relentlessly exerted its pressure on the former by way of an assault on its values and practices. Housing of aboriginals wasn't spared by this relentless assault. For instance by the early 1960's Australian aboriginals realized how powerful the winds of change were despite their indefatigable resistance to change. This process of change affected the very shape of Australian aboriginals' houses. They acquired a certain amount of sophistication in the process. Houses began to look more convenient and more compact, though in many instances aboriginals were more conscious about the space. Such changes were more obvious in the subsequent decades when 1970's and 1980's saw the rapid transformation of the aboriginals' housing structures that were hitherto seen as typical mia-mias and gunyas, the original structures, now seemed like some crossbreeds or hybrids (Golub, 2006). These changes were not necessitated by time alone but by need as well. Conclusion Australian aboriginals' houses have attracted the attention of any researchers due to their more dynamic looks and the tinge of modernity. Despite being simple and typical aboriginal structures that nature had endowed on the man at the beginning, they gradually acquired some modern and complex characteristics through the synthesis process with contemporary culture. While the cultural dimension played a big role in determining the nature and shape of these houses at the beginning, gradually some acculturation process came into motion tom dislodge some of the rugged features of these houses(AS, NSW, 2008). As usual with time going there happened to be some irreversible changes though Australian aboriginals did not altogether give up the original features of their houses over time. The process of change was gradual but the change has had its toll on the unique nature of aboriginals' houses. The dynamic nature of these houses was underlined by the fact that they weren't the simple aboriginals' structures. They were in fact designed with a thought on day-to-day needs of the community and its survival. For instance they had spacious rooms including a kitchen, with all the requirements for the cooking of game. Above all they had a huge compound for evening gatherings. REFERENCES 1. Anthropological Society of New South Wales, 2008, Australian journal of anthropology, Anthropological Society of New South Wales, New South Wales. 2. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2001, Housing and Infrastructure in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities, Australia, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra. 3. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, 1983, Australian aboriginal studies: journal of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, Canberra. 4. Bourke, C. 1998, Aboriginal Australia: An Introductory Reader in Aboriginal Studies, University of Queensland Press, Queensland. 5. Burke, T. 2004, Managing Social Housing for Indigenous Populations, Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology, Swinbune, viewed by 10th June 2009, . 6. Flood, J. 2007, The Original Australians: Story of the Aboriginal People, Allen & Unwin Academic, New South Wales. 7. Glascott, J. 1985, The First houses in Australia, Victoria's Community Information Portal, Melbourne, viewed by 10th June 2009, < http://home.vicnet.net.au/aar/housing.htm>. 8. Alex, G. 2006, 'Mining and Indigenous Lifeworlds in Australia and Papua New Guinea', The Contemporary Pacific, University of Hawaii Press, Hawaii, Vol 18, No. 2, pp 449-451. 9. Leach, A, Moulis, A. & Sully, N. 2008, Shifting Views: Selected Essays on the Architectural History of Australia and New Zealand, Univ. of Queensland Press, Queensland. 10. Memmott. P. 2008, Gunyah, Goondie & Wurley: The Aboriginal Architecture of Australia, University of Queensland Press, Queensland. 11. Read, P. 2000, Settlement: A History of Australian Indigenous Housing, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra. 12. Trewin, D & Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006, Year book Australia 2006 Australian Bureau of Statist, Belconnen. 13. Vulker, J. 1990, Studying Australian architecture, National Education Division, Royal Australian Institute of Architects, Barton. 14. http://www.heritage.nsw.gov.au/heritagensw/sum00/5_art.htm 15. http://www.aboriginalculture.com.au/housing.shtml BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (1998), 1996 census of population and housing: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Australia, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Sydney. 2. Foley, D. & Maynard, R. (2001). Repossession of Our Spirit: Traditional Owners of Northern Sydney, Aboriginal History Inc, Canberra. 3. Glaskin, K, Tonkinson, M, Musharbash, Y. & Burbank, V. Ashgate (2008), Mortality, Mourning and Mortuary Practices in Indigenous Australia (Anthropology and Cultural History in Asia and the Indo-Pacific,) Ashgate Publishing Company, Surrey. 4. Kleinert, S. & Neale, M. (Editors), (2001), The Oxford Companion to Aboriginal Art and Culture. Oxford University Press, New York. 5. Riemenschneider, D. & V. Davis, G. V. (Editors), (1997).Aratjara.Aboriginal Culture and Literature in Australia, Rodopi Bv Editions, Georgia. 6. Ross, H. (1987), Just for living: Aboriginal perceptions of housing in northwest Australia Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra 7. Watts, S. (2005). Practicing Primitive: A Handbook of Aboriginal Skills, Gibbs Smith Publishing, Utah. 8. http://www.indigenousaustralia.info/achievement/housing.html 9. http://www.aboriginaleducation.sa.edu.au/pages/Educators/design_technology/reFlag=1 10. http://www.culture.gov.au/articles/indigenous/architecture/index.htm 11. http://www.archmedia.com.au/aa/aaissue.phpissueid=200309&article=15&typeon=2 12. http://k6.boardofstudies.nsw.edu.au/linkages/IntegratedUnits/aboriginal/tech_learn04.html APPENDIX Picture 1: Traditional building techniques of Australian aboriginals: Photograph by Charles Kerry. Picture 2: Traditional aboriginal housing: Photograph by Bill Elwood. Picture 3: A damaged aboriginals' classroom in NSW: Photograph by Steve Meredith Picture 4: Aboriginals' Welfare Board Houses: Photograph from State Library of NSW. Picture 5: Spacious aboriginal houses: Photograph by Cameron White. Source: www.heritage.nsw.gov.au/heritage.nsw/sum Read More