Stolen Generation in Aboriginal Australia - Essay Example

Terms The term "stolen generation" refers to black aboriginal children and children of mixed marriages who were removed from their Aboriginalhomes by the Australian government and taken to white settlements into an attempt to assimilate, or integrate, white and Aboriginal cultures. For the most part, many of these children never saw their parents or relatives again. The "lost generation" has been the subject of most contemporary Aboriginal literature. Most noticeably, Doris Pilkington's Rabbit Proof Fence tells the story of three girls escape from the white society in which they were placed and return to their Aboriginal reservations. "Assimilation" refers to the attempts of white Australian government to intermesh Aboriginal and white culture, often with the purpose of eventually eradicating Aboriginal culture. Under the 1940's assimilation policy, many Aborigines were removed from their own territory and forced to settle n new areas. Indeed, many Aborigines intertwined with whites. Sally Morgan's autobiographical novel, My Place, serves as an example of this mixed generation. "Dispossession" occurred when the White Australian government forced many Aborigines away from their original home. As a result, land which had originally been deemed sacred became the possession of white Australia. These occurrences of "dispossession" were particularly hard for Aborigines, who tied their beliefs and religion with particular geographic areas. This strong Aboriginal emphasis of land can be seen particularly in Aboriginal paintings and other forms of artwork. "Personal racism" refers to the subconscious idea that exists among some white Australians that Aboriginal identity is less valuable than white identity. This racism occurs on a personal level because white Australians believed that the darkness of someone's skin reflect their Aboriginal identity. Often, people who were of Aboriginal identity but light skinned had a significantly easier time being accepted and treated equally by white Australians. Sally Morgan's My Place reflect the hardships of people, who were deemed "too" Aboriginal due to their dark skin. "Self-determination" is a phrase which developed in the Aboriginal context during the 1970's. It emphasized a focus on being Aboriginal and looking into the larger broad context of the surrounding white Australian world. The belief emphasized that it was up to Aborigines to gain land rights and reclaim their native lands. This period marked a great period of social progress for Aborigines and would eventually result in reclaiming many lost lands. "Invasion" occurred when English natives began to establish posts and reservations in Australia. In an Aboriginal perspective, the "invasion" of whites into Aboriginal culture resulted in the destruction of traditional Aboriginal society and the dispossession of most Aboriginal settlements. "Land rights" refer to the battle Aborigines face in reclaiming their own land. Within the past century, Aboriginals have won various land claims which provided back certain territories. Beginning with the Aboriginal Land Act of 1976, Aborigines have begun to reclaim their native lands. This phrase also represents the clash in thought between Aborigines and white Australians over who owns certain areas. Although white Australians physically own certain native Aboriginal lands, Aborigines claim that their religious and cultural beliefs entitle them to possession of sacred Aboriginal territory. Although the white Australian government attempted to mix Aboriginals with white society, "segregation" was still practiced in Australia and separated Aboriginal people from whites. On a basic level, Aboriginals were given certain areas to live apart from whites. "Segregation" was also practiced within society and many people who contained even one Aboriginal ancestor were segregated against as being less than people of entirely white heritage. "Terra nullius", a Latin phrase meaning "empty land", refers to a 17th century legal concept that allowed white Australians to assume control of most of the land in Australia. Aborigines would argue that the land wasn't "empty" but rather populated by various Aboriginal tribes. "Otitus Media", an infection of the ears, is an illness that occurs among many Aboriginal children. While numerous other countries have established treaties with their indigenous people, Australia has never issued a "treaty" between white Australia and Aboriginals. Instead, white Australia believes that treaties are only established between different countries. While "personal racism" occurs on a subjective level, "institutional racism" refers to the application of structured policies to create disadvantages for Aboriginal groups. "Reconciliation" refers the process of white Australia recognizing that wrongs were done to Aboriginal people and the cultural healing that has occurred between white and indigenous Australians. "A state of reconciliation" was issued recently from white Australia to its indigenous people. The statement acknowledged that wrongs had been done to indigenous families at the hands of white Australia and attempted to heal white Australia's previously harsh treatment of Aborigines. Activities Exercise 1: As Aborigines were displaced from their homes and some mixed with white society, many Aborigines were left to define what constituted being Aboriginal. Sally Morgan's My Place, an Aboriginal autobiography, attempts to discover exactly who she is and claim her "place" within Australia. On a separate sheet of paper, take ten minutes and list the various attributes which define the person that you are. When you are finished writing down these various identities, discuss how it has become important in modern Australia for Aboriginals to define themselves as Aboriginals rather than rely on physical elements like skin color or the location in which one lives. Exercise 2: In addition to religious emphasis, Aboriginal art often revolves around the depiction of native lands. As such, many geographically specific places play an important role in Aboriginal identity. On a separate piece of paper (with either pencils, crayons, or markers), take ten minutes and draw an area that has certain meaning for you. Do not feel confined that you must make an accurate representation of the area, after all most Aboriginal is dictated by emotion rather than faithful representation. After you have finished drawing, discuss your reasons for your selection and how you decided to structure your drawing. Then relate this back to Aboriginal problems of losing land and the impact this would have on anyone, not just a person of Aboriginal descent. Defining Modern Aboriginality While Aboriginal identity used to be perceived as a product of black skin and life on reservations, Aboriginal land dispossession throughout the last century has caused many indigenous people to mix with white Australians, thus making it harder to locate concrete physical qualities that define an Aboriginal identity. Furthermore, unifying cultural or religious practices no longer exist between Aboriginals. Sadly, with the integration of white Australians and Aborigines, many people of Aboriginal descent lost their Aboriginal cultural practices in the exchange for Christianity and various other white Australian mentalities. Rather, modern Aboriginal identity in an Australian context appears to now revolve around the ability to identify with "others" besides white Australians. The bonds of this identity which links "Aboriginal" people, now consist of endangered cultural and social beliefs and a subservience to the dominant powers of white Australia. It is important to emphasize that many Aborigines forcibly lost their identity. This turning away from Aboriginal beliefs was greatly aided by institutional racism, which helped to keep the practice of Aboriginal acts to a consistent low. Furthermore, members of the "stolen generation" were often forcibly removed from their Aboriginal homes and forbidden to speak Aboriginal languages or perform Aboriginal activities. Thus, it is impossible in most cases to say that one person possesses more of an Aboriginal identity than another. As a result, while some may make the claim that someone with darker skin is "more" Aboriginal than a lighter skinned Australian, this is often an inaccurate analysis. Some may claim that Aboriginal identity can be constructed around counting how many Aboriginal ancestors a person had. This belief assumes that the struggles of one Aboriginal person are less than the struggles of a few. This mentality exists as a product of white Australia's inability to integrate white and Aboriginal cultures and thus push a person to side with one group or the other. This perspective loses, however, when one considers that many Australians are descended from mixed Aboriginal and white ancestors. Additionally, some people may secretly have had Aboriginal ancestors and not know about their heritage. Thus, even though might believe that they do not have any Aboriginal relatives, this is often difficult to prove empirically. The positive element of Aboriginality becoming a less concrete identity is that more people are inclined to sympathize and support Aboriginal causes. Thus, with an increased Aboriginal support base, the chances of reconciliation between white Australia and Australia's indigenous people greatly increases. The negative affect of the "new" Aboriginal identity is that Aboriginality becomes a perspective that is constructed mostly around emphasizing the dominance of white Australia. Thus, the establishment of an Aboriginal identity, which is detached from white Australia, becomes increasingly more difficult to construct. Read More