...dominant culture group. This results in a loss of culture, tradition and languages. * Balance rites – Aboriginal rituals that aim to make a supernatural connection with ancestral beings from the dreaming * Crown land – Public land owned by the commonwealth of Australia and managed by Australian government * Dispossession – The forced removal of aboriginal people from their native land. * Dreaming – Aboriginal spiritual beliefs about creation and existence. The dreaming establishes the rules governing relationships between people, land and all things for Aboriginal people. It links together the past, present and future. * Freehold title – Absolute and permanent ownership of the land. * Half-castes – An offensive term referring to a person of mixed decent or ethnicity. * Land rites – Property rights pertaining to land. * Meta-temporal – the trinity of the past, present and future. * Native title – Form of land title, which recognises aboriginal people as rightful owners of their traditional land. * Protection policy – official government policy stating in the late 19th century. Removed aboriginal people from unsuitable environments and placed them under the protection of the state. * Sacred sites – Places of spiritual significance to Aboriginal people as they are connected with ancestor beings from the dreaming, they are places where rituals such as initiation and balance rites are performed. * Stolen generations – Aboriginal children...
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...policies that would change the way of life for Aboriginal people forever. When settlers first arrived on the shores of what is now called Botany Bay, they failed to see a people of rich culture, with an intricate kinship system and highly developed system of customary law. Instead they set out to degrade Aboriginal cultures and deny the existence of custodial ownership of the land (Newbury, 1999, p. 25). Over the next two hundred years, the government would introduce a number of policies that would continue this destructive ideal and aim to control Indigenous people, including their culture, beliefs and movements across the country. Although these policies had a major effect on Indigenous people there are many stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people resisting the European invasion. Captain James Cook landed on the east coast of Australia, specifically in Botany Bay, home of the Eora people and claimed possession under the doctrine of ‘terra nullius’. British law at the time stated that Britain could only take possession of another country if it was not inhabited or through negotiation or war. The British ignored these laws, invading and settling on Aboriginal land (NSW Education and Communities, 2013, para. 1). British settlers went about removing trees, reducing availability of food and other resources, brought in livestock which contaminated the waterways and forced the Indigenous peoples off their spiritual land. Many settlers also used violent force to...
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...The continuing effect of dispossession on Aboriginal Spiritualties Impact of dispossession is enormous and overwhelmingly detrimental The impact of dispossession for Aboriginal people has been enormous and overwhelmingly detrimental. Broadly speaking, the history of dispossession can be divided into three key stages. Firstly, the colonial period of non-recognition, which were marked by the introduction of terminal European diseases, shootings, massacres and poisonings. This was then secondly followed by the Paternalistic policy of protection, which began in the mid 1880s. This was followed by the equally detrimental Policy of assimilation, which began in the mid-twentieth century. As a part of and spanning across the official Government policies of Protection and Assimilation, are the dark episodes of the Stolen Generation. The term Stolen Generation refers to the mass removal of Australian Aboriginal children from their families by Government agencies and church missions between 1900 and 1972. Impact of dispossession on Aboriginal spirituality Two centuries of dispossession have had a devastatingly destructive effect upon Aboriginal Spirituality. Most significantly, the separation from land as a result of dispossession is tantamount to a loss of identity, since the Dreaming, which is central to Aboriginal spirituality, is inextricably connected to the land. The loss of land as a result of dispossession leads to the ever-present burden of not being able to fulfil ritual responsibilities...
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...For many young Australians, little knowledge is known about Aboriginal issues. The Stolen Generations is a historical series of events well known to many young Australians. It was important as many Australian Government bodies, alongside with other establishments, were removing children from Aboriginal families and putting them into foster homes. It was expected to cause a disconnection of the culture and structure of Aboriginal clans. From tutorials and lectures, I think that Indigenous issues are often misunderstood. I understood lecture material as providing insight into surviving problems due to the Stolen Generations. This was seen with a disconnection from land and country, and a loss of identity for Indigenous Australian. This had led...
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...say thank you Cat for opening my eyes to what the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people went through. Disenfranchised grief - This is grief that is not acknowledged by society, this is where society feels uncomfortable when you talk about your grief. Society makes you feel like you cant talk about what you have gone through and feel like you shouldn't ask for support, it makes you feel alone and think that you are in the wrong for feeling the way you do because society says so. Firstly I looked at the Massacres the one that happened in Myall Creek in 1838 where the white settlers murdered 28 Aboriginal men, women and children. I then came across another Massacre that happened in Warrigal Creek in Victoria in 1843 where there were 150 to 170 people killed over a five day period. This was over the killing of one person named...
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...| Impact/Implications/ | Contemporary Aboriginal Spiritualities | Dreaming The Dreaming is the past, present and future. A collective term for all Australian Indigenous spiritualityInextricably linked to the land Kinship All forms of social interaction.Determines how a person relates to others and how they belong in the community. Ceremonial life Corroboree - retelling of Dreaming stories through song, dance, music and mimeRite of passage- Moving into adulthoodBurial and Smoking ceremoniesObligations to the land and people Dreaming stories help link the people to the land and it outlines the obligations of the people to the land. | Dreaming provides meaning and purpose in an Indigenous persons life Provides connections to family members and spirituality Provides a link to the dreaming and ancestral spirits. Marks key moments in people's lives. By keeping obligations to the land and people the inextricable link will be kept | Issues for Aboriginal spiritualities in relation to: | discuss the continuing effect of dispossession on Aboriginal spiritualities in relation to: / separation from the land * Loss of culture - loss of dignity * "Like a tree without it's roots" - "Buckskin" * Lost law & lore * Lost purposeseparation from kinship groups * Lost identity * Loss of heritage * Loss of parents/ family * Loss of connectionthe Stolen Generations * Unable to connect with kinship groups and land * Not able to have full spirituality ...
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...The Stolen Generation in Australia The Aboriginal people lived long on their land without any contact from the Europeans. They are believed to first arrive in Australia between 42,000 and 48,000 years ago (Beck). They managed to live in often inhospitable conditions unbearable for the inhabitants of the “old continent”. The Aborigines did not differ only in their living conditions, but also in their way of living in general, their culture. The aboriginal culture was based on several principles which did not come to understanding when the Europeans first arrived. Perhaps the most essential aspect of the Aboriginal culture is the “kinship obligation”, when everyone in the tribe is expected to perform certain tasks without being asked to (Encyclopædia Britannica 4). The white society, in contrast with the Australian indigenous people, was based (and still is) on the concept of private membership, something absolutely unknown in Australia prior to the European settlements. The irreconcilable differences led, in consequence, to clashes and misunderstandings between the two cultures. The Europeans, however, regarded themselves superior. Lloyd describes the situation in Australia after the arrival of the European settlers as being based on “the idea of Aborigines as an inferior ‘doomed race,’ superseded by more highly developed, more enlightened Europeans” (Lloyd). No matter whether this claim was legitimate or not, it had damaging consequences. James Cook landed in Botany Bay in...
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...Many Aboriginal people identity themselves by their band, family, or nation which allows them to show historical roots and connection to their ancestral land. Others use their matrilineal or patrilineal genealogy to connect them to a nation or traditional territory. Regardless of the connection, this ability to identify with a community has deeper significance than merely labelling oneself, it serves as a reminder of one's spiritual connection to land, culture, and traditions, and helps to solidify one's self-concept (First Nations Studies Program [FNSP],...
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...Aboriginal COLONISATION AND ITS EFFECTS Australia’s colonisation impacted on the indigenous culture significantly. From the time Europeans first came to the Sydney Basin everything changed for Aboriginal people. From the time the white people landed in Australia all they saw was death and despair to their people. The Aboriginals suffered extreme loss in terms of lives, land, families, culture and health. They do not view the colonisation of Australia as a great day but as an invasion which destroyed their way of life. Before Australia was colonised the Aborigines had lived for thousands of years off the land as they were nomadic who moved around. They believed the land should not be owned by one person but had to be looked after by everyone. The land flourished and there were about 750 000 Aboriginal people and over 600 tribes. They hunted ,fished and gathered food from plants and vegetation. From the moment the white settlers took control of the land , Aborigines were treated inhumanely with no recognition of them occupying Australia. They had no respect and believed themselves superior to the indigenous people. The Aborigines were viewed as savages who had no beliefs or customs. They used extreme force and brutally killed any Aborigines who resisted the white settlers take over. They were driven off their land. Entire families lost their loved ones. The Aborigines tried to resist, however the white settlers had firearms which proved to be deadly. Others who did...
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...Modern Aboriginal issues, like the Ipperwash Crisis, are a result of century old conflicts between First Nations people and Europeans. Throughout their contact, Europeans and First Nations have had conflicting interests and ideals regarding political, economic and spiritual topics (Hedican, 2013, p. 52). For example, the use of land was very significant to both groups but in vastly different ways. One of the main reasons why Europeans found the New World was for resources and land. They saw the physical environment as raw materials. However, the First Nations people consider the physical environment part of their spirituality and culture. They did not see it as a resource, but rather as a system they were connected to. Different viewpoints on the use of land made it difficult for the Canadian government to allocate it effectively. The conflicts surrounding the use of land continue today and spark events like the Ipperwash Crisis....
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...Aboriginal Rights What are Aboriginal rights? Aboriginal rights are collective rights which flow from Aboriginal peoples’ continued use and occupation of certain areas. They are inherent rights which Aboriginal peoples have practiced and enjoyed since before European contact. Because each First Nation has historically functioned as a distinct society, there is no one official overarching Indigenous definition of what these rights are. Although these specific rights may vary between Aboriginal groups, in general they include rights to the land, rights to subsistence resources and activities, the right to self-determination and self-government, and the right to practice one’s own culture and customs including language and religion. Aboriginal rights have not been granted from external sources but are a result of Aboriginal peoples’ own occupation of their home territories as well as their ongoing social structures and political and legal systems. As such, Aboriginal rights are separate from rights afforded to non-Aboriginal Canadian citizens under Canadian common law. European Settlement and Aboriginal struggles Aboriginal people have a long and proud history that includes rich cultural and spiritual traditions. Many of these traditions, however, were altered or even taken away upon the arrival of European settlers. The forced introduction of European culture and values to Aboriginal societies, the dispossession of Aboriginal lands, and the imposition of alien modes of governance...
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...member of the Aboriginal Progressive Association, declared the day a “Day of Mourning”, alluding to the annual re-enactment of Phillip’s landing. Aboriginal people call it ‘Invasion Day’, ‘Day of Mourning’, ‘Survival Day’ or, since 2006, ‘Aboriginal Sovereignty Day’. The latter name reflects that all Aboriginal nations are sovereign and should be united in the continuous fight for their rights. Aboriginal people refused to participate in the re-enactment because it included chasing away a party of Aboriginal people. “I refuse to celebrate, and every Australia Day my heart is broken as I am reminded that in the eyes of many, I am not welcome on my own land.” —Nakkiah Lui, Aboriginal woman “We won't stop, we won't go away / We won't celebrate Invasion Day!”—Chant during protests on Australia Day 2012 “January 26th marked the beginning of the murders, the rapes and the dispossession. It is no date to celebrate”—Michael Mansell, National Aboriginal The Day of Mourning Speech. The Aboriginal perspective of Australia day was that is was not a celebration Aboriginal people but in fact a commemoration of a deep loss. The issues outlined in the Day of Mourning speeches in 1937 led by three Aboriginal men were for the Aboriginal people to be able to access the same citizenship rights as those of white-Australians. This included their land being returned, equal employment opportunity, improvement in standards of health, housing and education. They also requested that Aboriginal children should...
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...to describe the unwilling removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from 1901 to 1970. The children had to abandoned and reject their Aboriginality, assimilating into western values and norms. Consequently, many suffered from the trauma of losing their families, identity and culture. Also, the Aboriginal children had to cope with discrimination from the white community and the fact of having their human rights taken away. The loss of family and a motherly figure negatively impacted the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. The Policy...
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...disturbance to the traditional owners of the land (focusing on mainly their culture). Therefore, the banning of climbing at Uluru has become controversial; if the government decides to ban descents on Uluru, money is lost, but if they don’t take this action, respect will be lost. We can probably already assume that respect is of bigger importance than money. Advantages of closing the climb is that the respect towards Anangu people would be restored because as being traditional owners of the land it is our obligation to respect and not disturb the stream of their culture. Also fewer people would get injured if we ban the hazardous climb people. Another benefit is that there would be less environmental issues for Uluru as the trampling by climbers’ damages indigenous plants....
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...According to INAC, the term for Aboriginal peoples is defined as: “a collective name for the original peoples of North America and their descendants. The Canadian constitution recognizes three groups of Aboriginal people: Indians (commonly referred to as First Nations), Métis and Inuit. These are three distinct peoples with unique histories, languages, cultural practices and spiritual beliefs. More than one million people in Canada identify themselves as an Aboriginal person, according to the 2006 Census.” (Indigenous Nationhood) Although many Aboriginal peoples in Canada identify as being Aboriginal, many Aboriginal peoples struggle to maintain or gain a sense of cultural identity due to the Canadian Governments assimilation policies. Throughout this paper I will discuss how the Indian Act, the Canadian Residential School System, and the Sixties Scoop assimilated Aboriginal peoples into a European way of life, by attempting to integrate them into society by abolishing their Aboriginal identities. This assimilation process impacted Aboriginal peoples in negative ways throughout the generations socially, culturally, and economically. The negative impacts within child welfare system, educational institutions, and the socio-economic status of Aboriginal peoples today, prove assimilation and the total integration of Aboriginal peoples within mainstream society is unacceptable. Decolonization techniques should be applied within those areas in order combat the long lasting effects of...
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