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Abstract
I will use two maps of a country or geographic region illustrating changes brought about by an era of Australian colonialism. I will then compare the contrasts of the two maps, explaining how the colonial period affected the cultural-language, ethnic, and religious-patterns of the selected country or area. This paper will represent my findings, descriptions, and comparisons using the following headings: What the area or country was like prior to European colonization. The reasons it was colonized. Its development and struggles since the colonization era.

In 1786 a British decision was made to send a colonization party to newly “discovered” lands mapped and named New Holland. (Otherwise known as Australia) The native people of that land had no idea of other lands or peoples other than myths handed down. The peoples of this land have been there an estimated 10 thousand years. There are hundreds of different dialects. As well as long established art. (Figure 1) Figure 1 Figure 2

There was an entire undiscovered nation of peaceful human beings with all the same attributes as any other race on the planet. It seems the difference was the greed. They were a nomadic people used bone and wood to make weapons to hunt with. They hunted birds and kangaroo. Lizards and fish were eaten as well as plants in the area. When they had depleted the resources in that area, they moved on. And this method of survival lasted for thousands of years. And it stayed that way until it was “discovered” by James Cook during his expedition in 1770 in the south pacific. Then it was mapped as stated earlier in this document, and named. The original layout of the tribes and their nomadic areas are displayed in figure 2. There were hundreds of different tribes and dialects of language. Their religion had many different deities and varied from tribe to tribe. There is a common creation theme like as to the rest of the planet.
“The Creation Period – The Dreamtime
Similar to other religions, there was a time in Aboriginal belief when things were created. This “Creation Period” was the time when the Ancestral Beings created landforms, such as certain animals digging, creating lagoons or pushing up mountain ranges, or the first animals or plants being made. The Aboriginal word for this Creation Period varies throughout Australia and each linguistic region has its own beliefs pertaining to that particular area. For example, it is known as Alcheringa (Aldjuringa)amongst the Aranda of Central Australia, as Lalai in the Kimberley, and as Nayuhyungkiamongst the Kunwinjku (Gunwinggu) east of Kakadu National Park.
Aboriginal people often interpret dreams as being the memory of things that happened during this Creation Period. Dreams are also important because they can be a time when we are transformed back into that ancestral time. This linking of dreams to the Creation Period has led people to adopt the general term “The Dreamtime” in order to describe the time of creation in their religion. The term “Dreamtime” in Aboriginal mythology is not really about a person having a dream, but rather, a reference to this Creation Period. “(http://www.aboriginalculture.com.au/religion.shtml) In 1786 the decision was made to send a party of convicts, military, and civilian personnel to “New Holland”. There were 775 convicts on board six transport ships. They were accompanied by officials, members of the crew, marines, the families and their own children who together totaled 645. Eleven ships were sent and were known as the first fleet. Other than the convict transports, there were two naval ships and three store ships. The fleet assembled in Portsmouth and set sail on 13 May 1787. This was the first wave of Europeans to colonize the new found land. There is some that say that small pox was intentionally brought by the British to “help” in the newly acquired land owners clear the way for colonization. The native people were labeled “savages” and term of animals was used in order to dehumanize them for ease of extermination. This wasn’t the way it was planned by some members of Brittan who wrote some legislation on the proper treatment of the indigenous peoples. But in actuality they were killed off. Their religion banned. They were dressed in “proper attire” and separated from their families. Forced assimilation killed off culture and tribal ethics. There was an estimate of 750,000 native people were on the continent prior to its “discovery”. After the initial colonization there were an estimated 31000 left. Post colonization maps are figure 3.

Figure 3

References: http://www.aboriginalculture.com.au/religion.shtml http://euroheritage.net/britishcolonizationmap.shtml http://www.aboriginalart.com.au/gallery/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convicts_in_Australia