The Stolen Generation In Australia
...ecame more dependent on the European settlers for their existence. The Aboriginal people were forced to eat unaccustomed foods high in sugar and starches, and because of this they fell prey to malnutrition, obesity and diabetes. As the young Australian colonies grew, the Aboriginals were harassed and murdered - both by violent convicts, seeking a vent for their frustration and by settlers in the snatch for land on which they had hope to make their farming fortunes. Active resistance was met with raids and massacres. The worst massacre on recorded took place in 1838, during this horrific event, 300 Aboriginal people were killed over the course of 3 days. The killings continued well into the 20th century and it is estimated that in the 150 years after settlement, the population of the Australian Aboriginal people was reduced from approximately 300,000 to about 75,000. In Tasmania, full-blooded Aborigines were wiped out altogether. The most immediate consequence of British settlement was a wave of European epidemic diseases such as Influenza, Chickenpox, Smallpox and The Measles. Diseases the Aboriginals had never encountered before, the white settlers also brought with them alcohol and tobacco, which had devastating effect on the Aboriginal people, even today they are a problem within the Aboriginal community. The adverse effect of alcohol and drugs has now almost decimated the aboriginal culture. From the late nineteenth century to the late 1960’s (the dates are still some what uncertain) Australian governments forcibly removed all half-caste aboriginal children from their mothers, fathers, family and their culture as part of a ‘Policy’. Half-caste: A half cast child is a child that has parents from different races. An aboriginal mother and a European father were the most common couple. This was due to the fact that white males would sexually abuse the Aboriginal women ultimately causing an unwanted pregnancy, by both parties. It was not only Government policy to take the half-caste children, but to also introducing a law in 1867 prohibiting the sale of alcohol to any aboriginal person It also provided for Aborigines of ‘mixed blood’ to be issued with Certificates of Exemption, releasing them from the provisions of the Act and its regulations. These certificates were commonly known as ‘Dog tags’ but they came at a price. Individuals issued with these ‘Dog Tags’ were forced to surrender family connections. They were also not allowed to visit their own families and were jailed if caught doing so. Many of those Aboriginal people with the ‘Dog tags’ who traveled to Sydney needed an exemption certificate to allow them to work. When they wanted to return home for family business like funerals, they had to get written permission from the Manager of the station or mission to do so. While these ‘Dog tags’ provided some freedom to the Aboriginal people, the policy still denied their basic rights, even in the 1960s. It stopped them from having access to education, marrying without permission, freedom of movement, raising their own children, having the right to vote, swimming in a public pool, eating in restaurants and receiving award wages. But this was nothing compared to the ‘stealing’ of the half-cast children form their families. The effects of this are still haunting the stolen generation to this day. The...