aborigines in Australia
Aborigines in Australia Soc 305 Minority Group Relations Prof. Kim Cummins Luis Robles De Jesus Park University 2004 Outline: A) Introduction and Overview of the History of the Relationship B) Analysis of the Plight of the Australian Aborigines 1. ... Conclusion Foreword: The aborigines in Australia have been the subject of controversy and attention towards the end of the 20th century because of their maltreatment in the hands of their British colonizers and continued persecution in a land they rightfully own. ... A comparison of the circumstances of Australian aborigines with a minority group in the United States, the American Indians, will likewise be discussed in the concluding section. Overview of the History of the Relationship The Aborigines arrived in Australia sometime 20,000 to 70,000 years ago and are said to have cross from Indonesia by foot traversing through rough mountain ranges, probably connected with hanging bridges. Anthropologists claim that the aborigines’ physical appearance and way of life approximates that of an extinct era – the Ice and Stone Age. ... In terms of religion, the Aborigines believed that all forms of life came from “Creation Ancestors”, referring to both animal and human kind, and that their spirits linger and dwell on mountains, rocks, and whoever disrespects the land will be turned to rock. ... There were about 750,000 aborigines living in harmony until the arrival of Captain Philip in 1788 in Australia on instructions of King George III, along with some 700 prisoners. ... Over a century (1911) after the settlement, oppression from the white invaders has reduced the population of Aborigines to only 31,000, a mere 4 percent of their original number. ... During these periods, the full blood aborigines living in reservations were protected in some ways but their employment and rights to own property were restricted while children sired by non-Aboriginal fathers were separated from their native mothers and given to white families to prevent them from becoming “prostitutes” or “cattle thieves” when they grow up. For instance, the government practically controlled the lives of the aborigines, to the extent of deciding, who they can or cannot marry, where they could and could not live, and forcing them to imbibe the “white man culture”. The period of scientific interest with the Australian aborigines (1840-1912) awakened the preservation/protection mode of the British colonizers and strengthened by the enactment of the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act in 1897 (it was renamed Aboriginals Preservation and Protection Act in 1939), which was enforced until 1985 (Tatz 17). ... The government represented by the Federal Minister of Territories, also implemented assimilation initiatives from 1957 to 1967 including, massive educational and information campaigns/dissemination on Australia’s Aborigines through print media. In these materials, the Aborigines were depicted as “noble savages” saved from dependence of harsh nature and assimilated into the civilized world as rural workers (The Perth Press on CRCC website). After World War II, the aborigines became more educated and organized until they were accorded citizenship in 1967 then the assimilation policy was replaced by self-determination in 1972 (Reidlinger, 1996). A major triumph, at least on paper, for the aborigines was in June 1992, when the High Court overturned Australia’s land rights law -terra nullius, issuing the Mabo case, and recognizing “native title” to land in common law (Survival Organization). ... In spite of such controversies and debates, however, the aborigines have learned to organized themselves into Land Councils to safeguard their lands from illegal claimants, but most of them continue to be squatters in areas where land ownership disputes remain unresolved, mostly in vast cattle ranches and mining areas. To date, there are about 200,000 aborigines, making up roughly 2 percent of Australia’s total population, some living in towns, mostly in slums, with a significant number illiterate and earning low wages; beleaguered with problems on drugs, alcohol, low life expectancy, and racial discrimination.