The colonization of Australia took a terrible toll on the indigenous people of the land. The Aborigines lived in small collective family tribes and often fought with one another. For many years they were like the American Indians and had no common language. Since there was no one head of the group, it made forming treaties difficult. The resources that Australia had to offer were soon confiscated by the European settlers leaving behind bush and low land for the Aborigines.
The British established a program to resettle the Aborigine Population by removing their children and placing them in orphanages. Mixed children were of particular risk. While some were adopted by white families, most remained in orphanages. (This mirroered the practices done to American Indian children).
The European people thought of the Aborigines as inferior and stupid. They had no rights in their own country and were not allowed to vote. Their lives were similiar to that of the blacks in the south shortly after the Civil War. They were ousted off their land by more and more whites moving into the areas, treated like the underclass, and even hung with little judicial justice.
In 1967 they were allowed to become citizens of the country of Australia. Many of the cultural experiences were lost and a generation of children was left with out a world that was familiar to them. While advocacy grew for the rights of the Aborigines so did the rates of drug use and alcoholism.
Australian Aborigines continue to have difficulty adapting. They have become proud of the things that are their art and dance styles, but they have lost so much more. As a population they have the lowest income, housing, and lifestyle in economic and technological terms than European decedents living in Australia.
No comments:
Post a Comment