AUSTRALIA S ABORIGINAL ROOTS

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1 AUSTRALIA S ABORIGINAL ROOTS Brandon Utech AMETH 160 Final Project Fall, 2000 Kansas State University Diana Caldwell

2 Brandon Utech AMETH 160 Final Project D. Caldwell 12/13/2000 AUSTRALIA S ABORIGINAL ROOTS Any educated American student knows that Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 and founded America. Only later do they learn that America already had an indigenous population that Columbus, by his own error, named Indians. Pre-existing populations were forced off of their lands and placed on reservations, effectively changing and in many cases destroying life and culture as they knew it. This kind of history is not exclusive only to America. Even fewer people know of the pending extinction of the indigenous culture in Australia the Aborigines. The undisturbed Aboriginal people, by today s standards, would be classified as primitives. In fact, during the early periods of modernization in Australia that is exactly what they were known as. Primarily a hunting and gathering society, the traditional Aborigine male would hunt game while the female would scavenge for virtually everything else. Some historical references credit the female gender for finding most of the food for the tribal society. 1 Then, in 1770, English explorer James Cook discovered Australia in a very similar fashion as Columbus discovered America, looking for trade routes years after Cook became aware of the continent, the British government decided to begin colonizing Australia with transport convicts that were no longer being accepted in America due to the Revolutionary War. Although the

3 government claimed its directive to establish a convict colony in Botany Bay was purely a response to the loss of the American colonies, many had already begun to speculate the strategic choice of Australia. The natural resources in Australia held great potential, and as more people not just convicts began to inhabit the continent, the economic theory of motivation began to gain ground. Slowly and quietly England sent more people to Australia, eventually establishing the English Colony of New South Wales. Politically, this move was critical in order to prevent France from occupying the continent. 1 But what of the people who already lived in Australia for more than 40,000 years, the Aborigines? During the initial colonization by the English, the Aborigine culture was for the most part ignored. Only a century later were the first inhabitants of Australia noticed by activists who witnessed a culture that had been inundated with crime, violence and drug abuse. 3 Seeing the once thriving culture now on the verge of complete destruction, the Australian government decided that the Aboriginal culture was doomed and determined that the best alternative was to absorb Aboriginal children into the new culture. Between 1910 and the 1970s, well over 100,000 Aboriginal children were forcibly taken from their parents, often times by a method of elusive abduction and kidnapping, and were placed in white families. These children became known as the stolen generation. 4 The Aborigines have survived, but they have witnessed a great change in their culture due to this forced assimilation. As a result, today they are considered to be the most disadvantaged group of people in Australia.

4 Politically, they have virtually no power and are even worse-off socially and economically. As of 1996, only 30.8 percent of the Aborigines are employed in the labor market, and that number is expected to fall to 27.4 percent in Although the Aborigine population is expanding, their economic outlook is not good. Just to maintain the status quo employment rates would require 25,000 additional jobs by the year 2006, and trends indicate that only 21,000 will be created. The poor outlook of the job market is reflected in the data concerning indigenous income status. The average income for the total population of Australia was $21,100 in Average income for the overall indigenous population was $14,200, 30 percent less than the overall population. Coupled with the high levels of welfare among the Aboriginal people, it is aggregately estimated that indigenous incomes would have to rise $1.6 billion in order to attain income equality. 5 Beyond the socioeconomic impacts stand the cultural impacts to the Aborigines. Since the government had been taking Aboriginal children for a period of time, a large generational gap exists among the tribes of Aborigines. Many of the traditions among the tribes have disappeared, and some are used only for entertaining purposes, such as the exhibition display in at the Sydney Olympic Games. Some of the changes have sparked Aboriginal protest, like the march held September 16, 2000, on the first full day of Olympic competition, when New South Wales 118 Aboriginal land councils voted to demonstrate over the government s downplay of their actions that resulted in the stolen generation. 4

5 In light of all of the information presented, the future of the Aborigines is questionable, if not nonexistent. Much like the American Indians, Aboriginal tribes are slowly dying out, giving way to the assimilationist culture that came to Australia in As the indigenous culture seems to fade with each passing day, one can only hope that efforts will arise to help preserve Aboriginal heritage and the ways of the original Australia.

6 References 1. Moore, Geoff (Ed.). Australian Aborigines: History, Culture, Research Project. Accessed 12/11/2000, Online. 2. Sullivan, Rohan (AP Writer). Where the Outback Meets the Reef. USA Today. Updated 7/17/2000, Online. 3. Litke, Mark (ABC News Writer). The Stolen Generation. ABC News.com Updated 9/14/2000, Online. 4. Somma, Richard (AP Writer). Report Outrages Aboriginal Groups. L.A. Times Online. Updated 4/1/2000, Online. 5. Taylor, John (ATSIC Researcher). The Job Still Ahead: Economic Costs of Continuing Indigenous Employment Disparity. ATSIC. Commonwealth of Australia, September 1998.

Language & Religion Impacted by England. The Impact of English colonization on the language and religion of Australia

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