After European contact in 1788 the Aboriginal People were not united to aggressively resist the invaders the same way the N American Indian tried. While some tried to adapt and work with the white man, there were many skirmishes and some attacks on the pastoralists (farmers). But the death ratio of cross cultural conflict was a lopsided 10 to 1 aborignial killings to white. More than that, western diseases wiped out over half the population.
In the mid nineteenth century British Imperialism, science, and pseudo-science rationalized the ursurpation of the the land and paternalism toward the original inhabitants. For example, Darwin's Survival of the Fittest was used as Social Darwinism to explain why europeans can and should take over other cultures and impose their will. They were a superior race.
It ignores history and perspectives of the time to judge those original colonists and viewpoints. One of the most influential books for me that examines why one culture or race dominated another is in Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel". It puts aside the racism of Social Darwinism and instead looks at geographic, economic, and environmental factors.
In the nineteenth century there were Royal, governmental, and humanitarian efforts to treat the aboriginals more fairly and humanely, though still never quite equally. In addition, there was an Aboriginal movement called Radical Hope in an attempt to keep their culture, but participate in the economy like a white man. It was impossible to live in the bush as they did before because of environmental damage caused by invasive species and ranching eliminated the traditional bush tucker (food available in the wild). But fear, economics, and racism ultimately prevailed in legistlation at turn of the twentieth century in the Aboriginal Acts at both a state and federal level. These codified further atrocities against the Aboriginal People. Unlike the US policy of segregation, the Australian policy was of assimilation. The word sounds more benign than the intent and application. The goal was to wipe out the Aboriginal People through separation of parents from children (the Stolen Generation), blending of races, and destroying their culture. The United Nations eventually called assimilation genocide.
Modeling the civil rights movement of the US, Aboriginal People in Austraila began a slow process of using the white legal system to eventually get civil rights and land ownership. One unique aspect of the colonization of Australia vs North America is there were actually few treaties with the Aborginal People because they didn't acknowledge their ownership of the land. The British just occupied it. Thus, once the legal framework was established that they actually "owned" the land prior to colonization, then the legal right that they still owned it could be established. After this transfer of Crown Lands and eventually National Parks to Aboriginal communities occured relatively quickly in the scheme of politics. These included the right to veto, or receive royalties for, mineral exploration on those lands. Thus, as previously noted Uluru, Kata Juta and Kakadu are in the possession of the Aboriginal People, leased back to the Federal Government, and jointly managed.
Aboriginal Flag in protest march.
In 2008, PM Kevin Rudd issued a Federal Government apology "for the laws and policies of successive Parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians." And "for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country." This has gone a long way toward improving relations.
After Kevin Rudd's "Sorry" speech.
Today there is less than 10% of precontact people who claim aboriginal ancestry and only about 10,000 non-mixed peoples. Aboriginal People still have a shorter life expectancy, less educational achievement, and less economic opportunity. An MPs review this decade of their living conditions in Western Australia reminded me Bobby Kennedy's review of Appalachia in the 60s. Horrid and unbelievable for an undeveloped country, let along a first world country. Discrimination and cultural conflicts still exist. Alcoholism is a serious problem and has created two sets of liquor laws. The cultural clash that Aboriginal People's kin relationships take precedence over western work ethic still creates challenges in particiaption in the economy. And policies that recognise the need for social aid creates disincentives in a culture of working only when necessary, and the necessity of hunting and gathering is no longer an option or too difficult. But with the long lens of history, things continue to improve for this oldest human culture.
End of Australia Posts. Thanks for reading - hope you got something out of it.
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