ABORIGINALS Facts •
of only specific regions of aborigines, and then only by men.
The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the
African continent around 70,000 years ago, and arrived in Australia around 50,000 years ago. •
The word has been in use in English since at least the 17th century, to mean "first or earliest known, indigenous". It comes from Latin, Aborigines, derived from ab (from) and origo (origin, beginning).
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There were more than 250 languages spoken by Indigenous Australians prior to the arrival of Europeans. Most of these are now either extinct or moribund, with only about fifteen languages still being spoken by all age groups.
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The 1996 census reported that almost 72 percent of Aboriginals
practised some form of Christianity;
16 percent listed no religion. There
Racism and Aborigines
has also been an increase in the
number of followers of Islam among
The British colonisation of Australia began
the Indigenous Australian
in 1788, and brought many diseases, such
community
as measles, smallpox and tuberculosis.
The didgeridoo, which is widely
These diseases led to the death of many
thought to be a stereotypical
aborigines.
instrument of Aboriginal people,
By 1806, racism from colonizers and
was traditionally played by people
soldiers reached a very high point. Not only were sacred Aboriginal places violated and
ABORIGINALS
desecrated, the Aboriginals themselves
insolent. But, they worked for less than 2
became hunted like kangaroos for pleasure
pounds per week as payment, while the
and fun, like trophy prizes. The soldiers
white man never worked for less than 9
used to visit Aboriginal villages offering
pounds. Also, because of their dark skin,
gifts, while the real purpose of the visit was
the Aborigines were able to work for long
to contaminate the village water supply
period of time under the hot sun, while the
with arsenic. Whole communities including
whites used to get sunburned very quickly.
children, elderly, women and men were
removed by arsenic poisoning. Rum,
initially imported from England, was freely
offered to Villagers. The introduction of
rum made many villagers drunk for a whole week until death arrived from alcoholic comas. The English soldiers took advantage of this stage of alcoholism to create wars between friendly villages, leaving them to kill each other. It was a massacre. Later, the Aborigines were recruited to work on cattle farms. Payment was ridiculous low, compared to a white mans wage. To justify this act, the farmers made allegations that the Aborigines had no feelings with horses (which was true due to the fact that they were nomads and used to travel by foot). Secondly, the Aboriginals spiritual life style was totally connected with the environment. In reality, the Aborigines didn't understand why they had to raise horses and sheep when the sea and nature provided everything necessary for living. They were considered lazy and
http://www.yesaustralia.com/Estilo-‐ aborigenesing.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indigenous_ Australians
ABORIGINALS Aboriginals and their rights After all these years of horror in Aboriginal history, the Aboriginals slowly gained more and more rights in Australian society: •
In 1962, the Aboriginals were given right to vote in Commonwealth election
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In 1965 a group of students organised a tour of western and coastal New South Wales towns, to raise awareness of the state of Aboriginal health and living conditions. This tour also aimed to highlight the social discrimination.
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In 1967 allowed the Commonwealth to make laws with respect to Aboriginal people, and for Aboriginals to be included when the
country does a count to determine
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electoral representation. The
refenderum passed with 90.77%
support from the voters.
In 1971, Neville Bonner joined the
Australian Senate as a Senator for
Queensland for the Liberal Party,
becoming the first Indigenous
Australian in the Federal
Parliament. One year later, the
Aboriginal Tent Embassy was
established on the steps of
Parliament House in Canberra.
ABORIGINALS
Aboriginals and Globalisation Since the late 1980s, the word “globalisation” has been widely used, both quantitatively and qualitatively. Most people would probably suggest that globalisation is first and foremost the spread of capitalism in the wake of the collapse of communism, the emergence of a single worldwide market and so on. Others
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economy has improved a lot.
might think of globalisation as a break down of national frontiers, as a result of the
Since the 1980s, Australian
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However, the globalisation has increased the unemployment of the
extraordinary development of
unskilled and uneducated.
transportation and computer technologies. •
This has lead to a huge difference between rich and poor.
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The unemployment and social differences means that many Aboriginals are unemployed and poor. Therefore many Aboriginals are dependant to the public sector.
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However, the globalisation has opened a new possibility to sell and export their tribal art – this possibility is marginal though.
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Because of globalisation, migrants came to Australia in large numbers, especially from Asia, and therefore a multi-‐cultural politic took form, which lead to a possible platform for
ABORIGINALS both Aboriginal land rights and
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Though, people are opening their
Aboriginal self-‐determination.
eyes to the recognition of its “first
All this seems good for the
nation” peoples. White Australians
Aboriginals, but then things started
are so determined to delete any
to change drastically. Pauline
differences between black and
Hanson’s extreme right-‐wing ideas
white that the Aboriginals’
started to form a sort of new racist
millennia-‐old culture is used to
nationalism, as foreign people were
anchor the Australian identity.
increasingly blamed for Australia’s
rising unemployment (note: The
Aboriginals are called “foreigners” –
even though they arrived in
Australia first)
ABORIGINALS Other aspects of globalisation:
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Some even see globalisation as
cultural imperialism. They are
The Aboriginal cultures have not
warning that a drastic reduction of
remained isolated – the Aboriginals
cultural diversity is taking place.
had, as mentioned, a very rich
religious and musical culture, which
now has been “copied” and sold as
The rich culture of the indigenous
souvenirs.
Australians is now replaced by
The spread of the English language
cultural assimilation. Some white
is making it hard for the Aboriginals
Australians identify themselves with
to maintain their own native
the Aboriginals’ culture. The
language. They have to speak
Aboriginals have to sell out of and
English to communicate with their
mass-‐produce their culture to
bosses or costumers.
survive in a more and more money-‐
The Aboriginals’ traditional
orientated world.
hierarchy is undermined by good-‐
owners, and therefore the authority
HTTP://LISA.REVUES.ORG/1991
of elders is disappearing slowly.