Sydney Cove: Impact On The European And Aboriginal Community

The arrival of the free settlers to Australia had both immediate and long term impacts on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, all of which contributed to the decline of indigenous people and their culture. In the short term, the arrival of free settlers had only negative impacts on the indigenous people, causing violent outbreaks, dispossession of land as well the death of many by disease. In the long term, the effects were also negative as the population and culture of indigenous people had been reduced severely.

The main disease addressed within these documents is smallpox. Smallpox has been seen as the “most fatal of all the recurrent Indian killers.” Alfred W. Crosby claims that during the 1630s it was responsible for eliminating approximately half the people of the Huron and Iroquois populations within the Great Lakes region. Like other European diseases, smallpox had a devastating effect on the Aboriginal population because it was the first time it had been encountered. Thus, the Native American could not build up the immunities necessary to fend off the disease. The documents describe some of the appalling conditions the Indigenous peoples faced “When they turn them, a whole side will flay off at once as it were, and they will be all of a gore blood.” These documents are records depicting what the Europeans had seen when dealing with the Aboriginal’s sickness. In addition the documents also show what steps the Europeans took in trying to help the Native Americans, while showing how the Catholic Church had played an integral part in how the Europeans administered assistance to the Indigenous peoples. The people of the missionaries in New France believed that the only “true” path for healing was through the conversion of the Aboriginals to Christianity.

It is well studied by health authorities that the current health statistics of the Indigenous population today are clearly reflected on their health status, due to the impacts of the colonisation process. The relating problems associated with this have resulted in destructive families and communities. It is unquestionable that Indigenous Australians were adapted to the environment in which people lived and had control on every feature of their life during the colonisation period. According to ‘The Deplorable State of Aboriginal Ill Health, Chapter 1’ (2014), studies that show that numerous infectious diseases; such as, smallpox and the flu, were not present in the pre-invasion period. It is also shown that lifestyle diseases such as high BP, diabetes and heart diseases were not known to exist.

Native Americans never came in contact with diseases that developed in the Old World because they were separated from Asia, Africa, and Europe when ocean levels rose following the end of the last Ice Age. Diseases like smallpox, measles, pneumonia, influenza, and malaria were unknown to

Surrounding the Great Barrier Reef are the aboriginal inhabitants and Torres Strait Islanders. Their connection goes back for 60,000 years. There are 70 tribes across the Great Barrier Reef relying on the reef but are experiencing major problems, pollution and mining.

The infectious diseases that were introduced by the British settlers were an immediate consequence which caused the Aboriginal population to decrease dramatically. The Aborigines had no sort of contact with the diseases brought therefore their bodies couldn’t development an immune or adapt to them. The most common epidemic diseases spread drastically and killed many people. These diseases included the chickenpox, smallpox and measles. The Aborigines were even reported by the British saying they were exterminated in Tasmania showing how devastating the diseases impacted them.

Another harmful effect that was caused by European exploration was diseases brought into the New World. “Hit by wave after wave of multiple diseases to which they had utterly no resistance , they died by the the millions” (Document 2 , from Disease and Catastrophe by David Walbert). This quote shows that Europeans brought disease to the New World. European explorers already have immunity to the disease but Natives did not. Document 6, supports Document 2 in which exploration was a negative effect by diseases being brought into the New World.

They brought diseases around the world. Such as mumps, measles, whooping cough, yellow fever, cholera, and smallpox. Miguel León-Portilla’s writing clarifies the pain people were receiving from these diseases. (Doc #5) This document states, “A great many died from this plague and many other died of hunger.” Nobody was there for each other because everyone was sick. As a result, many starved in their beds and died. Furthermore, when smallpox hit the Caribbean island of Santo Domingo, in 1519, it killed half of the native

As a result, the diseases that were transferred from Europe decreased a large amount of native Americans’ populations..

Before the European settlers arrived in Australia, Indigenous people traditionally led very healthy lifestyles. Their diet consisted of a great variety of fruits and vegetables which they found fresh on the land. The also ate some animal meat which helped to balance their diets. The Aboriginal people did not suffer greatly from disease and were not often sick. “Minor ailments that they did suffer from were often related to the environment they lived in (snake bites, skin irritations, burns from fires), injuries they received from their lifestyle (walking over rugged landscapes, climbing trees for food) and the quality of the food they ate...” and they were always treated by traditional medicines made from local plants. Unfortunately, the health of the Indigenous people worked against the Indigenous people when the Europeans arrived. Because of the lack of illness amongst the Indigenous people, they had not built up immunity to disease. The Europeans exposed a variety of diseases to Indigenous people such as smallpox, influenza, measles, whooping cough, etc. As the settlement in Australia grew, so did the Indigenous people’s exposure to different diseases. These diseases reduced the population of Indigenous people in Australia. Though they tried to fight the diseases with their traditional medicine, it was unsuccessful. When the European settlers arrived in Australia, they did not only bring new people and lifestyles to Australia but also new

The Columbian Exchange began as people from the Old World and New World began to interact with one another. Natives had many valuable items such as gold and corn, which contributed to one of the many positive effects the New World had on the Old World. Population rapidly increased in Europe and Africa due to new crops, and eventually caused China’s population to triple (America’s History, pg43). The English settlers brought wheat, apples, and grasses for the livestock to graze on. One of the less desirable results of the Columbian Exchange was the exchange of diseases. Along with domesticated animals, which enriched the Native diet, Europeans brought smallpox, measles, influenza, malaria, and yellow fever (The Columbian Exchange, pg1). These diseases devastated Native populations as countless people fell at the hands of new illnesses. Thousands died of mysterious disease, and it got to the point where tribes ran out of people to make fires, fetch water, and bury the dead (The Columbian Exchange, pg1). Native suffering did not stop there. White brutality, alcoholism, and the killing and driving off of game also took a toll on them. While the colonists did suffer from American diseases such as syphilis and Chagas Disease, the deaths from that are insignificant to Native

The diseases that were brought over to the “New World”, includes Syphilis, Polio, Hepatitis, Encephalitis, and many other types of illnesses brought by the European. This had a great effect on the Indian population, the Indians started to contract the disease that the European had brought over and it was easily spreadable because of the air that they breath and also by touching one another could also spread the disease easily. Smallpox was an issue to Indians; it killed thousands of Indian population and was also considered to

The Europeans were said to be thoroughly diseased by the time Columbus set sail on his first voyage (Cowley, 1991). Through the domestication of such animals as pigs, horses, sheep, and cattle, the Europeans exposed themselves to a vast array of pathogens which continued to be spread through wars, explorations, and city-building. Thus any European who crossed the Atlantic was immune to such diseases as measles and smallpox because of battling them as a child.

Colonialism in Australia places a detrimental threat to the health of Indigenous Australians. Inherent in colonialism were scientific racisms, institutional racism and structural violence. These factors continues to persist in the fabric of Australian society today and limits the life chances of Indigenous Australians. This essay illuminates colonialism as a major contributor to the social marginalisation and low socioeconomic status experienced by indigenous Australian. An analysis of Aboriginal infant mortality rate, a health indicator highlights the difference between biomedical and sociological approach and the embedded negative impact of social marginalisation and low socioeconomic status on the health of Indigenous Australians. The

The process of colonisation by European powers, as might be expected, has had a radical effect on Aboriginal culture. The settlers viewed the natives as barbarians, seizing tribal land and, in many cases, following a policy of pacification by force. Many others died of disease, starvation, cultural dislocation and neglect. Today, there are fewer than 230,000 Aborigines in Australia, less than 2% of the population.