Aboriginal Diversity

Describe and explain Australian Indigenous people’s historical and contemporary connections to land and sea and the resources derived from them. How have settler discourses associated with colonization affected these connections to country?

The concept of equality and fairness under the overarching theme of justice sets a demanding standard which is difficult to achieve in practice than formal equality before the law, which can be oblivious to cultural differences - an issue most notably highlighted through that of the Aboriginal witness in courtroom proceedings. Cultural and linguistic barriers have affected their ability to understand what is occurring in court proceedings but also in extension their ability to be understood. Even with the existence of court-trained interpreters, the complex nature of legal proceedings and legal intricacies associated with witness examination has only lead to further alienation of Aboriginal witnesses from courtroom proceedings. Exemplified by this is the fact that Aboriginals are more likely to come into contact with legal system than their non-Aboriginal counterparts due to the high over-representation of Aboriginals

Archaeologists believe that aboriginals first came to Australia about 45, 000 years ago and were the only population of humans in Australia until the British invasion. There are about 500 different aboriginal groups each with their own language and territory and usually made up of several separate clans. The aboriginals of Australia are marginalised in today society. This marginalisation began right back during the British invasion where they were evicted from their own country, the stolen generation occurred and their health care, education, employment and housing was severely limited. Aboriginals generally live in poor conditions and choose unhealthy lifestyle choices

There is recurrent tension between the maintenance of Indigenous culture and essentially assimilating to the rules and regulations of the predominantly white society in Australia (Dockrey, 2010). Australia’s Aboriginal culture represented the oldest surviving culture in the world (Aboriginal culture, 2017). The traditions include having at least 270 different language groups and 500 dialects in the indigenous community (Shareourpride.org.au, n.d). The vast amount of languages and dialects were present to represent the intellect of Indigenous Australians. Language is a strong aspect of Indigenous culture as it connects and influences many Indigenous tribes as it is their form of communication. The environment also connects aboriginal people spiritually to their land and provides them with a sense of identity (Jackson 1999). Although there were many different groups and clans in the past, the tribes fighting over the land was a rare occurrence (Treatyrepublic.net 1996). This showcases the connection and respect they exhibited for the land and maintaining structure was their main priority. Additionally common law was a way that Indigenous Australians could preserve the ecosystem and cultural integrity, through their spiritual and emotional connection with the land (Langton 1996, p.10). However due to the colonization, there was less formal acknowledgement for Indigenous

The European invasion of Australia resulted in a deplorable loss of Aboriginal culture. At the time of colonisation there were over 250 indigenous language groups, each

To begin with, a clarification must be made. Although for the purposes of this assessment I will be using the term Indigenous Australians, it is not the most appropriate term to be using, as the technical definition of indigenous is ‘originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native’ (‘Indigenous’, 1987). The more correct term would be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.

Research an aspect of Australian history (e.g. policy, practice) and outline the ways in which this aspect has impacted on Aboriginal people and Aboriginal education.

In the last 60,000 years Australian indigenous knowledge has advanced through generations. Unlike western culture where knowledge becomes known through written text 's,Indigenous knowledge is developed by images, words, patterns, sounds, smells and tastes on different canvases such as sand, soil, the body and rocks (Blair 2008). Furthermore, Since British colonisation in 1788 threats to traditional indigenous knowledge existed then and more now in modern society. Main threats include agricultural and industrial developments, territorial pressures including deforestation, social and economic pressures including assimilation, poverty, education, loss of languages,political pressures,the recognition and standing of indigenous traditional knowledge including involvement in policy and legislative development, cultural integrity and globalisation. It is important that these threats are resolved and Indigenous knowledge is contexulizised into our education systems as it can bring a better understanding to Australian indigenous history.It is important that teachers incorporate indiginoues knowledge into classroom as It can also give students the ability to think comprehensively when exploring social problems in the environment and the awareness of the relationship that people share with their environment and also increase understanding and respect of other cultures (Rahman,2013)

‘Australia’ also showed how the government controlled how children of Aboriginal descent were brought up with language used such as “The mixed raced children must be dislocated from their primitive full blooded Aborigine, how else are we to breed the black out of them”. This presented again the reason as to why the Aboriginal children were taken away from their own cultures to be raised in something completely different.

In Aboriginal culture the language isn’t only a form of communication, it is used to mark territory. It is possible that people from tribe only fifty kilometres away cannot understand the other tribes language at all.

Noel Pearson’s speech ‘an Australian history for us all’ discusses his approach to trying to solve some of the most systemic problems facing Australian Aboriginals today. The speakers are successful in understanding the ideas and values of the speech. Through the uses of various language techniques and context, Pearson’s speech details the struggles of the relationship between the first European settlers and Aboriginal Australians.

Anthropologists in the 20th century have been influential in conditioning on how Aboriginal society was understood and viewed by the general public based on British influenced intellectuals, governments, journalists ,and, the courts. However, there isn’t a theory within Australian anthropology that could helve the growing feud between the indigenous and the intruders. However, questioning any tradition in’t practiced among the predominantly positivist Aboriginalists. Recent attempts to re-examine the relationships between past anthropological practices have aroused defensive reactions, when it actuality it is attempt to gain informed relationship about the sciences and political influences on the wider community.

The construction of Aboriginality in Australia has been achieved through a variety of processes, in various places and at various levels of society, giving rise to a complex interaction between the constructions. At the local level, the most striking line of tension may seem to lie between what Aboriginal people say about themselves and what others say about them. But crosscutting this is another field of tension between the ideas of Aboriginality (and non-Aboriginality) that people of all kinds construct and reproduce for themselves, and the constructions produced at the national level by the state in its various manifestations, the mass media, science, the arts and so on (Beckett, 1988).

A third consideration in regard with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is the meaning of sovereignty. The discourse on sovereignty is obscure and non-reflexive. It situates itself somewhere between moral axiology, social ideology and political and legal authority. The link between sovereignty and politics within the public discourse often mask oppressive power relations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people (Prokhovnik, 2015). Furthermore, the mainstream political discourse undoubtedly takes sovereignty “as though it really were an uncontested foundation”, which erases the significance of the Indigenous as the first nations (Prokhovnik, 2015, p. 415). For the settlers, perhaps their self-importance as imperialists was more valued than embracing new notions of nationalism (Ward, 2001). For them, the establishment of colonies represented the expression of the external power of sovereign European states, even if only possible as a result of conquest, and their colonies “were considered sufficient justification for the imposition of sovereign power” (Patton, 1996, p. 149). Unfortunately, this unresolved ambivalence about the colonisation of Australia has also left the peoples of this country with an ambivalent identity (Connors, 2001).

Many indigenous communities in today’s society are not being included in the day to day aspects of life including health services and education, due to their cultures beliefs and values. In an early childhood centre it is important to create an environment that is inclusive of all children and their families. The Victorian government is in the process of developing and implementing an Aboriginal Inclusion Framework, which aims to improve the practice of universal services for Aboriginal children, young people, and families with particular focus on promoting participation (Barrot Borran). The Aboriginal Inclusion Framework issued suggests that services are to become universal and they need to provide services to all Victorian and also to