Essay Genocide and Modernity

Since European colonisation began most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders people has been on hardship. They were not granted citizenship rights until 1967 and waited until 1972 to be paid equal wages. During this colonisation period Aboriginal people has faced into many difficulties such as legal and political discrimination, social, cultural, loss their traditional languages, separation from families and children, abuse,

When Governor Arthur arrived on the shores of Tasmania there were only “…five thousand at first contact” where they were the last “full-blood” Aborigine (p.129). The governor was given instructions to “…to protect them in their persons” and “…lawful means prevent and restrain all violence.” (p.130) Reynolds stated that the governor’s intentions could not “…survive the brutal realities of the bush” (p.132) where settlers were being killed by colonies of Aborigines in their “…so called districts.” (p.131) Reynolds stated that Governor Arthur communicated through his advisors for advise on how to handle this solution and even offered a settlement for the Aborigines with a “…remote corner of the island strictly for them” (p.133), however this did not go to plan and he became more aggressive with his communications and declared that it was a necessity to drive out the “…black savages from the settled districts” (p.134), Reynolds noted that this decision was agreed upon by the Executive council who declared that they “…regret in advising these measures” but it was an “…inevitable necessity” “…to inspire them with terror” “…will be found the only effectual means of security for the future.”

I INTRODUCTION Australia has a dichotomous connection with the Indigenous peoples and the British assertion of sovereignty. History underpins the past with physical invasion but also the European overruling of Indigenous traditions and culture. Since the colonisation of Australia in 1788, the advancement of legal and political systems has dominated British influence.1 These systemic developments have been enforced and supported by the legal doctrines, ideologies and beliefs which were brought to Australia upon colonisation. Modern times have seen a major shift in the political processes of modern Australia. A notion of reconciliation and peace offering has encompassed the Australian government and legal powers.

The European colonisation of Australia was a long and violent process, in which the “White Settlers” took property from the Indigenous Aboriginals and forcibly dispossessed them of their land. Initially, Governor Phillip had made attempts to live amongst the Indigenous Australians, as Britain had recognised the rights of the Aborigines around the world for many years before settlement in 1788.

-White settlement affected the Indigenous people in a number of ways”{They} made them (the Aboriginals) outcasts on their own land*” by calling it terra nullius under the English Law, despite knowing the existence of the Aboriginals. Terra nullius is a latin term that means “land that belongs to no one.”They believed it belonged to no one because the Aboriginals didn’t use the land in the same way as the British. The Aboriginals believed that Mother Nature would provide them with what they needed, so they didn’t need to hunt and mark the land. The British completely ignored the deep spiritual connections the Aboriginals had with the land. They cut down trees, put up fences and built towns. They believed they had to own the land. But the Aboriginals were outraged when saw the settlers building farms where they had originally been hunting and gathering at, this was because there wasn’t enough food for them. They killed many white settlers in revenge and a clash of cultures began. Pemulwuy was an Aboriginal warrior that lead raids against the British. He also speared John McIntyre, Governor Phillip's gamekeeper, in December 1790. When the Indigenous people resisted the British, it lead to many conflicts which eventually left a irreversible damage to the lives of Indigenous people.

In 1788 the first Fleet arrived in Australia bringing European soldierse, convicts and settlers. This bought aboriginals in contact with white people for the first time. Some aboriginal groups tried to resist this occupation and they used violence and force the archive it. This essay will explain why that resistance was justified by examining the causes, identifying some examples of Indigenous resistance and will assess short and long term effects of this conflict.

The health of Indigenous Australians has long since been recognised as being impacted by inequalities and injustices that go against todays socially acceptable norms (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2007). When colonisation occurred, Aboriginal Australians suddenly found themselves and their way of life under threat. Their country was taken away from them and were forced into subjugation through a series of introduced ‘policies’ designed by a government who wanted to control and isolate them. For example, the Assimilation Policy covered the period between 1951–1965 was introduced by the Australian government to create a uniformed, white Australian culture (Australians Together, 2016). It was based on the premise that

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.

In the world, as a result of colonisation, many Indigenous communities had been impacted intensely. Cunningham, Chris;Stanley, Fiona (2003) defines an indigenous by the experiences shared by a group of people who have inhabited a country for thousands of years, which often contrast with those of other groups of people who reside in the same country for a few hundred years. In 1788 since the European invasion of Australia, for thousands of years the aboriginal peoples have been oppressed into a world unnatural to their existence. This essay will discuss on how most Indigenous peoples have suffered as a result of colonisation. This essay will firstly focus on colonisation of indigenous peoples, when and who was involved in doing so. How the ideologies underpinning colonialism have informed interactions between non-Indigenous and Indigenous peoples will be addressed at a general level. Furthermore, this essay will also discuss a comparison of how each groups of indigenous Australians experienced colonization together with the issue of dispossession from land, cultural and sovereignty and Christianity.

From the first of the British Invasion in 1788, a staggering assault over a multiplicity of years, the colonisation of Australia on the terms of Terra Nullius meant Indigenous Australians were doomed with cultural genocide and depleting numbers. This use of colonisation, was understood and used by the foundations which ‘provided the means by which concepts of what counts as human could be applied systematically as forms of classification’ (Smith, 1999, p.25) exploited through political “accomplishment” and taught by science ‘to shape relations between imperial powers and Indigenous societies’ (Smith, 1999, p.25). Unfortunately, the mindset of colonisation and the colonised continues in our contemporary society. For these instances, this practice of colonisation targeted Aboriginal people in a ‘deliberate and calculated’ approach, intending to ‘displace people from their land and resources’ (Sinclair, 2004, p.50) To attain this ambition, Aboriginal culture was to be destroyed, at first through antagonisms, and more recently through the use and creation of ‘mainstreaming’ policies. However, in light of the evolving nature of colonisation, there is and

In 1770, captain of the British navy James Cook voyaged to Australia's east coast, he was required to find the continent and named as part of the British. At that time the British urgently need to find a new place to house the convicts, Australia was sooth selected as the place for holding offender. Since then indigenous people became not the only owner of this land, British rob the land to do some farming and building the house here. Began in 1960, the government set up the natives law, some land back to the original belong to indigenous people. Later, as more free settlers were attracted to Australia and transportation was ceased in the mid-1800s, the nature of the colonies changed as Australia began to emerge as a modern. Australian Aborigines

Raphael Lemkin coined the term "genocide" in 1944. According to Lemkin, genocide signifies the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group and implies the existence of a coordinated plan, aimed at total extermination, to be put into effect against individuals chosen as victims purely, simply, and exclusively because they are members of the target group. This coordinated plan is committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group. According to the United Nations' definition of genocide in their 1948 declaration of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, genocide is a crime under international law and classified as such:

Genocide is one of the evillest moral crimes any ruling authority such as a government can commit against its people and it happens more than we think. A general definition of Genocide is the intention to destroy or murder people because of their race, beliefs, or even political and economic status. As we have been taught in this course Raphael Lemkin, created the term ‘Genocide’ 1944. Lemkin combined the ancient Greek word ‘genos’ which means race and the Latin word ‘cide’ which translates to killing. There are many examples of genocide in the world but the most recognizable is that of the Holocaust and how the German powers that be sought and attempted to kill all Jews. A recent example is the Rwandan Genocide in 1994 where the assassination of Juvénal Habyarimana caused a violent reaction resulting in mass killings. In efforts to reduce Genocide, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (UNCG) was adopted by the United Nations in 1948 and was placed in force in 1951. On July 1, 2002 the International Criminal Court (ICC) came into force. The ICC not only accepted the UNCG’s definition of Genocide but expanded it to include crimes against humanity such as enslavement, deportation, torture, rape, enforced disappearance and apartheid. There have been many organizations created throughout the world to defend and prevent genocide and even communities, religions and even colleges are forming organizations and these are just some examples of how

Before the class began this semester, I was unaware of all the genocide cases and their concepts that constitute what a genocide truly is that have occurred within the world’s existence. The UN Convention defines the term genocide (rape and killing) into five specific categories of the terminology. Out of the five elements described, the first, second, and fourth elements are the categories that I mostly saw demonstrated throughout the studies that we discussed within the class. These elements proclaim that genocide means the killing, causing of serious bodily or mental harm, and the imposing of measures intended to prevent births, all within the specific targeted group. These demonstrate the main attributing factors that not only occur within a genocide as it is undergoing, but also the notions behind why the genocide occurred to begin with.

The second part of this essay will discuss proposed mechanisms which will try and provide solutions, such as recognition, to the historical wrongs associated with colonisation. These mechanisms include the proposal of an amendment made to the Constitution, whereby Indigenous Australians will be granted constitutional recognition. Further, a proposed mechanism is the creation of a treaty between the Indigenous