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Fachbereichsarbeit
Alte Geschichte

Gesamtschule Solingen

befriedigend, Hell, 2014/2015

Patricia M. ©
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Aboriginal lifestyle before and
after british settlements

Das Leben der Aborigines unter
den Britischen Einwanderern

Facharbeit


Inhaltsverzeichnis

1.   Introduction. 2

2.   The Aboriginal Australian before the British settlement3

2.1.   The lifestyle of the Aborigines4

2.2.   The Dreamtime. 5

2.3.   The Uluru and the myths6

3.   The discovery of Australia and his natives7

3.1.   Conflicts Between Settlers and Natives9

3.2.   The Stolen Generation. 10

4.   The Australian Aborigines after the settlement11

4.1.   Judgements12

4.2.   Flora and Fauna after the settlement12

5.   Result13


1.   Introduction

In my case study I am going to answer the question of how the culture was influenced by the settlement and what the consequences for the Aborigines were. I have chosen this topic because I really like the culture and the history of the Australian continent. My intention is to find out how the culture of the Aboriginal people have Changed under the impact of the settlement wich started 1788. For this I am going to research the historical background of both sides, from the settlers and the indigenous people.

I will start with the Aboriginal people, their culture, environment and myths, then I will continue with the settlers, their intentions and behaviour towards the natives and the exploitation of the Australian land. Then I will going to talk about the result for the indigenous people and their lifestyle, this includes the 'Stolen Generation', the rights they have and their position in the Australian society.

Before I  start I am going to say something about Australia itself: Australia was discovered as the last continent in the 17th century by Europeans. However, centuries before it had already been estimated that there would have to be a continent in the south, a Terra Australis. The name Australia was derived from this Latin expression which means southern country.

Australia is the fifth continent and the sixth largest country of the World and also the driest inhabited country. Furthermore it is one of the most biodiverse countries on the planet. More than one million species of plants and animals are unique to Australia, because of the isolation and late discovery of the country. Australia is a federation which is made up of six federal states, two mainland territories, the island Tasmania and many smaller islands.

Australia is composed of the federal states Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, the island state Tasmania, South Australia and West Australia. Australia impresses not only with its vast deserted Outback, tropical rain forests, its coral reefs and untouched beaches, but also with its unique animal world and also its native population.


2.   The Aboriginal Australian before the British settlement

The Aborigines are the indigenous people of Australia, which have colonized the continent fifty to sixty thousand years ago via Asia. This must have happened during the Ice Age at a time when the sea was below the modern level and only a narrow strait separated the continent from the South-East Asian islands. How and why exactly they reached Australia is still heavily contested.

At the end of the Ice Age the sea level rose and the people were naturally isolated. In time the Aboriginal Australians spread over the entire continent and formed many diverse tribes (also known as clans) which are nowadays classified by their different languages. For example, the clan of the Yolngu lives in the Northern Territory, the Nanga in South Australia, the Nyungar in the southwest, the Murri in the east, the Koori in the southeast and Whongi in West Australia.

In Australia itself people differentiate between Aborigines and the so-called "Torres Strait islanders", a separate group of natives who settled on the islands between Australia and Papua New-Guinea, and are not related to the Aborigines of the mainland. Though there are several hundred clans, there is no societal hierarchy. A clan is usually made up of twenty five to thirty five groups of about thirty or fifty members.

Their languages are purely spoken languages as there is no written form beside a few symbols. Thus all traditions and stories as well as arts and crafts were transmitted orally. From the originally three hundred different languages only about thirty have survived. In place, Aboriginal Creole has become more frequent, a mixed language between English and Aboriginal dialects which mainly draws from its Aboriginal roots and therefore is hard to follow for those not used to it.


2.1.              The lifestyle of the Aborigines

Australia's environment is very rough and the Aboriginal people need good protection from the weather, as well as animals and insects that can be dangerous to human. The most accommodations were simple to build, out of natural resources like trees, long sticks and leaves. The Aboriginal people have several different kinds of shelters specific for the weather conditions.

If it was stormy they build 'windbreakers' which protect them from strong winds without extinguishing their fire.[1] But the shelters are just temporary because Aborigines live nomadic, this means that they do not stay at one place for long, and they were originally mainly hunters and gatherers. Some groups do not move so much and keep to specific areas but that is rare.

Also there are different areas which different clans occupy.

Usually, the indigenous people do not wear clothing but sometimes the climates involve the need and it is additional a sort of personal protection. Men wear a kind of belt and women a type of skirt made from animal skins and leaves. The children often get a special oil based substance on their bodies as a preotection against the cold.[2]

They have no concept of private property and no food is stored so they can move on at any given time. The clans and groups themselves have no leader, and the chores and tasks are split up between “family“ members, even if they arent't necessarily related by blood.[3] The male and the female worlds were strictly separated and a basic rank order existed: men ruled over women and old people over young.

The role of the men was to hunt. Usually the prey included kangaroos, ducks, fish, rabbits and occasionally emus. They mostly hunted with spears and boomerangs, which the aborigines invented. Formerly a hunting weapon, it was used in Europe for entertainment and is considered a toy nowadays. Meanwhile women and children were in charge of gathering herbs, fruits, insects, nuts, seeds and roots.

They used to live according to the mantra of: “Not to the person belongs the country, the people belong to the country.“ , as they  felt a spiritual connection to nature.


2.2.             The Dreamtime

An important role and mythological part of Aboriginal culture was the “Dreamtime“ (called Tjurkurrpa in their native languages), which shows some similarities to Christian creation myths. Tribal law as well as the rules for social life is derived from the events of the Dreamtime. The Aborigines however do not know any gods, their culture focuses on the geography of their lands, which they believe the spirits of the land have assigned to the different clans so they would take care of them.

For such dances the men painted their body and copied certain animals or the play of the forces of nature in their dances. The Dreamtime, which not only encompasses the past, but future and present as well, Aboriginal Australians view it as a kind of parallel world which they can enter through ceremonies of songs and dance. All tales combined form the Inma[4] , and since it takes time to pass on all stories and dances, a male Aborigine is considered a man at the age of twenty three.

While the boys have to learn everything the young girls were already married at the age of from eight to twelve years. The marriage ceremony  was infornal and without ceremony. [5]


2.3.             The Uluru and the myths

One of the holiest places of the Aboriginal People is Ayers Rock, also called Uluru by the indigenous people. The tribe of the Anangu has lived near the Uluru for about twenty thousand years and guards it. It played an important role in the Dreamtime as it is said that the Uluru originate through the awakening of the Rainbow Snake.

Through the awakening of the Rainbow Snake and other ancestors the empty scenery was formed to seas and mountains and they went into what they have formed and become one with the nature. Since about thirty thousand years many religious ceremonies were held in the "red heart" of Australia, every cleft in the rock is holy and has a meaning to the Aboriginal people and some are even so holy to the point of being unspeakable.

The complete existence of the Uluru is traced back to myths from the Dreamtime. Incredible figures like the cannibalistic saurian man Linga or the wild being Kulpunya did their dreadful business with Uluru and numerous bloody wars raved in his rock. In song and dance the events of millenniums passed were reenacted by the Aborigines over and over again, and were thus were understood.

Moreover, there are numerous other stories about the origin of the rock, one is of it as follows: Two boys played after the rain in the mud and from it they built the rock Uluru. Many ceremonies are documented by wall paintings. A famous painting style is the x-ray-painting[6], which depicts the silhouettes, bones and organs of animals. Further motifs are hunting scenes which include geometrical patterns[7].


3.   The discovery of Australia and his natives

The first European who discovered Australia was the Dutchman Willem Janzoon in 1603, but he did not think that he had discovered “Terra Australia Incognati“ (how they called it earlier), he thought he had detect New Guinea. During his shore leaves some of Janzoon's men were killed by the natives.

On account of the loss of its colonies in North America in 1783, Terra Australis was interesting for England because they could build new colonies and get a better strategic position in the Pacific and in East Asia. It also offered itself as a solution to the over-crowded prisons of England something to empty, and therefore the a new established colony was populated with convicts who for the most part could sustain themselves and thus they could begin a new life.

On the 18th of January in 1788 a ship landed in the Botany Bay of Australia , captain of the ship was Arthur Phillip. He had about one thousand people on board from which about seven hundred were prisoners from the crowded prisons of England. From Botany Bay, Phillips drove to Port Jackson[9][10]which was also discovered and named from James Cook [11] but was not closer investigated.

On the 26th of January the first European settlement was built which reached far back into the hinterland. The responsible British Minister of the Interior Lord Sydney named the town from which the settlement originated after himself, this was the beginning of today's Sydney. The first encounters with the Aboriginal people still were relatively quiet and peaceful.

The Europeans tried to appease the inhabitants with presents. However, as the settlement developed the European people deforested entire areas and collected all the oysters from the rivers, destroying the Aborigines' livelihood. The initially peaceful relations soured and some of the prisoners assaulted women and children of the aborigines. Just one year after the arrival of the Europeans many of the natives fell ill with smallpox, cholera and influenza which the Europeans brought with them.

The flora and fauna of Australia suffered from the foreign as well as more and more animals were imported (cattle and horses) with many ground plant beings crushed or eaten. Thus the natives were robbed of their livelihood,especially since the big herds of cattle blocked the few available water holes. After some time the first natives were caught to investigate their behavior, bring them to England  and to raise them in the British society.


3.1.             Conflicts Between Settlers and Natives

A war between intruders and natives began (called Haweksbury and Nepean Wars, wars between the British kingdom and the natives). In the following I will show up an example of the events that transpired between the settlers and the indigenous people. In 1794 settlers kidnapped children from the Dargu Clan, by September 1794 they had killed at least six of them. “Then, in October 1794, settlers seized a Darug boy, bound him, tortured him by pulling him through fire, threw him into the Haweksbury river , and shot him dead while he was trying to swim to safety.“[12]

The Clan answered violence with violence and attacked the settlers, as a result they killed five settlers in the first half of 1795. That was just one of many bloody wars between the British settlers and the indigenous people.

An example of the extermination was the Black Line of 1830 in Tasmania. Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur gave the order to expel the Aborigines on the enclosed island with the help of a chain of people to the British population. Approximately 10% of the population at the time took part in the chain. Nevertheless, the plan failed, so the missionary Robinson tried to get them to go to a reservation on Flinders Island and he succeeded.

However, the natives died there of illnesses and the Tasmanians that survived were allowed to return in 1847.

During the eighty years following 1788, more than 800 ships filled mainly with convicts landed on the coasts of Australia. More than 160.000 exiled prisoners tried to begin a new life in Australia. The concept of "aborigines" was set up in this time by the settling prisoners to name the natives of the fifth continent. Since the word Aborigine is an insult the conflict is coming up on how to call the natives.

The status of the Aborigines was very low for the Britons and thus more and more natives were edged out of their country, were pushed away, killed or put in reservation. According to the orders of the British government, the aborigines should settle there and pursue agriculture to be able to sustain themselves."Nevertheless, this plan was convicted to fail, because the natives could show no agricultural knowledge and depended therefore on other food deliveries of the government.”[14]


The government could not suffer those children because they “impurify” the “white race”.

This plan was supported till 1969 by the Australian government. On account of the abduction of children, where over thirty percent of all children were affected, the “National-Sorry Day“ was introduced as a non-official holiday on the 26th January 1998, where the citizens of Australia apologize for the children abduction.


4.   The Australian Aborigines after the settlement

Even today Aborigines move to court for reparations for the robbery of their children and in 1980 more and more organizations (for example, "Family Tracing") were formed to help children and parents to find each other. However, this is difficult because often the children (the "Stolen of generation") have been provided with another name and have no clues for the search for their families.

In the sixties Aborigines became politically more and more active to organize demonstrations for their country and fundamental rights, furthermore, the Aborigines demanded equal opportunities no more discrimination. After 200 years of oppression Australian nativeswere integrated without having their culture suppressed. Today  many Aborigines live in the towns of Australia to get a chance to work.


4.1.             Judgements

In 1992 the Mabo ruling[18] (named after a native who fought for the land rights of Aborigines) lined out specific land rights of the inhabitants. In 1996 the rights were increased by the Wik judgment[19] and they also referred to the country of private tenants. Therefore about 80% of the Australian continent was reascribed  to the Aborigines.

However, today set-backs still occur over land rights and general discrimination, the land rights are not always taken seriously by the government. Today one cannot say that they are completely integrated.


4.2.             Flora and Fauna after the settlement

The settlement also has results on the flora and fauna of Australia. Because the Britons came to Australia to found a colony, they brought some crops for agriculture. In March, 1803 more than 200 botanical species were introduced and yet the unintentional introduced plants had not been considered. Most of the plants were used for agricultural purposes and were only advantageous to the colonists.

The reason for this development lies in the radical destruction of the natural habitat and in the import of foreign species which compete with the local fauna for food and space or hunt local animals. The introduction of rabbits, overgrown cats, pigs, sheep, goats, cattle and horses affected the local animals and plants gravely.


5.   Result

After my research of the history between the Australians and the Britons, I think the settlers had influenced the indigenous people in different ways. On the one hand they have killed many of the natives and a result of that a lot of dialects and languages got lost. Also many people have lost their lives or family. Furthermore through the settlement a huge part of the habitat of the Aborigines and unique animals got destroyed.

On the other hand one could say that the colonization and the following modernization allowed the Aborigines to live a modern live, go to school for education, learn reading and writing, get a graduation, a job and earn money for a better life. But thats just half true because so many natives live in slums, many men have problems with drugs and alcohol and women often get abused or have to prostitute themselves because they do not get jobs because empolyers discriminate them or they do not have a degree.

It is not our skin colour or the culture, it is just the right that everyone has, the right to live.


Fußnotenverzeichnis:

( Footnote register )


         List of different shelter kinds:


·      Huts- A common constructions

·      Simple hollowed- out tree trunk

·      Bark shelters- looks like a modern day tent

·      Windbreakers- allowed Aboriginals to make fires without the wind blowing the fire out

·      Sleeping platforms- provided protection from sun and rain


Victim report:


“However, once removed, so many children were encouraged to abandon and deny their own Aboriginal heritage and language in favour of western values and norms, and the English language:

“My mother and brother could speak our language and my father could speak his. I can't speak my language. Aboriginal people weren't allowed to speak their language while white people were around. They had to go out into the bush or talk their lingoes on their own. Aboriginal customs like initiation were not allowed. We could not leave Cherbourg to go to Aboriginal traditional festivals.

Confidential submission 110, Queensland: woman removed in the 1940s


Quellenverzeichnis:

( Bibliography )


Literaturverzeichnis:

( Bibliography )


Geo Epoche, Das Magazin für Geschichte, „Australien“

WAS IST WAS BAND 5 , Entdecker und ihre Reisen. ( Ab Seite 30 )

GEO SEPCIAL, Australien ( C 1334 F )

The Australian Frontier Wars, 1788-1838 by John Connor (Page 36, line 36)


Tabellarische Unterschiede Europäer und Aborigines:

Werte

Europäer

Aborigines

Besitz

auf Erwerb ausgerichtet
Anhäufung

Gebrauch,
Teilen

Umwelt

Ausbeuten

Anpassen

Land

Besitz
weltlich

Verwandt, Verbundenheit
heilig

Zeit

linear
historisch

'zyklisch'
mystisch

Innovation

empfohlen

verdammt, verworfen

Wandel

gutgeheißen, gebilligt
gewünscht

mißbilligt
Status quo

Realität

materiell

spirituell

Ausrichtung

Zukunft

Vergangenheit

Interaktion

Wettbewerb

Zusammenarbeit

Rechte und Pflichten

Individuelle Rechte

Verwandtschaftliche Verpflichtungen (Sippe)

Beziehungen

begrenzt

umfassend, ausgedehnt

Mittelpunkt (der Gesellschaft, basic unit)

Individuum

Gesellschaft

Gesellschaft

mannigfaltig

vereint, geeint

Status

Klassen, Schichten

Gleichheit

Abschlusserklärung:


Ich erkläre hiermit, dass ich die Facharbeit ohne fremde Hilfe angefertigt und nur die im Literaturverzeichnis angeführten Quellen und Hilfsmittel benutzt habe.


Arbeitstagebuch zur Erstellung der Facharbeit : (work diary) :

Datum

Tätigkeit

Ort

11/11/14

Informationsveranstaltung besucht

Schule

12/08/14

Abgabe des Auswahlzettels für die Facharbeit

Schule

01/19/15

Facharbeitsgespräch (1) mit Frau Hellkötter geführt

Lehrerzimmer

01/23/15

Erste Recherchen;

Heraussuchen von Hintergrund Informationen

Zuhause

01/27/15

Recherchen

Zuhause

02/03/15

Recherchen

Zuhause

02/08/15

Recherchen – Neue Hauptfrage


02/11/15

Geänderte Gliederung;

Verfassung der Einleitung mit Hintergrund Informationen

Zuhause

02/12/15

Facharbeitsgespräch (2) mit Frau Hellkötter geführt

Lehrerzimmer

02/15/15

Recherchen

Zuhause

02/17/15

Recherchen

Zuhause

02/19/15

Formulierung der Facharbeit

Zuhause

02/23/15

Formulierung der Facharbeit

Zuhause

02/24/15

Formulierung der Facharbeit


03/02/15

Recherchen

Schulbibliothek

03/04/15

Formulierung der Facharbeit;

Eigenständige Korrektur soweit wie möglich

Zuhause

03/05/15

Formulierung der Facharbeit

Zuhause

03/07/15

Letzte Korrekturen und Veränderungen

Zuhause

03/09/15

Abgabetermin der Facharbeit ( 12:00 Uhr )

Zimmer der Beratungslehrer Sek II; Q1



[1]              Picture of a shelter made by Aborigines; A list of different shelters ( both on page 13)

[2]   cf.

[3]   cf.

[4]          Explantation: The Inma is a set of rules what orally is transmitted and by the songs and stories all rules of the life of the Aborigines get represented.

[5]   cf.

[6]   Picture on page 14 ( x-ray-painting )

[7]   Picture on page 14 ( hunting scene )

[9]   Picture on page 15 ( Port Jackson )

[10]        had been discovered and named by James Cook

[11]        he lived from 1728-1779

[12]        The Australian Frontier Wars, 1788-1838 by John Connor (Book; page 36, line 36)

[13]

[14]        Quotation from ; paragraph 2

[15]

[16] df.

[17] Statistic : “Why were Aboriginal girls taken?“ p. 16 ; Victim report in the attatchment p. 16

[18]        In the Mabo decision, the High Court said that native title had been extinguished on all freehold land and certainly the vast majority of leasehold land. (

[19]        The High Court made an important decision in the Wik case which relates to a claim of native title on land that included pastoral leases granted by the Queensland Government. ( raicismnoway.com )                            


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