Indigenous Australian's integration: will, protection and racism

Résumé du document

With the arrival of James Cook in Australia, the white population began to settle down at the end of the XVIII century. However, they were not the first population on this wide land. Indeed, Indigenous Australians, composed of the Aborigines from the main land, and the inhabitants of Torres Strait Island, have been on this territory for more than 40,000 years. Despite their legitimate presence, the governments, in between 1788 and the 1970s, have all tried to exterminate these people, considered as 'animals', through non-human laws. Nevertheless, over the last 30 years, things have slowly changed, in order to integrate Indigenous Australians, despite the remaining racism, but also to preserve them from the worrisome drifts of the Western culture.

Extraits

[...] The more people live close to rural places, the more traditional Aboriginal way of life will be, and the less they will suffer from potential worrisome drifts. Dhimurru Land Management Aboriginal Corporation Since time, the Aboriginal people of Northeast Arnhem Land, have managed their land and have achieved a balance that ensured long-term, sustainable use for the economic and social well-being of the landowners. (logo) As a result, by combining traditional and contemporary Aboriginal knowledge with non-Aboriginal data and research methods, the project of Dhimurru Land Management Aboriginal Corporation seeks to improve and record traditional management practices. [...]

[...] Without these projects, Indigenous people could fall into the worrisome drifts of the western life such as : alcohol, drugs, violence that we can unfortunately see in the big cities. IV From the “elaboration” of the “White Australia” to the Australia of today and tomorrow Frontier violence and dispossession (I788-1860) Australia regarded as terra nullius, ownership by Aborigines was ignored and resistance to dispossession led to massacres. Rapid depopulation mainly as the result of illness and malnutrition. Aborigines were put into set aside reserves, and children were taken into dormitories ran by missionaries. [...]

[...] - The “Dreamtime” The Dreamtime is a term describing key aspects of Aboriginal spiritual beliefs and life. It was during the Dreamtime that the creators made men and women, decreed the laws which all must obey : their behaviour to one another, the customs of food distribution, the rules of marriage, the rituals of initiation and the ceremonies of death which must be performed so that the spirit of the dead would travel peacefully to his or her spirit- place. [...]

[...] Transition : This desire to transmit their knowledge is a prove of their will to be integrated, accepted and understood. II Integration Means to share and highlight the Aboriginal culture 1-Garma Festival: The Garma Festival is one of the most famous celebrations of the Yolngu Aboriginal cultural inheritance, one of the oldest living cultures on earth, stretching back more than 40,000 years. The Garma ceremony is aimed at: - sharing knowledge and culture. - encouraging the practice, preservation and maintenance of traditional dance (bunggul), song (manikay), art and ceremony. [...]

[...] For the first time, the common law rights in land of Australia's indigenous people were recognised. Conclusion Since the arrival of the Europeans, Indigenous people were considered as adverse / harmful people and very often killed. During the century, the aim of the assimilation policy was to integrate them to the “White society”, and a lot of non-human acts happened. It's only in 1967 that a referendum gave the citizen status to Aborigines. Today, the tourism boom helped revive the Aboriginal culture flame. [...]