Assimilation: Aboriginal People In Australia

Acknowledging the wrongs against Indigenous communities in Australia is critical, as this poem shows. The Stolen Generation was a dark chapter in Australia’s history that still affects Indigenous peoples today. From the late 1800s to the 1970s, thousands of Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families by the Australian government. The policy was designed to assimilate Indigenous children into White Australian culture, and many suffered abuse and neglect.

For non-Australians and even for many Australian citizens, knowledge of Australian policies such as the Half Caste Acts, Aboriginal Protection Act and non-indigenous policies such as the White Australia policy and the Assimilation policy stained Australian culture as incredibly racist. This context would help the audience of Stolen to understand just how much cruelty Indigenous Australians experienced. Harrison pushes the thematic concern of inequality through the five children institutionalised. The children are played by adults who symbolises the transgression of pain from child to adult; sexual abuse, intellectual abuse and physical abuse never just

RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS CAT THE BRINGING THEM HOME REPORT WAS A SIGNIFICANT EVENT FOR THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER PEOPLES. The ‘Bringing Them Home Report’ was a significant event for the civil rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, as what they experienced between 1910 to 1970 was something no human being should have to go through, The Stolen Generations suffered a great deal of traumatic experiences. On 11 of May 1995 change, had to take place as this wasn’t a lifestyle a human being should live, the inquiry period began for The Bringing Them Home Report.

Between 1937 and 1965, it would be rare to see every Aboriginal person truly express his or her happiness. Although there were improvements to some Aborigines’ lives, the Policy of Assimilation did not ameliorate the lives of most Aboriginal Australians between 1937 and 1965. The assimilation policy conveys the idea of white superiority and black inferiority, manifesting racial inequality and discrimination against Aboriginal Australians. Assimilation policies prompted the forcible removal of Aboriginal children, decreased and oppressed the Aboriginal population and their culture and Aborigines had lacking rights to citizenship. The negative impacts evidently preponderate the positives (if any).

The American government of the late 1800’s adopted the policy of assimilation because they were influenced by the desire to expand westward into territories occupied by these Native American tribes. All Native American tribes, lived to the west of the Mississippi River. These American Indians, some from the Northwestern and Southeastern territories, were confined to Indian Territory. The Native Americans had endured nearly a century of forced removal westward.

Inequity between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people is highlighted throughout the book, where Talaga describes the discrimination that happened to the youth before and after death as well as the historical mistreatment of Indigenous people in Canada. The deaths of the youth spawned an inquest and led to numerous recommendations to ensure the safety of Indigenous students in the future, but many problems still exist and Talaga draws parallels in the book

Monkey Beach is an adaptation of “Queen of the North,” both written by Eden Robinson. The texts both touch on the theme of intergenerational trauma within Indigenous communities. Through the lens of different main characters, however, Monkey Beach approaches the topic differently through its portrayal of the transmission of trauma. In “Queen of the North,” the transmission of intergenerational trauma is most clearly seen through Josh reenacting trauma onto Adelaine. In contrast, as a novel, Monkey Beach offers a more nuanced depiction of the methods of intergenerational trauma transmission, such as the loss of Lisamarie's cultural identity.

Tracey Lindberg’s novel Birdie is narratively constructed in a contorting and poetic manner yet illustrates the seriousness of violence experience by Indigenous females. The novel is about a young Cree woman Bernice Meetoos (Birdie) recalling her devasting past and visionary journey to places she has lived and the search for home and family. Lindberg captures Bernice’s internal therapeutic journey to recover from childhood traumas of incest, sexual abuse, and social dysfunctions. She also presents Bernice’s self-determination to achieve a standard of good health and well-being. The narrative presents Bernice for the most part lying in bed and reflecting on her dark life in the form of dreams.

Marginalisation is still majorly effecting the indigenous youth of Australia by asserting indigenous Australians to become relegated. Since the colonisation of Australia which begun around 1788, many Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander communities still experience marginalisation. Aboriginal communities lost their land, were put into deprived areas, lost their source of profits, and were omitted from the employment market. Additionally, they were forced into segregation which meant that indigenous communities had lost their culture, values and their rights in society, therefore impacting on their identities. Many indigenous communities remain marginalised from society as a result of the growth of policies

This connects to the recurring theme in the story, the Theme of Survival in a crisis. The book repeatedly presents the adaptability of indigenous people in crisis throughout history using examples of the residential schools in Canada and the challenges the characters in the book are currently

[Accessed 17 November 2015]. Stolen Generations—effects and consequences - Creative Spirits. 2015. Stolen Generations—effects and consequences - Creative Spirits. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/politics/stolen-generations-effects-and-consequences#axzz3sJgfoA1L.

Richard Wagamese’s semi-autobiographical novel Keeper’n Me paints the portrait of a young man’s experience—one shared by many Indigenous peoples across Canada—revealing a new perspective on Aboriginal life. First Nations have often been romanticized and the subject of Western fantasies rather than Indigenous truth concerning Aboriginal ways rooted in “respect, honor, kindness, sharing and much, much love” (Wagamese, 1993 quote). Keeper’n Me tells the story of Garnet Raven, an Ojibway, who is taken from his family as a child by the Children’s Aid Society, and placed in a number of (white) foster families, where his Indigenous identity is stripped away. He serves time for drug charges, during which he receives a letter from his brother, inviting him back to the White Dog Reserve to rekindle ties with his people and learn about Ojibway culture, traditions, spirituality, and philosophy with the help of his community and his teacher, Keeper, an elder and recovering alcoholic who was instructed in his earlier years by Raven’s grandfather. In viewing the novel through the theoretical frameworks of the “Middle Ground”, “Orientalism”, and “Agency”, Keeper’n Me explores Canadian-Indigenous relations in a moving, yet humorous way, as well as the meaning of “being” a First Nation in modern society,

Introduction The Sapphires illustrates the ways in which the stolen generation continues to have repercussions against the indigenous community. The stolen generation was a period of time where children were violently snatched from their families and forced into houses and institutions that lied, abused, and humiliated them. When the children were taken away, relationships were ripped to shreds as the children lost their sense of belonging alongside their beliefs. This loss in connection left unresolved conflicts and impaired relationships that by the time they reunited years later, the resentment towards each other had built and the argument was brutal enough for the relationship to become inrepairable.

The way that society sees you should not depend on the colour of your skin. Even today, in the 21st century, people in our society judge other human beings by their colour or race. One of the main racism issues is the discrimination towards our Indigenous people. National data from the Challenging Racism Project reveals that 27% of Aboriginal people over the age of 15 experience racism more than once in their life. Racism towards Indigenous Australians includes mostly verbal abuse such as name-calling and insulting language.

Picture book review: Stolen girl August 2015 ‘Stolen girl’ written by Trina Saffioti and illustrated by Norma MacDonald, is a touching, emotionally stirring picture book about the tourment a young aboriginal girl experiences when she was taken away from her mother, by the Australian government. The story takes place in a children’s home and is told with the use of small bursts of detailed paragraphs and intense, colourful and melancholy illustrations. Written for 8-10 year olds, the purpose of the book represents the experiences of children who were a part of the stolen generation in the 1900s-1970s. In this time period it was government policy in Australia that each indigenous Australian child was to be removed from their families as the