Between 1910 and 1970 many Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families, in the hope that the growing population of Aboriginal people would eventually die out. These children are now referred to as the “Stolen Generation’. The plight of the ‘Stolen Generations’ had a negative impact upon Indigenous Australians. The government policies of the time impacted the children's life experiences, and they are still being felt today.
In the early 20th century, it was commonly thought that the Indigenous people in Australia would eventually die out. However the growing population of Aboriginal people of mixed race, led to the government to adopt the ‘assimilation policy’........... This was a new form of control, which was intended
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“Most of us girls were thinking white in the head, but were feeling black inside. We weren't black or white. We were a very lonely, lost and sad, displaced group of people. We were taught to think and act like a white person, but we didn't know how to think and act like an Aboriginal. We didn't know anything about our culture”
Confidential submission 617, New South Wales: woman removed at 8 years with her 3 sisters in the 1940s; placed in Cootamundra Girls' Home. The report also found that the practice of forced removal was highly traumatic on children's physical and mental state. Little to no contact was encouraged by the white authorities and many were blatantly told that their parents rejected them, they were worthless or even
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The impacts of the ‘assimilation policy’ are still seen and felt today amongst the Indigenous community. Many of the problems seen in the Aboriginal communities, like incarceration, alcoholism, poverty and higher suicide rates today can be linked to the trauma caused by the forcible removal of the children. Jane Mckendrick as quoted in the book… “a high proportion of people from the stolen generation were either psychologically, physically or sexually abused while in care”. The trauma caused then has an on-going negative impacts on the next generations. Dr Jane McKendrick reported that “when (aboriginal people who were removed) come to have their own children they’ve really got no idea how to parent in either the conventional aboriginal or non aboriginal way…... so their children are very often removed from them (by welfare agencies) which sets up this terrible cycle that goes on for generations”. It has also been proven that indigenous children and adults have a disadvantage in terms of their life expectancy and literacy rates in comparison to the white
In the 1950s and 1960s, the government began abolishing the compulsory residential school education among Aboriginal people. The government believed that Aboriginal children could receive a better education if they were integrated into the public school system (Hanson). However, residential schools were later deemed inappropriate because not only were the children taken away from their culture, their families and their people, but the majority of students were abus...
Indigenous Australians have faced many changes to their original life style, with numerous policies being brought in. These policies had an incredible affect on how the indigenous Australians lived. The policies inflicted on the indigenous Australians varied widely and had numerous impacts. The policies of assimilation, protection and integration had mainly negative impacts on the community, causing loss of identity, language and religion. The policies of self-determination and reconciliation, had mostly positive effects to the indigenous Australian community, creating a stronger bond between black and white Australians, encouraging the concept of closing the gap between indigenous Australians and non-indigenous Australians. These policies had an incredible influence on the indigenous Australians life, changing many ways they lived. The policies changed the path of history for all Australians.
Residential schools undoubtedly created detrimental inter-generational consequences. The dark legacy of residential schools has had enduring impact, reaching into each new generation, and has led to countless problems within Aboriginal families including: chemical dependence, a cycle of abuse in families, dysfunctional families, crime and incarceration, depression, grief, suicide, and cultural identity issues (McFarlan, 2000, p. 13). Therefore, the inter-generational consequence...
Parbury (1999:64) states that Aboriginal education “cannot be separated” from the non-Aboriginal attitudes (racially based ethnocentricity that were especially British ie. white and Christian) towards Aborigines, their culture and their very existence. The Mission Schools are an early example of the connection between official education policies and key events in Aboriginal history. Aboriginal children were separated from their parents and placed into these schools which according to McGrath (as cited by Parbury, 1999:66) it was recommended that these establishments be located ‘as far as possible’ from non Aboriginal residents so as to minimize any heathen influence that Aboriginal children might be subject to from their parents. Mission Schools not only prepared Aboriginal youth for the manual labour market but also, adds Parbury (1999:67) their aim was‘to destroy Aboriginal culture and replace it with an Anglo-European work and faith ethic.’ Despite the NSW Public Instruction Act (1880) which made education free, secular and compulsory for all children Aboriginal children could be excluded from public schools based on prevailing dominant group attitudes. Consequently, the NSW Aborigines Protection Act (1909) was introduced as a result of a perceived public education crisis and Laws had already been passed, similar to protectionist type policies. This Act gave the State the power to remove Aboriginal children from their families whereby this period of time has become known as ‘Stolen Generations.’ It was during this time that Aboriginal children were segregated from mainstream schools. (Parbury, 1999; Lippman, 1994).
Kids were scattered across the country and family ties were obliterated forcing families to grieve their lost relatives This was devastating because in the First Nations culture, children are valued very highly, and those without children are viewed as being disadvantaged. The removal of children introduced problems of alcoholism, emotional stress and low self-esteem in Aboriginal communities. The events that played out “weakened the traditional family structure, and in doing so, weakened Aboriginal society as a whole”. An entire generation was not taught about their Aboriginal culture , traditions, customs or values, and this played a major role in the shaping of their
Major settlements occurred after the nineteenth century. The British had quickly out-numbered the Aboriginal community, leaving them powerless to the changes or the invasion. The belief systems of the Europeans overpowered the aboriginal’s way of life, pressuring them to conform to the...
The power structure between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people always plays some role to impede a kind of equal dialogue between them. Non-aboriginal people on average are more affluent than aboriginals. Also, the social infrastructures in some off-reserve major metropolitan cities are much more mature than on-reserve areas. The inequality between aboriginals and non-aboriginals makes non-aboriginal policy makers be inclined to bring their own sense of superiority to the analysis of aboriginal issues, which could likely lead to policies with biases and prejudices. Perhaps an effective conversation between aboriginal and government can lead to a better outcome because aboriginals’ own voice would be heard. In this essay, I will demonstrate why, when compared with Flanagan’s assimilationist proposal, Cairns’ concept of “citizen plus” is more persuasive as an effective approach to aboriginal policy. Firstly, I would outline the debate between Thomas Flanagan and Alan Cairns on aboriginal policy. A brief compare and contrast between their opinions will be made. Secondly, with some other academic sources in my mind, I would state the reasons why I stand aside with Cairns more than with Flanagan. Some advisable
The traumatic experiences of the stolen generation have demonstrated that the removal of Indigenous children from their families has caused ongoing psychological suffering. McGlade, Hannah, Our Greatest Challenge (Aboriginal Studies Press, 2012) provides a theoretical and practical perspective on the issues and concerns of Aboriginal Child abuse. The author considers her very own encounters from child abuse and claims that the criminal justice system is racist and paternalistic. In support of her claims, she delivers a deep analysis of the legal systems response to sexual assault, claiming that Indigenous Aboriginal women were excluded from society during the time of white politics, control, and violence. McGlade supports her arguments through
The assimilation policy was a policy that existed between the 1940’s and the 1970’s, and replaced that of protectionism. Its purpose was to have all persons of aboriginal blood and mixed blood living like ‘white’ Australians, this established practice of removing Aboriginal children (generally half-bloods) from their homes was to bring them up without their culture, and they were encouraged to forget their aboriginal heritage. Children were placed in institutions where they could be 'trained' to take their place in white society. During the time of assimilation Aboriginal people were to be educated for full citizenship, and have access to public education, housing and services. However, most commonly aboriginal people did not receive equal rights and opportunities, for example, their wages were usually less than that paid to the white workers and they often did not receive recognition for the roles they played in the defence of Australia and their contribution to the cattle industry. It wasn’t until the early 1960’s that expendi...
The rights of Indigenous Australians were restricted by the Government policy of protection and assimilation. The Aboriginal Protection Act was passed in 1869, which gave power over the lives of Aboriginal people to the government, such as where they could live or work. They removed mixed decent Aboriginal children from their families in an attempt to assimilate them into white society. The Child Welfare Act 1939 abandoned this policy and gave Indigenous parents the right to take their children back. But the children were moved far away, and even if they were found and returned, many of them were mistreated and didn’t return the same to their families. This had devastating effects on Indigenous parents, and many white Australians didn’t understand this impact at the time.
Nan Dear, the matriarch of the family, is challenged and is subsequently forced to reflect on her past experience with white Australians. In the past, Nan Dear experience the Stolen generation, ‘they forced us to leave. Forced us to leave Cummeragunja. Our home.’ The inclusive pronoun ‘us’ places herself amongst other children who were taken away from their home.
Her book focuses on the myriads of issues and struggles that Indigenous men and women have faced and will continue to face because of colonialism. During her speech, Palmater addressed the grave effects of the cultural assimilation that permeated in Indigenous communities, particularly the Indian Residential School System and the Indian Act, which has been extensively discussed in both lectures and readings. Such policies were created by European settlers to institutionalize colonialism and maintain the social and cultural hierarchy that established Aboriginals as the inferior group. Palmater also discussed that according to news reports, an Aboriginal baby from Manitoba is taken away every single day by the government and is put in social care (CTVNews.ca Staff, 2015). This echoes Andrea Smith’s argument in “Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy: Rethinking Women of Color Organizing” that colonialism continues to affect Aboriginals through genocide (2006, p. 68). Although such actions by the government are not physical acts of genocide, where 90% of Aboriginal population was annihilated, it is this modern day cultural assimilation that succeeded the Indigenous Residential School System and the Indian Act embodies colonialism and genocide (Larkin, November 4,
This essay will focus on the good intentions of the white Australians, the objective of which was to incorporate these Aboriginal children into the white Australian culture, as well as the reasons for such a drastic failure of this effort. This effort caused families to be torn apart and children to grow up in a culture that was not naturally their own. From the late 1800’s until the practice was officially ended in 1969, Indigenous children were taken from their families to be raised by white Australians. This was a common occurrence in every Australian state and could generally be separated into three forms: some children were placed into Government run institutions, others were adopted into white families and the remaining children were fostered into white families (Stolen Generation [accessed July 2003]).
The Stolen Generations refers to the forcible removal of Aboriginal, mostly those who were not full blooded taken between the 1830’s and the 1970’s. They were removed due to their mixed heritage, consisting of Indigenous mothers and European fathers. The Stolen Generations have had a damaging effect on the native owners of Australia, their culture, their identity and most importantly, their sense of belonging,
This explains my negative emotions around history of the forcible removal of Aboriginal children from their parents. As a result, I thought having come from a collectivistic background helped me to empathise with the pain endured by the Aboriginal people, whose kinship system is also based on interdependence of the family and extended family (Elston & Smith, 2007). Nevertheless, learning about the negative impacts of colonisation on Aboriginal people’s lives and health has unexpectedly changed my evaluation of own