Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders Civil rights essay What were the most significant events of the 20th century for the move towards civil rights for Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples? (ATSI) The 3 most significant events for ATSI civil rights in the 20th century was the Wave Hill strike, The 1967 Referendum and the Tent Embassy. The wave hill strike was significant because the Gurindji people were in desperate need for equal pay/land rights. Another significant event was the 1967 Referendum because indigenous people wanted to be controlled by the federal parliament. Finally, the third significant event was the Tent Embassy because the ATSI people were protesting for fair land rights. A very significant event in the 20th century …show more content…
Vincent worked as a stock man at the Wave Hill cattle station, he was fighting for equal pay and equal rights for indigenous people as well as himself. Vincent Lingiari led a walk off followed by indigenous employees who worked at the Wave Hill Cattle Station, protesting for better working conditions. Before 1968 it was against the law to pay an indigenous worker. The Wave Hill Strike eventually changed the communities’ opinion towards ATSI people. The strike lasted for 7 years and after all that time it eventually led to land rights for indigenous people. Prime Minister Gough Whitlam poured red sand in to Vincent Lingiari’s hands as a symbolic meaning of giving the Wave Hill Cattle Station back to the Gurindji people. On the 21st of January 1888, Vincent Lingiari passed away which then lead to another significant event for the ATSI people. Another significant event for ATSI People was the 1967 Referendum. According to the table below it is evident that the majority of Australia voted yes to allowing Indigenous people to be included in the census. The majority of Australia also voted yes to give federal Parliament the power to make laws regarding Indigenous …show more content…
The Referendum’s failure to make a difference to the conditions for Indigenous people resulted in disappointment and a new start to activism in the 1970’s, including the modern land rights movement. Indigenous activists these days are concerned that the 1967 Referendum did not come up with a solution to the Constitution’s original failure. The constitution failed to recognise Indigenous people as the original owners of the land. The 1967 Referendum then led to a significant event for the ATSI
The journey for the Aboriginals to receive the right to keep and negotiate land claims with the Canadian government was long but prosperous. Before the 1970's the federal government chose not to preform their responsibilities involving Aboriginal issues, this created an extremely inefficient way for the Aboriginals to deal with their land right problems. The land claims created by the Canadian government benefited the aboriginals as shown through the Calder Case, the creation of the Office of Native Claims and the policy of Outstanding Business.
The National Apology of 2008 is the latest addition to the key aspects of Australia’s reconciliation towards the Indigenous owners of our land. A part of this movement towards reconciliation is the recognition of Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islanders rights to their land. Upon arrival in Australia, Australia was deemed by the British as terra nullius, land belonging to no one. This subsequently meant that Indigenous Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were never recognised as the traditional owners. Eddie Mabo has made a highly significant contribution to the rights and freedoms of Indigenous Australians as he was the forefather of a long-lasting court case in 1982 fighting for the land rights of the Torres Strait Islanders. Eddie Mabo’s introduction of the Native Title Act has provided Indigenous Australians with the opportunity to state claim to their land, legally recognising the Indigenous and the Torres Strait Islanders as the traditional owners.
There have been many unanswered questions in Australia about Aboriginal history. One of these is which government policy towards indigenous people has had the largest impact on Indigenous Australians? Through research the Assimilation Policy had the largest impact upon Indigenous Australians and the three supporting arguments to prove this are the Aborigines losing their rights to freedom, Aboriginal children being removed from their families, and finally the loss of aboriginality.
On 23 August 1966, Gurindji tribal elder Vincent Lingiari led 200 Aboriginal workers off their jobs at the Wave Hill cattle station, belonging to the British pastoral company Vestey. They established a settlement in Wattie Creek, where they sought the return of Gurindji
Indigenous People. In evaluating the Legal System’s response to Indigenous People and it’s achieving of justice, an outline of the history of Indigenous Australians - before and during settlement - as well as their status in Australian society today must be made. The dispossession of their land and culture has deprived Indigenous People of economic revenue that the land would have provided if not colonised, as well as their ... ... middle of paper ... ...
Of the 8 successful, the 1967 referendum which proposed the removal of the words in section 51 (xxvi) ‘… other than the aboriginal people in any State’ (National Archives of Australia ND), and the deletion of section 127, both, which were discriminative in their nature toward the Aboriginal race, recorded a 90.77% nationwide vote in favour of change (National Archives of Australia, 2014). As a result, the Constitution was altered; highlighting what was believed to be significant positive political change within Indigenous affairs at the time (National Archives of Australia, 2014). Approaching 50 years on, discussion has resurfa...
“There must be the position of superior and inferior” was a statement by Lincoln which formed the basis of discrimination towards black Americans as it highlighted the attitudes of white Americans. Although civil rights for black people eventually improved through the years both socially and politically, it was difficult to change the white American view that black people are inferior to white people as the view was always enforce by the favour of having “the superior position assigned to the white race”.
Struggles by Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people for recognition of their rights and interests have been long and arduous (Choo & Hollobach: 2003:5). The ‘watershed’ decision made by the High Court of Australia in 1992 (Mabo v Queensland) paved the way for Indigenous Australians to obtain what was ‘stolen’ from them in 1788 when the British ‘invaded’ (ATSIC:1988). The focus o...
...of religion, the freedom to assemble and civil rights such as the right to be free from discrimination such as gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation. Throughout history, African Americans have endured discrimination, segregation, and racism and have progressively gained rights and freedoms by pushing civil rights movement across America. This paper addressed several African American racial events that took place in our nation’s history. These events were pivotal and ultimately led to the establishment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The Civil Rights Act paved the way for future legislation that was not limited to African American civil rights and is considered a landmark piece of legislation that ending racism, segregation and discrimination throughout the United States.
...rial covered in the unit Aboriginal People that I have been studying at the University of Notre Dame Fremantle, Aboriginal people have had a long history of being subjected to dispossession and discriminatory acts that has been keep quite for too long. By standing together we are far more likely to achieve long lasting positive outcomes and a better future for all Australians.
The Indian Act no longer remains an undisputable aspect of the Aboriginal landscape in Canada. For years, this federal legislation (that was both controversial and invasive) governed practically all of the aspects of Aboriginal life, starting with the nature of band governance and land tenure. Most importantly, the Indian act defines qualifications of being a “status Indian,” and has been the source of Aboriginal hatred, due to the government attempting to control Aboriginals’ identities and status. This historical importance of this legislation is now being steadily forgotten. Politically speaking, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal critics of the Indian act often have insufferable opinions of the limits of the Indian Act’s governance, and often argue to have this administrative device completely exterminated. Simultaneously, recent modern land claim settlements bypass the authority of the Indian Act over specific groups.
The events that happened during this decade are what led to the civil rights movement of the early 1960’s. Which eventually became the Civil Rights Act of 1965. When most people think about the civil rights, most people think of Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail, SLLC, etc. One thing The Affluent Society points out, this also gives rights to women. Even though the Act was passed, it took time to put it into use.... ...
Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.
Indigenous Australians have had a controversial place throughout Australian history, with World War 1 being one of the main events in this topic. Although there were no aboriginals that went to fight in World War I, it was not that they didn't want to because of their violent history with the British, it was because the British didn't allow them to enlist for World War 1.
Massive protests against racial segregation and discrimination broke out in the southern United States that came to national attention during the middle of the 1950’s. This movement started in centuries-long attempts by African slaves to resist slavery. After the Civil War American slaves were given basic civil rights. However, even though these rights were guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment they were not federally enforced. The struggle these African-Americans faced to have their rights ...