Essay On Aboriginal Identity

There is a three-part definition of Aboriginal identity in Australia – decent, self-identification, and community recognition.

An Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander is a person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander decent who identifies as an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and is accepted as such by the community in which he/she lives (Canberra 1981)

Colour has always been a mistaken belief for identifying Aboriginal peoples. Most of the non-Indigenous population of Australia do not like to be stereotyped, so why are Indigenous Australians still being stereotyped today? All blondes are dumb, all Muslims are terrorists, only women can be nurses, only black people are

Many Indigenous children feel they are unsuccessful in school and as a result are not achieving academic success in the current school environment. Their language is not accepted and is not valued nor is their culture or culture differences. Differences are more often viewed by teachers as challenges and reasons Indigenous students’ lack of success. While Indigenous students would benefit greatly from teachers with heightened skill with developed understanding

Since settlement different measures have been taken to marginalise the Aboriginal people. From the brutality of the frontier to the active removal of pail skinned children from their families. Australian Aboriginal people have had to struggle against the dominant culture and their efforts to remove their Identity. From the outset Aboriginal Australians were viewed and treated as inferior to those of the dominant culture. At the time of settlement Aboriginal people were considered to be a primitive people with limited skills social structure or order. Behrendt (1995) describes how the missionaries also negatively stereotypes Aboriginal people and attacked their identity. Missionaries, stereotyped, their black skin, as dirty and