Changing Attitudes: A Perspective on Indigenous Australians

Good morning all. Aboriginals have been objectified as lesser or middle class people by white Australians and I will be the first to put my hand up and admit that I am guilty of this and it is something that I am not proud of. From anecdotal evidence, it would seem that some Australians have not yet adapted to contemporary Australia where all are supposed to be accepted and treated fairly. Australian literature depicts the change of attitude of white Australians towards Indigenous Australians from the original thoughts of curiosity, to the temptations of fear and control, to the present day feelings to guilt and regret. I now invite you to join me as we look through our past and present through Australia’s extensive literature and art.

Fear lead to fight, with much blood shed between the two races which effortlessly could have been avoided if the whites chose not to retaliate. It is not hard to realise the horror and fear that the sailors and the marines, depicted in the visual below, must have felt as they approached the shoreline and saw what was ahead. They would have noticed the spears, for example, you can see held at the ready and pointed in their direction. The notion of fear quickly changed to a need for control and power over the aborigines, which led to the separation and segregation of the two races. The effects of control are depicted perfectly in the poem “Municipal Gum” written by oodgeroo. The poem uses a metaphor for the indigenous people and the effects the white invaders had on their connection to the land. “Municipal gum, it is dolorous to see you thus set in your black grass of bitumen-- O fellow citizen, what have they done to us”. The poem describes the Municipal gum as misplaced and restricted to flourish like the indigenous race. The culture clashes between both groups, in the beginning the curiosity was present, but as the feuding progressed, the views of control and hatred took over the minds of the new