Aboriginal Reconciliation Case Study

Respect for Aboriginal culture and traditions which is part of the Aboriginal reconciliation and integration movement in Australia is highlighted many times throughout Crow Country and illustrates the best and worst of Australians. The way different characters show respect towards aboriginal culture and feelings contrasts two different attitudes. Today, opinions about aboriginal life and culture are shared through politics, social media and protests. Kate Constable’s book portrays extreme behaviour with racism and provides the reader with a perspective on just how cruel people can be. We have a very superficial understanding about aboriginal culture and this novel encourages readers to explore aboriginal culture and beliefs.

Throughout this whole journey of studying AB100, the one goal I have always had was to form a better relationship between myself and those of the Aboriginal community. It wasn’t until I started studying that I realised that this is a shared goal, with organisations having the goal to promote reconciliation. The reason I want to develop a better relationship with the Aboriginal community is not because it’s something to study but more because it is something to undertake. This assessment allowed me the opportunity to do just that by discussing the problems and coming up with original concepts and actions to make a difference where I could. My actions may not be the mighty revolutionary component to creating a better relationship and respect between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal community. But the point is I did something, no matter how small, I created awareness amongst the people close to me and created knowledge and relationships for myself and gained a deeper sense of respect and trust towards the Indigenous. My primary goal for this assessment alone was to create awareness and from that inspire the people I know and to break down stereotypes and discrimination to achieve the end goal of equality. Even after I finish this course it will still be important to me as throughout my life and career as a nurse I will be engaging with Aboriginals and to have the knowledge of how to engage and collaborate with them will be something to value. Not only that but also there is every

This meant that all matters that had to be discussed had to be approved by the government appointed Indian agent before a chief and council could address the matter. Once matters were discussed any resolution had to be agreed upon by the appropriate federal minister before being enacted. When people attempted to address grievances or complaints they had with the government and the Indian Act System, new laws were passed to stop them from organizing and effectively dealing with the issues brought to their attention.

Improve outcome for Aboriginal client Partnership and consultation with the elders o the leader of the community. More participation of complex need/marginalized client. Number of staff that have received culturally sensitivity training. Increase the number of Aboriginal /Torres

The Assembly then put pressure on political leaders to legally recognize Aboriginal rights. This led to Aboriginal rights being entrenched in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Bill C-31 being passed in 1985. This gave Aboriginal councils the power to choose who could live on Aboriginal reserves, which was a decision previously made by the Department of Indian Affairs in the federal government. People then started to argue for Aboriginal self-government so that they could manage recourses, culture, educations and their justice system. Then they could deal with health concerns and social issues within their communities. Initially this Assembly benefitted the First Nations peoples but distanced Aboriginals from other Canadians. By highlighting differences in rights and governments, anger would have erupted among Natives. They would have resented those who wouldn’t allow them their rights. On the other hand though, once they achieved some of their goals and observed that other Canadians could give in to their reasonable demands, their relationships with other Canadians would have improved. So, on the whole this Assembly was effective at improving Aboriginal and Canadian relationships with its successes and creating slight tensions with protests for

The goals and visions behind my reconciliation action plan was to bring the two sides of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians together in equality and harmony. Since the colonisation of Australia there has been a vast divide between the two sides that has caused many serious outcomes for Aboriginal people. My way of contributing to this is to create a better understanding, restore trust and eradicate racism as a positive way to help close the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australia’s.

Canada today is known for the pride it carries for being multi-cultural, inclusive and combination of many cultural, races and religious backgrounds, but for decades in the past Aboriginal children were abducted from their homes unwillingly to go to these Residential School enforced by Canadian government and laws. The goal of the government at the time was to destroy Aboriginal people and their existence overall. Fast forward in 2008 the former Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a public apology to Aboriginals regarding their role in residential schools as he quotes “We are sorry. The treatment of children in Indian residential school is a sad chapter of our history” ("Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Statement Of Apology"). Although many Aboriginals considered this a historical day and had a sense of relief “the apology was necessary but insufficient... Apologies once given, are only meaningful for the action that follows” ("Harper Apologizes For Residential School Abuse"). The official apology to Aboriginal Canadians who suffered in the residential school system for policies and actions of the government in the past have been explored in “A Sorry State” article by author Mitch Miyagawa. Sitting government apologizes for past government is appropriate to the mistreatment that occurred to interned, excluded and systematically neglected people, the accountability for past mass atrocity and human rights abuse and democracy for the victims, as well as acknowledging what

The Aboriginal peoples of Canada had gone through many situations to get to where they are today with their education system. Pain, sorrow, doubt, and hope are all feelings brought to mind when thinking about the history and the future of Aboriginal education. By taking a look at the past, anyone can see that the right to education for Aboriginal peoples has been fought about as early as the 1870s. This is still is a pressing issue today. Elder teachings, residential, reserve and post-secondary schools have all been concerning events of the past as well as the present. Though education has improved for the Aboriginal peoples of Canada, there are still many concerns and needs of reconciliation for the past to improve the future.

Assess the impact of the Australian Aboriginal League in improving the rights and freedoms of Aboriginals in Australia

Devising a scheme that is beneficial to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and the communities is complicated as you will need to deliver the services that you are providing in a creative and flexible manner. By involving the Indigenous community in the planning and the implementation of the programs you are offering allows you to build trusting and respected relationships making them feel comfortable in using the services that are being provided. It is paramount that you have an understanding and knowledge of their historical background including local language and the way they like to communicate will also put you in good stead. To promote a culturally competent organisation you will need to have a set of values and principles that are implemented and practiced daily demonstrating behaviours, attitudes, policies

Each example given has also shown how self-determination was and continues to be a major struggle for Aboriginal people. Beginning with the Whitlam government, the Land Rights Act was going to be the national recognition that Aboriginal people had been waiting for, however the swift dismissal of the government and subsequent changes to the bill meant that an uninformed government would dictate claims of Aboriginal land rights. This was continued in the Heritage Protection Act for Western Australia in which no monitoring of abuses of power within the authoritative ministry was assessed; hence damage to heritage sites for the development of industries occurred. Finally the Racial Discrimination Act although making racial discrimination illegal has clearly been violated by the government in the Northern Territory interventions and hence is not valued by Australia despite the international commitments made to recognising Indigenous rights. Although legislation has been introduced to recognise Indigenous rights, there seems to always be a catch. A final reoccurring theme in the legislation discussed is the uninformed views of the non-Indigenous government as decisions are made on behalf of Aboriginal people; hence two major statements were discussed that precisely define Aboriginal self-determination by Aboriginal

The reconciliation of the Indigenous, has played a significant part in the history of Australia and the lives of many Indigenous Australian’s including Eddie Mabo. Eddie Mabo has been actively involved in Indigenous rights and reconciliation between 1981 and his death in 1992. Reconciliation has been an important part of Australia’s history as it has impacted many generations of Indigenous Australian’s throughout history. Eddie Mabo has played a significant role in the process of reconciliation between Indigenous Australians and the Australian government through his fight for land rights on Murray Island to be restored to their traditional Indigenous owners.

Reconciliation is the process of building respectful relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and the wider Australian community. It is about understanding and respecting their culture and heritage and signifies ‘coming together’ to become one nation without racism and with equality for all. There are still vast differences in health, education, employment, and standards of living of the Indigenous peoples as compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts. Even today Indigenous peoples have a significantly lower life expectancy, up to 11.5 years for men and 9.7 years for women . The infant mortality rate for the Indigenous peoples is double the rate for non-Aboriginal Australians. Understanding these inequalities is the first step to reconciling the differences. Policies such as the stolen generation and assimilation policy destroyed Indigenous identity and culture and justified the dispossession of Indigenous people and the removal of Indigenous children from their parents. We can’t change the past but we can make a better future by understanding and learning from the mistakes of the past, reconciliation is about that. Many practical and symbolic strategies have been implemented over the last 50 years to achieve reconciliation such as ATSIC, Northern Territory Intervention and the Mabo decision. However, the most significant ones are the 1967 Referendum, Closing the Gap framework in 2008 and the ‘Sorry speech’. The aim is to improve the five dimensions of reconciliation: race relations, equality and equity, institutional integrity, unity, and historical acceptance.

History has unveiled the early contacts of colonization from the Europeans that set motion to cultural oppression and exclusion of the Aboriginal communities (Kirmayer, Tait, Simpson & Simpson, 2009). The introduction of the residential school system was meant to eliminate the indigenous people’s cultural heritage and way of life, creating a historical trauma. As a result, survivors of the residential school system left the majority of the Aboriginal population without a sense of cultural heritage, lack of self-esteem, and depression (Gone, 2010). Aboriginal culture was suppressed, breaking the connection of traditional knowledge from parent to child (Kirmayer, Tait, Simpson & Simpson, 2009). Trans-generational trauma of the Aboriginal people has left psychologically and physically damage towards their own heritage (Gray & Nye, 2001).

Michael R. Marrus argues that there are four contexts that need to be addressed when trying to develop a strategy for reconciliation. These are political, legal, material, and cultural. These different areas of concern