Reflective Essay 'Caring For Country'

It is not easy to find what make people’s identity. The causes are sometimes visible and are sometimes invisible. People often say features of appearance can be identity such as skin colour, hair colour, eyes, and body frame. Other people, however, might say languages, lifestyles, beliefs, and families make identity. In the world, the differences of these things such as appearance and beliefs have been discriminated. Especially, Indigenous people often have been invaded their cultures and lands in the world and because of this, the number of Indigenous people have decreased. The main focus of this essay is Australian Aboriginal people’s identity. Dudgeon, Wright, Paradies, Garvey, and Walker (2010, p. 6) stated: ‘Aboriginality is about descent, culture, upbringing and life experiences. Thus there are many elements which impact on forming Indigenous identity. This essay will discuss that Indigenous Identity is influenced by various surroundings including government, family and cultures. Firstly, it will introduce the author and the book details and background. Secondly, this essay will explain family member impact on identity development. Thirdly, it will also describe the connection between identity and kinship ties. Then, it will explain the connection between identity and Cultural Interface. Finally, it will define the impact of land right on identity.

“Good Country People” by Flannery O’Connor is a short story told in third person omniscient point of view. The story contains a lot of irony, symbolism, imagery, and many more literary devices. Flannery O’Connor’s purpose was to demonstrate how “good country people” are not so “good.” Instead, they were categorized as “trash” and “good.” The short story interprets how the characters are contradictory and how women are portrayed in 1955 as well as today’s society.

Unfortunately, many migrants that come to Australia find themselves in this situation, struggling to feel included and comfortable with their changing identities. However, these differences make it harder to belong to one group; they can also strengthen bonds with one another. The most immediate and obvious indicator of difference with migrant is that of

For me, as an Australian immigrant, with little experience or contact with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the most meaningful aspects are understanding the Aboriginal terms of reference (ATR), protocols and deeper meaning of the Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country. Readings and videos, such as First Contact (Sharkey & Weekley, 2016), highlights the Aboriginal people as first Australians and traditional owns of the land, the protocols regarding Aboriginal people and their knowledge, experience and values. Also, I realised the importance of a clear understanding and application of the ATR because it is a holistic approach with set principles, core values and processes that encompasses the cultural knowledge, understanding

Therefore I argue that through culturally appropriate early childhood education and care, it is possible to reclaim and strengthen the identities of First Nations, Métis and Inuit children. Using the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC, 1989), signed by Canada, will provide groundwork for this argument, to support children’s rights and further provide considerations for policy change and implementation. Specifically, in the UNCRC article 8 the preservation of identity, article 30 the right to learn and practice one’s own culture and article 29 the goals of education will execute the rights of a child and support positive identity development for all Aboriginal children.

Indigenous peoples are utilising corroborated rights to protect inherent cultural identities. Emancipating Australian Indigenous voices to the forefront, is cultivating respect and recognition of Indigenous realities, with support from the leading Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). However, there is great potential for collective principles to be misunderstood when extrapolating research.

For many years now, the future of Aboriginal culture has been ripped from our arms, forced to give up a traditional lifestyle and move into white Australian towns and cities. Children who have been taken from their parents, have had their names changed, been taught to reject their Indigenous heritage and made to adopt white culture. In the process of all this, they are being made to forget their own culture and are forbidden to speak their own language. Already this has had a traumatic effect on our people, their identities and their links with Aboriginal culture.

Aboriginal nationalism was an anti-colonial nationalism seeking a liberated future for the Aboriginal people along with an expansion of their rights and entitlements; it conceived liberation primarily in cultural terms, as the superseding of a colonial cultural relationship and the consequent spiritual regeneration of the Aboriginal people (Mcgregor). The idea of Aboriginal Nationalism shaped the politicization of culture and the culturalization of politics, significant steps in a future phase of Aboriginal activism. Aboriginal politics following the 1967 referendum introduced a vernacular which gave a title and attention to an idea. These key moment of change in the past ignited attention toward the subject of social identity, which was later expanded upon.

The communities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander are rich, strong and diverse. The identity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander is central to this priority and is intrinsically linked to deep knowledge traditions, living, learning communities and holistic world view. Within the Australian curriculum, a conceptual framework based on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ unique sense of identity has been developed as a structural tool for embedding their culture and histories and this sense of Identity is interconnected with people, culture and place (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, para.1).

Elaboration: The essential element of achieving reconciliation is believing that everyone has a cultural identity and in understanding the diverse cultural identities in Australia.

"Our Spiritual belief is that we were created as part of the land - so our identity, our names, and our songs are all tied to the land." - Chief Roderick Robinson, NISGA'A. Identity, we all say we know what it is, but do we really? People say that identity is something that defines you through character and behaviour, and that isn’t wrong but its more than that. It also has something to do with your family heritage and the past of your ancestors as well. Okay now think about identity for a second. Imagine if the government tried to completely wipe away the identity that you got from your heritage. Native or Aboriginals people in Canada had to go through this in several different ways. First the government

In our Australian society Aboriginal and/ or Torres Strait Islander people participate in an equally balanced society wherein they are able to live their lives freely from assumption made by others as to what is best for them. Recognizing their values, culture, tradition and respecting their differences is must for them to co-exist within the society.

Australia’s population and identity has been reshaped over the years because of migration, which has produced linguistic and ethnic diversity.

How do sociological and psychological needs affect form, national identity, and concept in the contemporary world? What is the importance of cultural identity? And why is it important? These are a few question I would answer in the following study. The objective is to understand the early or modern concepts representing cultural or national uniqueness. This research proposes, the designs and concepts to be crafted more than being engineered (Norman D, 1990), so that every culture is unique in itself, and analysing Australian national identity in connection with globalization, culture, art, and society. Examining greek culture in the previous assignment made us familiar with the concept and will also help to analyze the Australian National identity.

The article uses data from the 1981 to 1996 censuses as well as the 1991 Aboriginal Peoples Survey. The 1996 Aboriginal identity population includes those people who reported identifying with at least one Aboriginal group, that is, North American Indian, MŽtis or Inuit. In 1991 and in previous censuses, the Aboriginal population was defined using the ethnic origin question based primarily on ancestry. Because of changes in concepts and measures of the Aboriginal population over time, the time-series analysis from the census is restricted to language-based data only.