The Impact Of History And Colonization On First Peoples

The impact of colonization on First Nations peoples in Canada is unsurpassable, regarding every aspect of Aboriginal life and well-being. Throughout Canadian history, the government has been aiming to assimilate and annihilate Aboriginal people by way of racist policies, ethnocentric institutions, discriminatory laws and destructive capitalist behaviours. Because of this, Aboriginal people have suffered many losses, both physically and culturally. One of the main perpetrators of enacting this loss is the education system. The education system in Canada has and continues to threaten the relationship First Nations peoples have with the land. The connection First Nations peoples have with the land is crucial to their cultures, traditions, ceremonies and beliefs. Colonization and colonialism jeopardize this relationship and that is what this essay will address.

The deposition of their land, involvement in violent conflict and exposure to new diseases, resulted in the death of a vast number of Indigenous people. For the small population that did survive through this period of time, their lives were irreversibly changed, forever

It is well studied by health authorities that the current health statistics of the Indigenous population today are clearly reflected on their health status, due to the impacts of the colonisation process. The relating problems associated with this have resulted in destructive families and communities. It is unquestionable that Indigenous Australians were adapted to the environment in which people lived and had control on every feature of their life during the colonisation period. According to ‘The Deplorable State of Aboriginal Ill Health, Chapter 1’ (2014), studies that show that numerous infectious diseases; such as, smallpox and the flu, were not present in the pre-invasion period. It is also shown that lifestyle diseases such as high BP, diabetes and heart diseases were not known to exist.

Aboriginal health standards are so low today that all most half aboriginal men and a third of the women die before they are 45. Aboriginal people can expect to live 20 years less than non-indigenous Australians. Aboriginals generally suffer from more health problem and are more likely to suffer from diabetes, liver disease and glaucoma. The causes of their poor health and low life expectancy are poverty, poor nutrition, poor housing, dispossession of their traditional land, low education level, high unemployment, drug and substance use, unsafe sex, limited health care and diseases.

How we define health differs to how Indigenous Australians define health. The World Health Organisation defines health as “not only the absence of infirmity and disease but also a state of physical, mental and social well-being” (WHO, 1946) However, the National Aboriginal Health Strategy Working Party (1989)

“The status of Indigenous health in contemporary Australia is a result of historic factors as well as contemporary socio-economic issues” (Hampton & Toombs, 2013, p. 1).

This paper will examine the healthcare of Indigenous Australian peoples compared to non-indigenous Australians. The life expectancy gaps between the two are a cause for alarm when statistics show Indigenous Australian peoples die on average 17 years earlier than non-indigenous Australians (Dick 2017). This paper will examine the social determinants of health to explore these factors and what interventions are in place to improve health status and life expectancy gaps for equality. The Federal Government has seen the implementation of the Northern Territory Intervention and the Closing the Gap Initiative. This essay will examine these two strategies and discuss the effectiveness of both policies. It will explain the differences, similarities and look at the success so far to

As health professionals, we must look beyond individual attributes of Indigenous Australians to gain a greater understanding and a possible explanation of why there are such high rates of ill health issues such as alcoholism, depression, abuse, shorter life expectancy and higher prevalence of diseases including diabetes, heart disease and obesity in our indigenous population. Looking at just the individual aspects and the biomedical health model, we don’t get the context of Aboriginal health. This is why we need to explore in further detail what events could have created such inequities in Aboriginal health. Other details that we should consider are the historical and cultural factors such as, ‘terra nullius’, dispossession and social

What might explain these statistics, or at least serve as correlations, are the determinants of health. If the reader is not familiar with the determinants of health, the World Health Organisation (WHO) provides an explanation of them. In essence, these health determinants are factors that have significant impact upon one’s health. The main determinants for health are: socioeconomic status, where the rich and upper classes tend to be healthier; education, where low education is linked to stress, lower self-esteem and poorer health choices; environment, where purer air, cleaner water, healthier workplaces and better housing contribute to being healthier; health services, where access to services and proper equipment all contribute to health; as well as gender, genetics, culture and social behaviour (WHO, 2016). As there are so health determinants, where essays can be written on one alone, it is not within the scope of this essay to critically analyse each determinant for Indigenous Australians. With this in mind, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2014) documents an extensive list of data for Indigenous health, most of which discusses issues which are out-of-scope for this analysis. What is relevant, however, is outlined next. Across the board, in 2011, the Indigenous population was younger than the non-Indigenous population due to high fertility and mortality rates with those

     Many of the inequalities in the health of the Aboriginal people can be attributed to the

Although the natives might have never made it to modern day like customs, the impact of the European exploration and colonization on the native people was through the conversion to Christianity; death/diseases; and the exchanges and teachings towards Natives. Without all the modifications the Europeans made on the Natives, and also colonizing in the Americas we wouldn’t have mixed race population or event the today’s united states. If the European explorers never came over to the US, some generations of family in today’s time probably would have never existed. The pain, sweat, blood, and tears that led into creating the nation, we have now been crucial during those times. It was unjust and unethical for the Europeans to treat the Natives as

Before the European settlers arrived in Australia, Indigenous people traditionally led very healthy lifestyles. Their diet consisted of a great variety of fruits and vegetables which they found fresh on the land. The also ate some animal meat which helped to balance their diets. The Aboriginal people did not suffer greatly from disease and were not often sick. “Minor ailments that they did suffer from were often related to the environment they lived in (snake bites, skin irritations, burns from fires), injuries they received from their lifestyle (walking over rugged landscapes, climbing trees for food) and the quality of the food they ate...” and they were always treated by traditional medicines made from local plants. Unfortunately, the health of the Indigenous people worked against the Indigenous people when the Europeans arrived. Because of the lack of illness amongst the Indigenous people, they had not built up immunity to disease. The Europeans exposed a variety of diseases to Indigenous people such as smallpox, influenza, measles, whooping cough, etc. As the settlement in Australia grew, so did the Indigenous people’s exposure to different diseases. These diseases reduced the population of Indigenous people in Australia. Though they tried to fight the diseases with their traditional medicine, it was unsuccessful. When the European settlers arrived in Australia, they did not only bring new people and lifestyles to Australia but also new

The inequalities in today’s indigenous communities are still strongly evident. Heard, Khoo & Birrell (2009), argued that while there has been an attempt in narrowing the gap between Indigenous and non Indigenous Australians, a barrier still exists in appropriate health care reaching indigenous people. The Indigenous people believe, health is more than the individual, it is

Colonialism in Australia places a detrimental threat to the health of Indigenous Australians. Inherent in colonialism were scientific racisms, institutional racism and structural violence. These factors continues to persist in the fabric of Australian society today and limits the life chances of Indigenous Australians. This essay illuminates colonialism as a major contributor to the social marginalisation and low socioeconomic status experienced by indigenous Australian. An analysis of Aboriginal infant mortality rate, a health indicator highlights the difference between biomedical and sociological approach and the embedded negative impact of social marginalisation and low socioeconomic status on the health of Indigenous Australians. The

A life long nightmare was about to be placed upon the Aboriginal people. There were historical processes that occurred in the late 1700s that impacted on Indigenous cultures throughout Australia. The Europeans started out on the East Coast (Botany Bay) and then filtered through the country as they explored the mountain rages and desert. The policies and practises that were implemented by the Europeans were considered a failure as they destroyed thousands of years of historical Aboriginal culture. Here we will look at some of the consequences of this destruction for example health and education. The quote “a history of failings” is a term used to describe the damage the Europeans have caused. The hundred years war is the story of Wiradjuri resistance against sustained assault. The devastating pressure of colonialism broke many individuals but failed ultimately to break the spirit of the people (Peter Read). The past history has demonstrated the faults in terms of the historical processes that have impacted on Aboriginal culture, causing resentment and an unresolved frustration that is still felt today in our modern society. This essay explores events such the Invasion, Colonial frontier, Protection, segregation, assimilation and the Stolen Generations and traces the impacts of each in regards to the policies and practises the contemporary realities of Indigenous people in Australia with regard to health and education.