The Role Of Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander People

After many years of European settlement in Australia, many Aboriginal people had been removed from their families and placed into schools with white Australians. This was due to the ‘protection policy’ laws that encouraged the removal of Indigenous children. Because fewer indigenous children were able to learn about their own culture, there was a slow decline in the culture of the indigenous people. As a result of this, there were continued tensions between the free settlers and Indigenous people as they had no roles in the government and couldn’t vote. This made them feel as if they were excluded from greater society and had long term negative impacts upon their sense of belonging to the new

At the turn of the twentieth century the systematic forced removal of Aboriginal children from their mothers, families and cultural heritage was commonplace. There were several reasons that the government and white society used to justify the separation but the prevailing ideology of nationalism and maintaining Australia for the ‘whites’ was the over-riding motivation and justification for their actions[1]. Progressive sciences such as anthropology espoused such theories as eugenics, miscegenation, biological absorption and assimilation which legitimated governmental policies relating to Aboriginal affairs[2]. It was

‘The Sapphires’ by Wayne Blair was the trigger that led my research into the effects of the Stolen Generation on Aboriginals in Australia. This film is about an Aboriginal singing group who want to make a name for themselves, but find it difficult because of the racism against them. This film also tells the stories of their cousin Kay, who was a half-caste and was stolen from her Aboriginal family at a young age to be taught the ways of white people, and forget her culture. This film made me realise that I am lucky to live in a country where racism of such an extent in which children are stolen from their indigenous families, isn’t part of our history, and has not affected me personally. From my research, I have found six main sources that have helped me to understand how large this problem was and continues to be. My sources: ‘The Sapphires’ by Wayne Blair; a film about a group of Aboriginal singers who are affected by racism which is based on a real life singing group; ‘The Sorry Speech’, by Kevin Rudd who was the Prime Minister of Australia in 2008 who explains the damage and apologises for the way that the actions of past governments tore apart the lives of their indigenous people. Then there is ‘Blind Eye,’ the documentary in which people who were stolen are interviewed and tell their stories. The film, ‘Rabbit Proof Fence’ this tells the story of two girls who were stolen and gives us insight into how brutally that they were treated after being ripped apart from

Only in recent years have we seen the recognition that the stolen generation deserves and the essential part it has play in the struggle of Aboriginal rights. Since the end of the stolen generation, numerous organisations and government agency has come out and said sorry for what happened for seventy years and as a result Aboriginal rights are becoming more apparent. The famous “I’m sorry” speech said by Kevin Rudd was the first Parliament apology to the Stolen Generation and was seen as a huge leap forward in the recognition of the Stolen Generation. The Bringing Them Home Report in 1997 was a strong campaign for The

The stolen generation is a term to describe aboriginal children who were forcibly removed from families by federal and state governments and by church missions. The aim of this was to bring aboriginal children up in white families and teach them to reject their original culture, therefore if they continued successfully there would eventually be no indigenous people remaining.

The “Stolen Generation” was caused by the Assimilation policy. Children under fourteen years old were taken away from their parents and placed in “training homes” such as the “Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls”. It was easy for the governments to defend their decision to remove Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children due to the destitute conditions of the reserves. In 1939 the “Exemption Certificate” was introduced.

Although many of these children were later adopted and had experienced an extensive education, the emotional and social cost was too high. The heartache experienced was detrimental to the growth and to their very survival. The ‘Stolen Generation’ has had significant effects upon the Australian history and culture and destructive effects upon the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples affected.

The Stolen Generation refers to the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were forcibly removed from their families and assimilated into European communities between 1880 and 1970. These children were made to adopt white culture in attempt to allow aboriginal people to “die out”, through forced rejection of their heritage and banning the use of their own language. Children faced physical, psychological and sexual abuse, sexual and labour exploitation, racism, grief, and suffering. Between 1 in 10 and 3 in 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were taken by government, church, or welfare authorities and placed into institutional or foster care with non-Indigenous families.

Throughout the early 20th century, the Australian public was led to believe that Aboriginal children were disadvantaged in their communities, and that there was a high risk of physical and sexual abuse. Aboriginal children were being removed in order to be exposed to ‘Anglo values’ and ‘work habits’ with a view to them being employed by colonial settlers, and to stop their parents, families and communities from passing on their culture, language and identity

Government policies authorising the removal of Aboriginal children have caused extensive and unrepairable damage to every aspect of Indigenous culture. It could be argued that the emotional turmoil which occurred as a result of this policy, is greater than any physical abused ever faced by the Australian Aboriginal people. The act of child removal would be a scarring experience for parents and children of any race or culture. This policy had a particularly damaging impact on the Indigenous people as their identity is based within a set of strong traditional guides and teachings. These lessons are not recorded, but can only be taught through speaking with elders and learning through a connection to others within the mob, connection to art forms

The period (1814-1980s) saw the establishment of the Stolen Generations where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were forcibly separated from their families. Neglect was used as the basis for removal (Anderson, 2002). The direct impact of this policy was the death of hundreds of Aboriginal children in residential care, due to physical, nutritional and psychological neglect (Kidd, 2000). From an Indigenous perspective, this removal policy and practice has been considered a genocidal act, which spread injury trans-generationally. It continues to cause considerable grief, loss and trauma among Aboriginal families thus impacting on Aboriginal health and wellbeing (Healing Foundation, 2016). The 2014-2015 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social survey

The Stolen Generation is the generation of children that were taken from their families and adopted by white families or placed in government-owned facilities. It was part of the assimilation process that aimed to make Aboriginal Australians blend into white society. It did not work and left the victims feeling neither white nor black, unable to fit in with either society (Australians together- no date). Children were made to forget about their Indigenous heritage and forced to adapt to white society. Their names were changed and it was prohibited for them to speak their original languages. The assimilation process focused more on “half-caste” children because they looked whiter than full blood children, so would be more accepted into white society. (Australians Together- no date). This meant that “half-caste” children were more at risk of removal. Nonetheless, anyone part of the Stolen Generation definitely suffered a great deal.

In February of 2008, on behalf of The Australian Parliament, Prime Minister of the time, Kevin Rudd, presented a speech directed towards “the Stolen Generation”. This extract addresses the horrific losses that the Indigenous community has endured in the recent past, acknowledging the mistreatment and offering stories of the abuse.

The Stolen Generation was between the times of 1910-1970. An estimate of 6,200 children in New South wales were forcefully removed from their homes and many more, due to the government policies at the time. The policy of Assimilation, it was the black inferiority and white was more superior. This removable was to teach the children the “white” way of living, teaching the western way of living, making them neglect their culture languages and making them hate their own background. Half of the children would either be adopted or put into an institution, where they would be abused. This is dark past of Australians’

Between 1905 to 1969 and even as far as the early 70’s, there was a forcible and systematic removal of aboriginal and Torres Strait islander children from their families by government and church initiatives. In the Aboriginal culture, language, rituals, traditions, wisdom, dances and spirituality can only be passed down and live on through the younger generations. With this large gap in the circle of life, white people planned to control and conclude the existence of aboriginal beliefs within a short period of time. The incentive of this movement was said to be child protection and the community was under the impression that Aboriginal children were deprived and in danger within their own communities. It was said that they’d obtain an enhanced education, more affectionate parents, as well as a more refined upbringing in government organisations or adopted white