Who Are Indigenous Australi Identity?

The discourse of whiteness has severely impacted on the educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (herein referred to as Indigenous Peoples). The discourse is based on an ontology founded on overt racism, discrimination, prejudice, exclusion and dispossession and towards all Indigenous Peoples. Subsequently, the history of Indigenous Peoples experiences in relation to education is extremely negative. They have been denied the right to the same education as non-Indigenous students, frequently expelled and continually forced to deny their cultural identity. The discourse of whiteness has resulted in pedagogies and pedagogical practices that are overly racist and not inclusive of Indigenous Peoples culture. To improve future educational outcomes it is necessary to decolonise Australia and rewrite the curriculum so that it is inclusive for all students.

Identity is often constructed based on affiliations with particular groups. When one identifies with a group, one mimics the perceived qualities of that group (Swann, Jetten, Gomez, Whitehouse & Bastian, 2012). For Indigenous Australians, they may conform to the above negative stereotypes partly because of how they are represented in the dominant culture. Forrest notes that dominant cultural perspectives bombard Indigenous Australians (Forrest, n.d.). Therefore, prevailing negative stereotypes and conformity with those stereotypes can be attributed to the dominant culture.

For the last 200 years Indigenous people have been victims of discrimination, prejudice and disadvantage. Poor education, poor living conditions and general poverty are still overwhelming issues for a large percentage of our people and we remain ‘as a group, the most poverty stricken sector of the working class’ in Australia (Cuthoys 1983).

This Assessment will be my personal reflection and analysis of contemporary issues raised for post-colonial Indigenous Australians through two programs on the National Indigenous Television station (NITV), Living Black and NITV News. I will reflect on how these issues have impacted on the relationships between Indigenous Australians and non-Indigenous Australians, and how Indigenous culture impacts 21st century Australia. Through this I will also consider my own feelings and opinions on how these issues are raised and considered.

Embedding Indigenous perspectives are paramount for all students to advance as learners/active participants within society. Entrenching Indigenous perspectives via our mandated curriculum and three cross-curriculum framework concepts simultaneously helps learners develop a sense of identity. Students’ will build connections to ‘country/place’, ‘people’ via language and experiences, and ‘societies’ through the contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Through my life, I have seen several different approaches to Indigenous people’s rights and importance in Australia. I have been fortunate enough to visit Ayers Rock and undertake a tour which allowed me to see Aboriginal culture in art and drawings as well as hearing Dreamtime stories from guides. I have also witnessed family friends who have been severely racist and disrespectful of Indigenous heritage and history. I also was lucky to work with some Indigenous students who were in Reception during my Professional Experience 1, and I was able to see first-hand how a culture clash can affect a student’s behaviour. I feel that even before entering this course, I have had the privilege of being able to observe both positives and negatives

Education is fundamental to growth, the growth of the individual, and the growth of a nation. Anthropologically this can be seen from the earliest of developments of human societies where practices emerge to ensure the passing of accumulated knowledge from one generation to the next. In the centuries since the invasion and colonisation of Australia in 1788, colonist authorities and governments have dominated the making of policies regarding most major aspects of Australian life, including the lives of Indigenous Australians. The enactment of these policies and legislation, whether targeted at society as a whole or directly at education, has had significant and most often negative causal impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, resulting in not only poor educational outcomes, but the loss of cultural identity, the development of serious issues in health and wellbeing, and the restriction of growth of Aboriginal communities. Moreover, there has been an ongoing pattern of the adoption of ill-informed policies in Australia, resulting in these poor outcomes and cultural decimation. Aboriginal people have developed a wariness, a mistrust, and even an attitude of avoidance to engage with non-Indigenous officials and those who they associate as their representatives, i.e. personnel working within

Describe how land, law and language influence Indigenous identity and culture as discussed during the Indigenous cultural immersion program. Describe how the loss of these features through government policy and vested interests has contributed to the current health and equality gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

‘Aboriginalism’ is a term that could hold many different meanings to a variety of people, simply because there is a uneducated understanding, disregard and ignorance in the way that Contemporary Australians know and recognize Indigenous Australia. Having previously understood Aboriginalism to be an identity aboriginals themselves identify to, and being further educated upon the term, ‘aboriginalism’ is now clarified to be a theory of Edward Said’s, in which it describes non-aboriginal people’s perception of aboriginal people. This theory considers the Western Understanding placed on aboriginal knowledge, culture and traditions. An account that drew upon Said’s analysis of a complicity between the formation of colonial power in the discursive construction of radicalized others, claimed that ‘colonial representations of the supposedly savage condition of indigenous peoples have provided the basis upon which a now familiar account of colonial discourse has been elaborated’ (Anderson & Perrin, 2006, p. 147). Australian history and Bain Attwood’s (1992, p.14) contention of Said’s theory also reinforced Australia’s inclination to stereotype aboriginals as one. His argument focused on the ways Australia went about declaring aboriginal people as ‘others’ and how that was a cause to a hierarchical power relationship. Anderson & Perrin (2006, p.158) said that the Australian government was also invoking a hierarchy in a legal context, to support the argument that sovereignty over

Five hundred words gives very limited opportunity to delve into the complex world of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities. I will be as broad as possible and I have not referenced any websites or books. This is sourced from my general knowledge and experiences and from speaking with people who are more familiar with the Aboriginal culture than me over the years.

In Australia, ‘Closing the Gap’ has become a key focus in the way governments have decided to address indigenous inequality. The term ‘closing the gap’ can be traced back to policy introduced in New Zealand in the 1990s aimed at addressing inequality in Māori communities. Governments in both Australia and New Zealand have tried to bridge perceived gaps between these Indigenous groups and “the rest of society” particularly in relation to gaps in socioeconomic status. However such policies may be problematic as they tend to ignore issues of self-determination and sovereignty sought by Indigenous groups (Cornell 2006:9-10; Muldoon & Schaap 2012:535). Ignoring claims of self-determination and sovereignty may be indicative of ongoing divisions in settler states working to accommodate the needs and outcomes of Indigenous groups given the undercurrent of conflictual and often violent histories that mar the relations between the two groups. As such, this essay seeks to compare these policies regarding inequalities between Indigenous societies and their settler states, as well as the relevant contexts of these policies, in order to highlight issues that emerge in relation to indigenous claims for sovereignty and concepts of nationalism.

For sixty thousand years, Australia has been home to over 400 Aboriginal Nations. Over 2 centuries of conflict and oppression have left the Indigenous fighting for their culture and survival. Nearly have of their language has been forgotten and many tribes are critically endangered. Across the country the clash between world continues, as the oldest culture in the world is besieged by the youngest. During the late 1800s and earlier 20th century, while most of the country is been colonized the Indigenous people gained the title of proud warriors, who fearlessly resisted any occupation by outsiders. Today, while their cultures remain strong, their futures are under threat, due their image the media has portrayed them to the white Australians

When European colonists first came to North America, the Aboriginal culture was falsely believed as barbaric and savage, and the so called civilized people thought that they need to take over Aboriginal children’s education. In J. R. Miller (1996)’s book Shingwauk’s Vision: A History of Native Residential Schools, Miller states that “When European missionaries began to live among Aboriginal people it was concluded that as soon as they could separate children from their parents the sooner they could prepare Aboriginal people to live a civilized life”. In short, the non-Aboriginal missionaries thought that the Aboriginal culture was not worth preserving. However, this perception is very incorrect, because the Aboriginal culture represents survival of the mental, spiritual, emotional and physical well-being of each Aboriginal individual.

Ever since the colonization of Australia by the British Empire in the 18th Century, the indigenous people of Australia have been subject to social inequalities that have left their community ravaged. This treatment of the indigenous people was justified by the concept of Racial Othering, and it continues to perpetuate the unequal treatment of the indigenous people in Australia, to this day. One group of people are deemed the norm, and everyone else is designated as the Other, who are considered deviant (Fozdar, Wilding & Hawkins 2009, pp. 4-5). In the case of the Indigenous people, Racial Othering was originally based on physical differences determined by genetics that differed from race to race, but today it also takes into account the cultural differences of people (Wilding & Hawkins 2009, p. 5). What exactly Racial Othering is, and just how it has contributed to the inequalities experienced by the indigenous people of Australia, and what those inequalities are, will be elaborated on below.

Traditionally indigenous people of Australia led very physically active lives, before the adoption of drugs, alcohol and tobacco became a challenge; there is no longer any need for indigenous people to hunt for wild animals and to gather uncultivated plants. There has now been a change in indigenous people lifestyle in cities, rural and remote areas, due to the effects of drugs, alcohol and tobacco use. Assessments are undertaken by train health worker at the Condobolin Aboriginal Health Service; there is also drug, alcohol and tobacco health promotion days for clients or groups who want a health assessments they can also provide a referral, for a drug, alcohol or tobacco relate problem; and can provide treatment or counselling within a supervised