Dispossession has created overwhelmingly detrimental and lasting impacts that have adversely and negatively affected Aboriginal spiritualties. Dispossession is the expulsion of a person or group from land, through the process of law. This notion of dispossession and its detrimental effects on the Indigenous people was demonstrated in the dispossession of Aboriginal people from their land and kinship groups through the stolen generation and white settlement, which still maintains profound emotional, cultural and religious effects on the Indigenous population and their spiritualties. The history of dispossession that separated Aboriginal people from the Dreaming, and hence spirituality, went through three stages; paternalistic missionaries, the official Government policies of protection and assimilation. This is represented within the stimulus, as Victoria “was placed with white people in the late 70’s”, demonstrating such regimes. These three stages induced severe and devastating repercussions on Aboriginals by causing three major impacts; a separation from the land, a separation from kinship groups and overarched by the stolen generation.
Two centuries of dispossession have had a devastatingly destructive effect upon Aboriginal spirituality. Most significantly, the separation from land as a result of dispossession is tantamount to a loss of identity, since the Dreaming, which is central to Aboriginal spirituality, is inextricably connected to the land. Aboriginal spiritualties are integrated with one’s ‘country’ and so separation from it is a severing of the relationship between the two. The loss of land as a result of dispossession leads to the ever-present burden of not being able to fulfil ritual responsibilities.
Separation from kinship groups were further induced by these practices and policies, including assimilation displayed within the stimulus, as Victoria was placed in the Webbs family of three white children. It is people like Victoria that are victims of dispossession, which broke up the kinship groups and so disturbed the religious and cultural beliefs and practices around which their lives had been centered. Kinship integrates culture, rituals and hierarchical roles and are all embedded in Aboriginal spirituality. Separation from kinship groups, results in the loss of language, which effectively means that the ability to pass on beliefs in an authentic way has been destroyed. Furthermore, separation from kinship groups leads to the destruction of the kinship system, which is a critical component of Aboriginal spirituality as it involves the passing on of Dreaming stories, traditional practices, laws and ritual responsibilities. Dispossessed from their traditional land Aboriginal people feel homeless, displaced and cut off from their spirituality and identity in the Dreaming. This is made of example from the stimulus as Lynette, sister of Victoria, hasn’t seen her baby sister for 15 years, highlighting this separation of kinship groups. Furthermore, the effects can be seen in the stimulus as her mother “is still grieving”. This separation has proven to have had a lasting effect as some Aboriginals are declining into crime, and being imprisoned which is still relevant today as in 2016 27.3% of prisoners in Australia are Aboriginal.
The Stolen Generation, as seen from the stimulus, Victoria Maree Baxter being a victim of such a disturbing event has most likely incurred such negative impacts. The Stolen generations caused most of this separation from Kinship groups and destroyed culture as children were despised or even denied culture. This is evident today as more than 10% of Aboriginal people over the age of 25 have been separated from their natural families under the influence of the stolen generation, separating them from land and kinship groups. This can be seen in the stimulus as they still wish to “reunite family” after a long period of suffering. This figure is gradually improving as a result of Government Inquiry and the ‘bringing them home’ report in 1997. This shows that the effect of dispossession of Aboriginal peoples has had an ongoing effect, leading into the present day.
In conclusion, we arrive at the notion that the effect of dispossession on Aboriginal spirituality has been enormously and overwhelmingly negative. This is demonstrated through the establishment of paternalistic missionaries, protection and assimilation polices, leading to devastating and lasting impacts due to a separation from land and kinship groups, ultimately encompassing the dark episodes of the Stolen Generation.