Colonisation of Australia
Before European people arrived in Australia in 1788, there were many different Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities living on the land. It is believed that indigenous people have lived here for over 65 000 years. The way indigenous people lived was very different to how we live today. They lived in small communities and survived by hunting and gathering. The men would hunt large animals for food and women and children would collect fruits, plants and berries. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities only used the land for things that they needed – shelter, water, food, weapons. They never overused it or damaged it. There are around 250 different surviving Indigenous Australian languages? There were once probably around 700 different Indigenous communities in Australia, most with their own language. These communities not only spoke different languages, they also had different beliefs and lived theirs lives differently.
European settlement had a severe and devastating impact on Indigenous people. Their dispossession of the land, exposure to new diseases and involvement in violent conflict, resulted in the death of a vast number of the Aboriginal peoples. The small percentage of Aboriginal people who did not die during these early decades of the colony, were not unaffected. The impact of the settlers changed their lives, and the lives of future generations. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures have changed and developed over time. However, European colonisation of Australia brought very rapid changes to Aboriginal society and dramatically affected Aboriginal land and the ways people lived. Australia has always had a mix of cultures and people although not in the same way as it does today.
BEFORE
Before 1788 Australia was populated only by the Indigenous people of Australia – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. In 1788 Aboriginal people inhabited the whole of Australia and Torres Strait Islanders lived on the islands between Australian and Papua New Guinea, in what is now called the Torres Strait. There were many different Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities made up of people who spoke different languages with various cultural beliefs, practices and traditions.
Before 1788 there were approximately 700 languages spoken throughout Australia with an estimated population of 750 000 people. Today Indigenous people make up 2% of the entire Australian population (about 410 000 people). The number of Aboriginal people has changed since European settlement because of the effects of removal of people from traditional lands and the impact of cities and towns on populations.
In many ways Indigenous Australia was different in the past from what it is today. Before the arrival of people from Europe on the First Fleet, there were no horses or carriages, no tall buildings, no large farms and no travellers from the other side of the world. Australia was a largely unspoilt country where people respected the environment around them and made sure animals and plants were never over hunted or over collected. People only took enough to feed the number of people there at the time and nothing was wasted. This ensured there would be food next time they or someone else needed it.
Indigenous people lived a hunter and gatherer life. The men hunted the large animals such as kangaroos, emus and turtles and the women and children hunted smaller animals and collected fruits, berries and other plants. On the coast people caught fish and collected many types of shellfish including mussels and oysters.
To maintain the fragile environment and because of seasonal variations people would only stay in an area for a certain time. This helped make sure they didn't hunt, fish or harvest an area too much so there would be food for the next season. Every part of the animal and plant was eaten or used to make things such as clothing, baskets, tools and weapons.
It is sometimes said that Indigenous people did not own land and just wandered around. This myth has come about because Indigenous people did not mark out their lands in ways that were obvious to Europeans. There were no fences or barriers as in the traditional European way of marking land ownership and so the Europeans concluded that no one owned the land.
Indigenous people divided the land up into traditional lands using geographic boundaries such as rivers, lakes and mountains. The knowledge about boundaries was passed down by the Elders to the younger people. There were no books and so the elders would pass on the knowledge by talking with the younger people and children, and through songs, dance, art and storytelling.
Aboriginal people lived according to efficient laws and ways of interacting with the environment to meet their needs.
Aboriginal peoples were lived in tribes and were nomadic. They moved from place to place in search of food and water. For food, Aboriginal people caught fish and shellfish from the sea and rivers, hunted kangaroos, possums and birds, collected plants or caught lizards. They used wood, bone and shells to make tools and weapons. When the natural resources of an area began to run low, Aboriginal people moved on to the next place. They did not farm the land, plant or harvest crops or herd animals
DURING
In the winter of 1791, when George Vancouver claimed the Albany region in Western Australia in the name of King George III, the process of British colonisation began.
Initially, the European explorers had reasonably friendly relations with the Aboriginal people. Governor Phillip always encouraged the new settlers to treat Aboriginal people fairly. Phillip traded items such as axes and cloth with Aboriginal people in exchange for food and water.
The relationship became hostile when Aboriginal people realised that the colonisers would seriously disturb their lives. The settlers took away land, natural food resources and the order of a nomadic life from Aborigines. Between 1790 and 1810, clan people of the Eora group in the Sydney area, led by Pemulwuy of the Bidjigal clan, undertook a series of attacks against the English colonisers.
When Macquarie became governor in 1810, the clashes between the settlers and Aboriginal people increased. Governor Macquarie believed that the best way to treat Aboriginal people was to 'civilise' them. That meant replacing the traditional Aboriginal way of life with European ways.
Macquarie tried to send Aboriginal children to school but many left or returned to their tribes after a short time. Macquarie tried to create a settlement for Aboriginal people by teaching them farming and building techniques. His attempts failed because Aboriginal people did not want to become farmers. After all his failures, Macquarie then made laws to place Aboriginal people under British control. Under these laws it was permitted to shoot Aboriginal people if they resisted.
Disease
While the British settlers had a hand in the intentional eradication of the Aboriginal peoples, the settlers were also unintentionally responsible for their deaths during times of peaceful contact. When the settlers arrived in Australia they brought with them a number of European epidemic diseases. These diseases included chickenpox, smallpox, typhoid, measles and influenza. The Aboriginal peoples had no immunity (acquired resistance) to these unfamiliar diseases. Within a matter of weeks, the Indigenous population, particularly within densely populated communities, began to experience a rapid decline in numbers. The introduction of venereal disease was also an issue, causing Indigenous fertility and birth rates to be reduced.
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Violent conflict
At first, fear and curiosity were experienced by the Aboriginal peoples and the British settlers. Cultural misunderstandings over land, however, made the initial attempts to construct a peaceful relationship seem futile. Both the settlers and Aboriginal people felt they were fighting for their survival and so the war that erupted between them was desperate and brutal.
The 1834 Battle of Pinjarra in Western Australia, the 1838 Myall Creek Massacre in New South Wales and the 1843 Warrigal Creek Massacre in Victoria are three infamous confrontations in Australian history. There were massacres committed in all parts of the country, by both the Aboriginal people and the white settlers (supported by the white authorities, including soldiers and the police). The white settlers, however, had the superior firepower and in later times, as more and more Aboriginal people died from disease, the greater numbers.
Sometimes theIndigenous resistance did work and the settler sabandoned their farms and moved on, but in the majority of instances the settlers just found new ways of eliminating the threat posed by the Aboriginal people. Instead of going out and fighting them, the settlers began poisoning their water sources, or giving them poisoned food.
Another method the settlers used to 'disperse the natives' was by setting up the Native Police Forces. This force was made up of onlyIndigenous men who were trained by the colonists' troops. The settlers used tribal rivalries to instigate violence between different clans of Aboriginal people.
Violence against the Aboriginal peoples continued, in some parts of Australia, until the third decade of the twentieth century. It has been estimated that between 1788 and 1900, violence, dispossession and disease caused the Indigenous population to decline by around 90 percent.
AFTER
Introduced diseases
The most immediate consequence of British settlement was the appearance of European diseases. Most were epidemic diseases such as chickenpox, smallpox, influenza and measles. As these diseases were infectious, they spread very quickly and killed many people. In large Aboriginal communities, the diseases spread even more quickly. Impact on the surviving Aboriginal people
European settlement had a devastating impact on the entire Aboriginal population, not only those who died from disease and violence. This is despite the fact that some white settlers, including colonial government officials and Christian missionaries, tried to help Indigenous people. These people believed that the Aboriginal people were primitive and uncultured, and that without their help they would die out. Their somewhat misguided attempts to help the Indigenous people are known as paternalism. Paternalism means looking after someone and taking care of their interests in the belief that they cannot do it themselves.
Convinced that the 'black races' had to die out, the Europeans thought they could make that process better for Aboriginal people by placing them on government reserves or in church missions where they could die in peace. This new approach to Aboriginal affairs was known as 'protection' policy. Like many other initiatives to help Indigenous people, however, rather than protect their freedoms or their way of life, the protection policy only helped to further destroy them. On reserves, their traditional way of life was eroded as they became more and more dependent on handouts from the government and the church just to survive.
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From the time they first arrived in Australia, the white settlers had attempted to 'civilise' the Aboriginal people. Making them wear clothes and attend church was only the start of it. The Native Institute was set up in 1814 by Governor Macquarie to educate Aboriginal children in the European way. As Governor Phillip had tried with Bennelong and Colebee (two Aboriginal men who were taught the language and culture of the white settlers) over 30 years before, Macquarie believed that if you educated some of the Indigenous population then they would take back what they had learned to their community.
By the 1930s, white Australians were no longer attempting to provide the Indigenous population with an education that they could take back to their community. Instead, a policy of assimilation was beginning to emerge. Assimilation was designed to integrate Aboriginal people into white society by forcing them to live in the same way and hold the same beliefs and values as white Australians. This led to the even further diminution (reduction) of traditional Aboriginal culture. The most unfortunate aspect of the assimilation policy was that it led to many children being forcibly taken away from their parents and families and placed in foster care or group homes. These children have become known as the Stolen Generation.
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Australia today is a much different place from when the First Fleet arrived in 1788 with convicts and marines. Just as in the past, Indigenous Australians live throughout Australia but now this includes cities, towns, the coast, rural areas and the outback. There is no one Indigenous culture but a mixture of contemporary and traditional thoughts, ways and practices.
The effect of British colonisation on Aboriginal people
Between 1788 and 1900, the Aboriginal population was reduced by 90%. Three main reasons for this were the introduction of new diseases, loss of land and loss of people through direct fighting with the colonisers.
Loss of land
Another consequence of British settlement was the reduction of access to land and water resources. The settlers took the view that Aboriginal people, with a nomadic lifestyle, could easily be driven away from their lands. By the 1870s all the fertile areas of Australia had been taken from Aboriginal people and given to the white settlers. The loss of land and other essential resources such as food and water posed great danger to Aboriginal people who were left with no place to live and nowhere to hunt food. Already weakened by the new diseases spread by the new settlers, Aboriginal people had dramatically reduced chances for survival.
The British settlers also introduced alcohol to Aboriginal people which affected them very badly.
When the Europeans started raising stock in ranches, several changes took place. Many Aboriginal people lost their land. The spread of European livestock over vast areas also restricted the nomadic lifestyle of Aboriginal people.
From these ranches, Aboriginal people had a new supply of fresh meat, which changed their nutrition, their eating habits and ways of finding food. As a consequence, Aboriginal people started to depend on European settlers for their food and livelihood.
In the later 19th century, new settlers took vital parts of the land in the north, such as waterholes or soaks, for their own use. They also introduced sheep, rabbits and cattle. These animals took over fertile areas and fouled the land. Consequently, the native animals that Aboriginal people depended on to hunt began to disappear. Aboriginal people started to hunt sheep and cattle as they could no longer rely on hunting native animals.
During the 1850s, gold was found in south-eastern Australia. Many white pastoral workers left their stock farms or ranches to search for gold. Many Aboriginal men, women and children were hired to work in cattle stations and in other less popular industries, such as diving for pearls. Instead of being paid, Aboriginal people received food, clothing and other basic necessities.
Christian missions often provided food and clothing for Aboriginal communities and opened schools and orphanages for Aboriginal children. In some places, colonial governments also provided some resources.
In remote areas, some Aboriginal communities managed to retain their traditional lifestyles as late as the 1930s.
In general, at the beginning, the British colonisers were welcomed, or at least not opposed by Aboriginal people. With time, however, when the impact of the British settlement increased, there were more and more conflicts between the white settlers and Aboriginal people, which often resulted in massacre.
In the Northern Territory until as late as the 1930s, Europeans travellers were sometimes speared to death.In retaliation, some European settlers shot Aboriginal people. The most severe series of killings in the Northern Territory occurred at Caledon Bay, which became a turning point in the relationship between Aboriginal people and the white settlers.
Colonisation or invasion?
In 1770, English explorer Captain James Cook claimed the eastern portion of the Australian continent in the name of King George III. While sailing from Botany Bay to Cape York, Captain Cook recorded in his journal a number of interactions with the Indigenous peoples of Australia.
It is believed that at least 750 000 Aboriginal people were living in Australia at the time of Captain Cook's arrival. These people were divided into around 600 different tribes and had hundreds of different languages. Archaeological evidence suggests that the ancestors of the modern Indigenous people of Australia migrated to the continent more than 50 000 years ago. Isolated from external influences, the Aboriginal peoples developed their own way of life, in accordance with their religious and spiritual beliefs of the Dreamtime (Indigenous time of creation).
Despite knowing of the existence of these peoples, the British considered the Australian continent to be a terra nullius under English law. Terra nullius is a Latin term meaning 'land belonging to no one.' Eight years later, the British went ahead with their plans to establish a penal colony in New South Wales. On 26 January 1788, the First Fleet, led by Captain Arthur Phillip, arrived in Sydney Cove.
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Dispossession
Not long after the First Fleet arrived in New South Wales, colonial governments began to grant, lease and sell land to white settlers. As the prosperity of the colonial wool industry increased, more settlers arrived in the colony to stake their claims on grazing land from which they could amass their own fortunes. The diminishing availability of suitable land resulted in a number of expeditions to search for more fertile grazing land. New South Wales Governor Darling attempted to curb the spread of settlement in the colony. (Refer to Topic 1: Mass migration, Chapter 3: The life of the squatters). His efforts, however, were more to ensure that the settlers could still be controlled by colonial law enforcement, than out of concern for the original, Indigenous inhabitants of the land.
As squatters began to claim unoccupied land outside the boundaries set by Governor Darling, they began to encroach more and more on Indigenous sacred sites, hunting grounds and food supplies. The settlers completely ignored the deep spiritual connections the Aboriginal peoples had with the land. They believed that the Aboriginal peoples were happy to move on to new land, due to the nomadic (moving from place to place, without a fixed home) nature of the Indigenous lifestyle. The Indigenous peoples, however, always returned to the land after it had been given time to replenish itself.
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The dispossession of Aboriginal peoples from their land resulted in a drastic decline in their population. While many Aboriginal people were killed in violent clashes over the rights to settle on the land, a vast number also died from malnourishment. Since they were unable to access clean water or an adequate and nutritious supply of food, this made them more susceptible to fatal diseases.
The repercussions of Aboriginal dispossession continued for generations. A number of Aboriginal people were initially forced into government reserves and church missions. Around the middle of the 20th century, however, many reserves were closed due to overcrowding and increasing maintenance expenses. Aboriginal people were forced into cities and towns where they were had no other option but to live on the outskirts, or in public housing (subsidised by State governments).
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