Aboriginals no more?

Rhiann Marie - Round the World
Stewart Graham
Thu 27 Jan 2011 04:45
As we have sailed round the world it has been clear to us as we moved slowly and progressively from place to place, spending time in each, observing and interacting with all the various people as we have gone along that basically the peoples of the world that we have met are the same the world over in many ways.
 
People are genearlly honest and like to be happy - there is universal joy in smiling and laughing, people are generally kind and everyones' first concern is for the health of their family and themselves.
 
As we have sailed from place to place we have also noticed that people - their culture, their looks, their language are all slightly different too. Architecture or more commonly house building methods and materials are slightly different when moving from one place to another. Boat building styles are different to some extent from island to island. Diet and cuisine also changes as we move ever westwards. Peoples physical stature, facial structure and colouring are generally a slow progressive changing picture when you go from one place to another. Language however is sometimes dramatically different in some places where it was developed over a period of time when particular peoples, having been of the same origin, had developed societies where they were in clonflict with neighbours or due to topography etc did not intermingle with other societies who were also developing languages. Other slightly more distinct differences from place to place often seemed to have been driven by the climate, the available food source, the prevailing sea state, the fauna and foliage as well as the topography and other reasons. 
 
So for the most part and as I have described before, people and their culture have been like many hues of the same colour, as if one had spilt a bucket of not fully mixed paint, representing the people of the world, across the blank tapestry of the world we have travelled. In some places the paint is a little darker, in others a little lighter but in all the base colour is the same though getting progressively darker as we near the bottom of the "tin" from whence it was "spilled". For the record we felt certain that we could see hints of Africa in several ways almost as far as Fiji but quite strongly in Vanuatu.
 
Much of this slow progressive migration and I realise I am generalising, in more modern times, say the last three or four centuries  was between relatively near neighbours who had culturally many things in common with each other. This allowed assimilation of one to the other or if you like homogonisation of the two groups having many things in common. 
 
Often before this time the migration was in the form of an invading force who murdered drove out, suppressed or eradicated the people they invaded.
 
Just occasionally also, however you get an area where for whatever reason, generally political or religious, people have grown a huge population from their less numerous decendants, who it seems had migrated there in the first place, and developed a different culture in greater isolation than others.  
 
Some areas and peoples far apart from each other "developed" very differently, with for whatever reason (perhaps subject of another long winded piece?), Europe developing an advanced society, heading out across the world with their new found technology in shipbuilding, and plundering the "larders" of the peoples of the world they sailed to. Of course they also enslaved many of the other people whose land they plundered harnessing for many years the output of their labour. It may be that this differential in development of people and their technology is no more than 500 years which in the scheme of things is a hairs breadth of difference. However when the development of one people crossed a certain technological threshold eg building of large sea-going ships and the development of artillery and firearms, followed by the industrial revolution, they were very quick to aggressively assert their "superiority" on the people whose land they chose to sail to. They were also able if they chose to, and they often did, to oppress, suppress and in fact eliminate the people whose land they invaded.      
 
Then you get the situation that is the subject of this blog. Where one people having developed (at one end of the colour spectrum of my metaphorical paint tin) an advanced society, decide to sail to the other side of the world (to confront people at the other end of the "development" spectrum), short circuiting the millenia old process of slow progression and migration of people and their assimilation to their new neighbours.   
 
This is in essence what happened when Captain Cook sailed to and "claimed" (they were bloody unbelievable these people - or were they not only carrying out 
what seemed like legitimate expansionist activities similar to the corporate world of today but with the rules of the time?) - "claimed" Australia. The follow on from that and the colonising of Australia initially with convicts then wholesale colonisation with settlers is really what I am writing about. The heavy stuffy above is just a light introduction!   
 
When the, lets call them Ballanda (Ballanda is a corruption of the word Hollander which the Aborigines had some knowledge of from the Dutch settled in West Timor - remember the Portuguese were in East Timor) settled into the Aboriginal land that is now called Australia, the difference in physical stature, skin colour, facial structure, language, culture, beliefs, laws - almost every thing you can imagine - was completely at the other end of the spectrum of development or at the other end of the hues in my metaphorical paint tin. For some reason the Dutch and Portuguese, although they almost certainly travelled to Australia long before captain Cook, were happy with their lot of spices and sandalwood in the "Dutch" East Indies and in fact had limited trading with Aboriginal people but did not seek to inhabit their land. It probably seemed inhospitable to them and they felt they already had the prime cut of what was going. This land was initially percieved only fit for convicts perhaps?
 
Of course the same thing happened all over Africa, New Zealand, North America to name but a few out at the extreme end of the differential between colonist/invader and indigenous people. However here, though I am just writing about the Aboriginal people the same or similar consequences occured in other areas. To a lesser extent studying the situation in Australia gives some insight also into the destruction of the culture of the Highland Gael over several hundred years also.  
 
The differences between the aboriginals and the invading Ballanda were so extreme that the Aboriginies in some areas thought the Ballanda must be from outer space! Some of them rode horses which to some Aboriginies looked like some strange creature with four legs and two arms. They had guns. All of this led many Aboriginals to believe they were supernatural people. The Aboriginals had in their isolation never seen anything like this - they were mystified at these aliens, they had no concept that creatures - like these could exist. Such was the cultural and developmental chasm between the two peoples. 
 
The Ballanda considered by the rule of the time, this new land to be theirs. The Aboriginies could not conceive how anyone could own the land. The land in fact owned them. The land was here long before they were born and would be here long after they would be gone so how could it be owned?
 
The colonists had great tracts of land "given" to them under the Ballanda laws. Nobody consulted the Aboriginies. Nobody evem told them their lands were being given away. They wandered the lands in a nomadic way living off the land, mostly hunting and gathering. Anything found on their territorial lands they considered fair game. There were some incidences where Ballanda settlers (many of whom were of very dubious character remember) had left materials or equipment on "their" land and when the Aboriginals found such material they considered it theirs as it was on their land. This was their law. It was against the Ballanda Law. Some shot some Aboriginals for "theft". This caused the Aboriginals to group and decide they should retaliate against these alien, lawless murderous invaders. 
 
This led to a series of conflicts in which the retaliations grew ever larger. They culminated in a series of "wars" between various groups. Of course while the native people fought many courageos battles and had some memorable victories there was only ever going to be one outcome because of the superior technology and firepower of the Ballanda.
 
Eventually the Aboriginals shrank away from the tragic conflicts into restricted lands that had not been claimed by Ballanda. This happened in a relatively short time of the order of less than 100 years, much more quickly in some areas. This meant that the Aboriginals could not live from the land as had and did not have freedom to move around according to the best season to be in the best place to have food and all the available resources. All too commonly of course the Ballanda had taken the best land.
 
The Aboriginal circle of seasonal life had been broken and they could not do anything about it. The Ballanda people in many instances simply shot to kill any Aboriginal people they came across on their land. Inevitably some deals were done with some "tribes" or individual Aboriginals to help the Ballanda control and erradicate other tribal groups from "their" land.
 
Many Aboriginal people died. Their society and way of life which depended on freedom to move around the land was shattered. The time frame was too quick for them to adapt. They were defeated by aliens, with lawless ways, ruthlessly implemented with superior and murderous firepower. They shrunk in number and shrunk back to the least desirable parts of the land wher they could barely survive.
 
Throughout the early part of the twentieth century churches inevitably saw this new land also as new untapped recruiting territory established religous missions in many remote parts of the country. In many cases they did what they could to help people, in other cases they used the bullwhip to enforce compliance. The missions by and large however as outposts of Christian humanity helped sustain some small communties and schools and market gardens etc were created as well as places of worship. Those Aboriginals moving to the missions had by now lost the ability to live of the land that was left and started to develop some skills in agriculture and trades to keep the mission going. Some learnt to build houses, some grew crops and there were also some learning mechanical skills. Alcohol was forbidden on the missions.
 
While this life at the missions worked in some limited way by humanely, for the most part, allowing the Aboriginals time to learn and adapt to the alien ways of the Ballanda people who were clearly here to stay, it could only reach out to a relatively small number of Aboriginal people. The authorities reached out into the communities and in some cases forced children away from their parents to come and live at the missions to start to indoctrinate the next generation in the "civilised" ways of the white people. This was a cruel and brutal policy. While it was not quite ethnic cleansing it was an attempt, probably in ignorance well intentioned, to ethnically manipulate Aboriginals to the Ballanda way of living. YOu can see that the thinking may have been to get the young ones and educate them to our way of life and in a generation or two - bingo problem solved.
   
The Ballanda government by this time felt guilty as to the plight of the Aboriginal people not only from their policy or removing some children but in general from having taken their lands from them. So then another well intentioned policy to try to create large tracts of land for which the Aboriginies could have certain rights over. Not too many mind. There could be minerals under some of that land.... The Aboriginals were then ceremoniosly presented with "their land" and asked to live on it. There now - concience eased over past wrongs eh!
 
What could the Aboriginal people do? They wanted their land back, they hankered back after the old ways of life. Ways they faintly remebered but in fact were not able to return to. Neither their land nor their skills were suitable any longer to live the old ways but they had the land they wanted didn't they? The Government and modern Australian society could feel they had eased their concience for their forefathers stealing the land and destroying a culture couldn't they?
 
By now the Aboriginal people were completely cut off from their roots. They didn't know which way to turn, their culture was destroyed, they could not live of the land. They could not adapt to the Ballanda way of life the chasm of misunderstanding at every level was huge. Governemnet policy was made from on high but nobody really understood the people. The mistrust of the Ballanda, the memory, the tragic legends about the Ballanda shooting their people like rabbits all haunted them. They were lost. They had already lost. It was too late perhaps.
 
Where other peoples had migrated there was a process of assimilation where the things they had in common could be developed and homogonisation, or adapting to the others ways as neccessary could happen over a long period of time. What seems to have happened in the case of the Aboriginies of Australia is the cultural and societal development was so enormous in the first place that there was no mutual understanding at all and as the Aboriginies were forced to close in on themselves the gap grew wider. Government policy then seems to have exacerbated the problem in many ways, though they could perhaps understandibly feel "it wasn't us that did it but look what we have done to make ammends".
 
Giving "back" the land was not good enough so now building houses for the people who could not live on the land any longer and of course building schools would improve the situation right? At first aboriginal community councils were set up. This was alien to Aboriginal culture and the wider community in many areas did not respect these Ballanda set up and probably controlled committes. Aboriginal culture had in the past taken the lead from its elders. This was all now even more confusing. The people at a deep level were debased from their roots, their culture, their laws, their way of living. They were made to feel less of a person, less of a people because they could not understand these Ballanda ways, they could not adapt fast enough. They could not understand the language. They were embarrassed at appearing stupid so often complied with whatvere the clever, successful Ballanda people suggested. Across Australia the Aboriginal people speak many different languages, many speak many indigenous languages. But very few Ballanda people understand any of their languages. There is no one Language the government could use to communicate with them. 
 
The housebuilding on their own lands started being built by themeselves but the policy was not well implemented. They were not industrious people and housbuilding would have to fit in with the other remaining aspects of their culture - so progress was slow. The job was taken off the community councils and the government sent in contractors to build houses rapidly in exasperation losing a fantastic opportunity to really understand and with patience, help at least in this one aspect of modern life to teach some skills that could even begin to equip Aboriginal people for modern Australian life. The houses and schools were built but the opportunity was lost.
 
Aboriginie people were now very confused and had just been moved even further away from their cultural routes, the education was completely inadequate, many would not even send their children to the ballanda schools. The product of many of these schools is people who are barely much better off than when they went there in the first place.
 
Now the final straw to break them completely. Welfare on a grand scale. The government decided as the conditions that Aboriginals were now living in were so poor and that such a debt was owed to them by such a rich country that they should send them all welfare cheques. Any last sense of pride or incentive to anything for ones self or ones family was destroyed with this policy. The widespread and wholesale sense of hopelessness and uselessness, lack of self respect or any incentive whatsoever to do anything constructive has been removed from these people now. (Please don't think this is my view - it is the conclusion drawn from an author who only has the desire to help the Aboriginals by helping the government to help them and who has lived with the Aboriginals of the Northern Territories for a generation. It is however backed up by my first hand observation of the current situation). People are given houses, which for the most part they do not respect or keep well. They get their welfare cheques regularly and in many cases blow the whole thing on booze and junk. Deep in the outback we have seen several communities where there are a large number of houses almost all with broken windows or doors. Regularly with a wrecked car to the front or side. The community will typically have a store and a petrol station and one or two fast food outlets. Obesity, diabetes, other related health problems, alcoholism, solvent or petrol sniffing, kava abuse, domestic violence, child abuse all combine to creat a life expectancy in some regions as low as 42. It is pitiful to see the consequences of a broken people.
 
The tourist image of Aborigines does not exist for real. Where there are tourist attractions on Aboriginal land they operate on the basis of the government leasing the facility from them on a long term basis. They promote the mythical legends and ways of life of a people lost. A people past. At no facility at all did we see one indigenous person working at "their" own attraction.   
 
Some cite a simple inability of a Government, perhaps any Government to really understand, at grass roots level, the problems of the Aboriginal people and that easing the collective concience was leading policy. What to do now?
 
Of course I don't know and all of my views are of course formulated from a relatively limited insight into the situation and its history. I have not applied the time line as this will give rise to inaccuarcies for my limited knowledge and I have tried to keep things general rather than specific as one cannot expect a complete history and solution in one short or even long blog.
 
Howver I would venture to suggest tragically that for those Aboriginies who are now not able to adapt to and operate, with as a foundation and keeping in context, a complete recognition and pride in their history and culture, to the modern way of Austarilian life the future is bleak and that they will become a lost people. Such is the level of destruction of their society by us upping and sailing from twelve thousand miles away and transplanting our alien ways to the midst of their society. The damage was done when Cook set foot in Australia and England then started shipping convicts out there.
 
In fairness to some extent, Governments have tried, though failed to something about the problem of Ballanda making.
 
Government can probably only at a micro policy level provide very high calibre eduaction almost at a one to one level with educators who truly understand the nature and the history of the problems they are now dealing with. These educators need to understand the indigenous culture and the language of the people they are attempting to teach. It is desperately sad.