Australian Indigenous Cultures
What is the meaning of culture?
The non-biological, symbolic, learned patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting, which combine to form a way of life.
BONUS: define material culture and non-material culture
The Apology to the Stolen Generations is an example of which type of reconciliation?
Symbolic reconciliation
Define cultural suppression
the domination of one culture over another through deliberate policy and technological and/or economic superiority
When and where did the Australian Freedom Rides, led by Charles Perkins take place?
1965, rural New South Wales
Provide evidence that the perception that all Indigenous Australians share one culture is false.
250+ languages prior to colonisation, over 500 dialects. Even though some nations spoke up to five or six surrounding languages, there wasn’t a single, mother tongue spoken across Australia.
Distinct cultural groups - Kulin Nation connected by tradition and cultural elements, but each have their own Dreamtime stories and Songlines. Bunjil is the creator spirit of the Kulin Nation, whereas Kamilaroi tradition includes Baiame as the creator of the land and people.
Provide an example of material culture and an example of non-material culture that is specific to Victorian Aboriginal cultures.
Material culture: Koorie possum skin cloak
Non-material culture: belief in Bunjil the Eagle as the creator spirit
Provide an example of a Closing the Gap target which is on track, and an example of a Closing the Gap target which is not on track.
on track:
not on track:
Outline two actions undertaken to meet the aims of the Protection and Segregation policies
Aboriginal people were moved from traditional lands and placed on church-run missions and government-run reserves.
The Board of Protection controlled the lives of those living on missions and reserves, banning cultural practices such as hunting, speaking language, and practicing ceremonial traditions.
Who were the two leaders of the Wurundjeri people who helped establish Coranderrk station?
Simon Wonga and William Barak
What two events show that the idea that Australia was 'empty land' (terra nullius) is a misconception?
'discovery' of Mungo Man - proving existence of Aboriginal culture and communities over 60,000 years ago.
Mabo Decisions in the High Court of Australia found the claim of Terra Nullius to have been unlawful
What do the colours of the Aboriginal flag symbolise?
Black = people
Red = earth/Country
Yellow = sun
The 2005 Social Justice Report identified 6 areas of inequality for Indigenous Australians. What are they?
Health, education, economic participation, housing, early childhood, employment
Explain the Stolen Generations
Between 1910 and the 1970s*, many First Nations children were forcibly removed from their families as a result of various government policies.
Thousands of children were forcibly removed by governments, churches and welfare bodies to be raised in institutions, fostered out or adopted by non-Indigenous families, nationally and internationally. They are known as the Stolen Generations.
The exact number of children who were removed may never be known but there are very few families who have been left unaffected — in some families children from three or more generations were taken. The removal of children broke important cultural, spiritual and family ties and has left a lasting and intergenerational impact on the lives and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Affecting anywhere from 1 in 10 to 1 in 3 children, there is not a single Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community who has not been forever changed.
What was the fate of Coranderrk after the petitions?
Coranderrk was officially closed as an Aboriginal station in 1924. In 1948 the remaining reserve was divided up for soldier settlement. In 1991 Coranderrk cemetery was handed back to the Wurundjeri people. Over the next decade, an additional 119 hectares of Coranderrk was acquired by the Kulin people.
How does the following demonstrate a culturally relative approach:
People have lived in Australia for tens of thousands of years. But, for decades, the national anthem, “Advance Australia Fair,” referred to the nation as “young.” Now, in a move cheered by some of the country’s almost 800,000 Indigenous people, that lyric has changed. On January 1, the government officially altered the song’s second line. With the new wording, the anthem begins “Australians all let us rejoice/For we are one and free,” swapping out the previous line “young and free.”
recognising the true history of Australia as being inhabited by people far before Australia's colonisation in 1788 promotes knowledge of histories from an Indigenous perspective, promoting understanding and respect for Indigenous heritage.
Name the 5 language groups which make up the Kulin Nation.
Identify the significant High Court decision which was handed down in 1992 and explain the significance of this for reconciliation
The High Court recognises native title in the landmark Mabo v Queensland (No.2) (1992), busting the myth of terra nullius. The Mabo decision was a turning point for the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' rights, because it acknowledged their unique connection with the land. It also led to the Australian Parliament passing the Native Title Act in 1993
Explain how the aims of the Assimilation policies were different from the earlier Protection and Segregation policies.
The 'Aboriginal Problem' persisted and continuing difficulties, and criticisms of the treatment of Aboriginal people led in 1936 to demands by the States and by voluntary bodies for increased Commonwealth involvement in Aboriginal affairs. assimilation’ was that aspect of the policy of protection concerned with the ‘future’ of Aborigines (mostly of ‘mixed blood’) in settled areas. In the 1950s ‘assimilation’ became a widely accepted goal for all Aboriginal people to "live like Europeans' and were forced to 'act white, think white, be white' through the forcible removal of 'mixed-blood' children and the use of exemption certificates which required people to forfeit their Aboriginal identity in exchange for some opportunities to live off the missions and reserves.
Explain the Gurindji Strike - what were the conditions that led to the strike, what were the aims, and what was the legacy of this action?
On 23 August 1966, 200 Gurindji stockmen, domestic workers and their families initiated strike action at Wave Hill station in the Northern Territory.
From 1913 legislation required that in return for their work, First Nations peoples in the Northern Territory should receive food, clothes, tea and tobacco.
However, a report by RM and CH Berndt in 1946 showed that First Nations children under 12 were working illegally, that accommodation and rations were inadequate, that there was sexual abuse of First Nations women, and prostitution for rations and clothing was taking place. No sanitation or rubbish removal facilities were provided, nor was there safe drinking water.
Negotiations with the station owners, the international food company Vestey Brothers, broke down, leading to a seven-year dispute. The Gurindji people, led by Vincent Lingiari, held out for the return of their land.
This eventually led to the return of a portion of their homelands to the Gurindji people in 1974, and the passing of the first legislation that allowed for First Nations peoples to claim land title if they could prove a traditional relationship to the country.
Explain the likely impact of the following on public awareness of Australian Indigenous cultures, and how this may impact on public views:
Melbourne, Fremantle and Port Adelaide will be known as Narrm, Walyalup and Yartapuulti respectively across rounds seven and eight of the 2023 NAB AFLW competition.
Narrm was the first club to take the initiative for a name change, which was "designed to acknowledge and educate on Australia's Indigenous history, while encouraging productive conversations within Melbourne football club's member and supporter base, as well as the wider football community."
Narrm is a Woiwurrung word and the traditional Aboriginal name for Melbourne. It is translated from oral language, so there are several variants (including the commonly used Naarm), but all are accepted.
Increase public awareness of culture, including traditional language and place names. Builds feelings of pride in culture, respect and positive relationships.
What do the colours of the Torres Strait Islander flag symbolise?
Black = people
Blue = sea
Green = land
White dhari and 5 pointed star = peace and the points of the compass to represent maritime navigation as an important cultural knowledge
Explain the theme for this year's National Reconciliation Week.
The #NRW2024 theme, Now More Than Ever reminds us that, no matter what, the fight for justice and the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will – and must – continue. Now more than ever, we need to tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation. We know that the 6.2 million Australians who voted YES are committed to better outcomes for First Nations people, and are with us.
Identify and explain 3 challenges Indigenous Australians face today due to historic government policies.
Socioeconomic Disparities: Historical policies of dispossession, forced removal, and discrimination have contributed to ongoing socioeconomic inequalities between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Indigenous communities often experience higher rates of poverty, unemployment, poor housing, and limited access to quality education and healthcare.
Health Disparities: Indigenous Australians experience significantly poorer health outcomes compared to non-Indigenous Australians. This includes higher rates of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, as well as shorter life expectancy and greater infant mortality rates. These health disparities are linked to historical factors such as dispossession, loss of traditional lifestyles, and inadequate access to healthcare services.
Outline the goals/focus areas of modern Aboriginal resistance and activism.
Land Rights and Sovereignty Movements, Environmental Activism, Cultural Revitalization and Language Preservation, Social Justice and Anti-Racism Campaigns, Reconciliation and Truth-telling Initiatives
Explain the myth of the 'noble savage', its connection to ethnocentrism and why this is a harmful depiction of Indigenous Peoples.
James Cook brought Enlightenment ideas and sciences to the South Seas in his journeys around the Pacific, and was perhaps expressing Rousseau-style sentiments when he described Australian Aborigines in noble savage tones:
They live in a Tranquillity which is not disturb’d by the Inequality of Condition: The Earth and sea of their own accord furnishes them with all things necessary for life, they covet not Magnificent Houses, Household-stuff, they live in a warm and fine Climate and enjoy a very wholesome Air, so that they have very little need of Clothing …
They were, Cook famously declared in his Endeavour journals, “far more happier than we Europeans”.
This is ethnocentric as it demonstrates an understanding of Indigenous Australians only through the eyes of an outsider, making judgments about their culture against the norms of Europeans, and infantilising them - treating them as uncivilised children.