Colonisation and the invasion of the non-indigenous population to a native land have been associated with changes in culture, religious activities, political structures and the socioeconomic status. Australia has presented evidence to such claim due to changes that the community has undergone since the British invasion. Even though the British invasion to other parts of the world was expected to bring modernity and improved ways of production for the Indigenous Australians the invasion seem to bring other issues that are important to the daily life of the Australian community. In that respect, the paper seeks to discuss some major aspect and challenges that the indigenous people have undergone since the invasion of the European in Australia.
History of Indigenous Australia
The original inhabitants of Australia prior to European colonisation were the aboriginal and the Torres Strait Islanders. The colonisation brought notable changes to the aboriginal society impacting special aspects such as land and the ways aboriginal lived (Mooney, 2015). This community is believed to have not made barriers or demarcations for the land and that the indigenous people did not own land. The land, therefore, was divided into traditional lands in accordance with geographical boundaries. The invasion and colonisation that happened from 1788 in Australia by the British redefined land ownership since the colonial master took control of the land claiming that it belonged to no one. The Colonialists used the British legal doctrine known as Terra nullius justifying the invasion since the doctrine was centred on the idea that Australia was uninhabited land (Hudec, 2013).
According to Petr Hudec 2013, the invasion of the European to Australia was so intense to a point of impacting the Australian history from the 18th century through to the 21st century. Lasting consequences of this invasion impacted their health, mode of life, identity and welfare (Hudec, 2013). However, the current status is described to have no indigenous culture and that the Australian society is a mixture of contemporary practices and traditional thoughts (Mooney, 2015).
Social, Cultural and Political Issues That Challenge Contemporary Indigenous Australia
Social Injustice
The Australian aboriginal or the indigenous Australians has a long history of inequalities in educational opportunities when compared to non-indigenous Australians (Andrews " Carlson, 2016). It is worth noting that education is a pivotal point in mediating the cultural aspect of a community and the modernity or the developmental calls. The rationale of education to a people is to enlighten the community on the imperative facets of the society such as justice system and other individual's rights. For instance, from the Adani’s land case the minority seems to be having little information concerning the importance of controlling the land and other importance of the land to the community (The Conversation, 2017). As such, the minority indigenous Australians seem to be disconnected from the cultural knowledge of rights and community land ownership. The lack of knowledge in the community or among the indigenous Australian can be associated to increased marginalisation since some important knowledge about basic rights of the community can be ignored.
Another social issue facing the indigenous Australians is the misrepresentations important sectors such as media stations and television commercials (Garetto, 2013). The underrepresented community is prone to marginalisation and social exclusion since they lack an avenue to propagate and showcase their potentiality. As such, little information is passed to other generation and other members of the public concerning indigenous identity and the cultural heritage of the indigenous Australians. The impact of this is reduced voiced in public domain which limits their bargaining power to imperative spaces in the society. Media is an important tool to advocate for changes in the community and therefore, underrepresentation in such areas may make less impact in creating awareness about the concerns of the indigenous Australians.
Contemporary Identity and Indigenous Representations of Indigenous Identity
The Australian society has represented a divergent identity different from the Indigenous identity to claim ownership and pride, thus creating white aborigines and political aborigines. In a critical view, claiming of the aboriginal identity by those who have non-indigenous history seems like an extent of marginalisation of the aborigines. For Instance, most of the non-original are orienting their identity to aboriginal only to perceive that the there are privileges heading to the indigenous Australian while in the reality the favours go back to the non-indigenous Australians. According to an article by Andrew Bolt (2009), most of the artists are claiming aboriginal identity and association to get shortlisted for awards for aboriginal category despite their originality oriented to Britain. As such, the identity is just to grab the few opportunities reserved for the aboriginal including political spaces (Bolt, 2009).
Indigenous identity claim seems to establish debates on the criteria essential in validating aboriginality. One of the issue with respect to this is the increased emergent of the claims for aboriginal identity only when need be (Aiatsis). Intrinsically, concerns are raised due to the fact people seem to claim the identity but have little to show about their relation to aboriginal community values and culture. The abrupt on-and-off claim of aboriginality can be connected to the notion of white privilege where a person would hide in the race to have a sense of social inclusion which is a valuable privilege (NITV, 2017).
Non-Indigenous Constructions of Indigenous Identity over Time
People are misinformed about Indigenous Australia making the aboriginal cultures sound oriented to primitives such as painting, singing and dancing (Garetto, 2013). This makes the non-indigenous Australian perceive the aboriginal as less human incapable of evolving to a modernised culture (Garetto, 2013). Such perception if not reversed would validate the falsehood of the indigenous identity and their originality will become extinct (Garetto, 2013).
Societal Misconceptions
The misrepresentation of an idea creates an imperative concept about a certain part of the society. For the Indigenous Australians, the notion of Aboriginalism has been used to display the indigenous culture as being primitive and being unrelated to the modernity (Garetto, 2013). This misconception has also been fostered by the Australian media and thus shaping public on Aboriginal people (Garetto, 2013). According to Garetto (2013), people are easily influenced by what the media puts across which has made the Australian media a critical part forming the discourse on Aboriginalism. Another societal misconception is the idea that Aborigines are the same which disregards their cultural variation and other social aspects (Garetto, 2013). Additionally, non-indigenous Australians expect the aboriginal to entirely showcase their exotic nature in their day-to-day activities (Heiss, 2006).
Aboriginal people are also underrepresented in the media sector with studies asserting that they do not feature in popular Australian programs or as new anchors. According to Garetto (2013), a survey conducted by Bostock confirmed that there were very few aborigines featuring on dramas and commercials on the Australian television. This sort of marginalisation has been extended in a way that the indigenous participants in the media show are only noted when they are assigned specialised roles associated with outback (Garetto, 2013). The media, in this case, has failed to recognise the sensitivity of the society and that Aboriginal culture is stagnant.
Land Rights
As noted in the historical part, the indigenous Australians had their land demarcated on geographical basis without individual claim of the ownership. However, the colonialism redefined the ownership rights from the community to the colonial master which later jeopardised aboriginal's authority to the land. The issue has created a series of a struggle for ownership and the maintenance of community land under the Native Land Tribunal (The Conversation, 2017). For instance, the case presented by the Wangan and Jagalinguo Traditional Owners Family Council challenging the Adani’s land deal is a clear example of the land right struggle and naivety of the aboriginal people (The Conversation, 2017).
Historically, the land was among the five key consideration of indigenous Australia as they regarded land as a means of religious life and a core basis of their economic survival (Hudec, 2013). The aspect seems to change due to European quest to commercialise land through the exploitation of its resources. This aspect is a core argument in Adani's land deal case since Adani want to exploit land through mining while the majority want to keep the natural land. In the same quest, the Adani contest that the mining would unleash the development and wealth creation potential of that but this would disregard the traditions of the use land by the indigenous Australians (The Conversation, 2017). On a critical view, the land is essential in fostering development but the same be done in a way that is agreeable with the traditions and the heritage of the community involved.
The Takeaway
The invasion of the European in Australia brought changes in the community structure that has continued to impact indigenous Australians’ lives. Some of the change in the ownership of land has brought contemporary debates between the conservatives and the other part of the population that appraise the exploitation of the community land for commercial purposes. Another aspect noted is the increased marginalisation of the indigenous people as they are rarely presented in important forums that would help in acknowledging their existence. In that respect, people have opted to hide their identity and only claim aboriginality on special occasions. Another issue noted is the shifting of allegiances to gain favours attributed to the aboriginals.
References
Aiatsis. (n.d.). Community discourse on the confirmation of Aboriginality and aboriginal identity: A case study. Retrieved from aiatsis.gov.au: https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/products/book/politics_of_identity_sample_chapter.pdf
Andrews, G. B., " Carlson, B. (2016). the legacy of racism and indigenous Australian identity within education. race-ethnicity and education, 784-807.
Bolt, A. (2009, April 15). It's so hip to be black.
Retrieved from abc.net.au: http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/1109_heraldsun09.pdf
Garetto, J. (2013, August 25). How TV makes us think all indigenous people are the same. Retrieved from larrikinpost.com: http://www.larrikinpost.com/how-tv-makes-us-think-all-indigenous-people-are-the-same
Heiss, A. (2006). Aboriginal writers on the significance of space, sense of place and connection to the country.
Retrieved from macquariepenanthology.com.au: http://macquariepenanthology.com.au/files/CriticalReadingHeissAboriginalWriters.pdf
Hudec, P. (2013). social issues in contemporary Australia: Indigenous people and the white majority. Brno: MASARYK UNIVERSITY BRNO.
Mooney, N. (2015, October 30). INTRODUCTION TO INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIA. Retrieved from australianmuseum.net.au: https://australianmuseum.net.au/indigenous-australia-introduction
NITV. (2017, April 17). 10 things you should know about white privilege. Retrieved from sbs.com.au: https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2016/10/13/10-things-you-should-know-about-white-privilege
The Conversation. (2017, June 19). The last line of defence: Indigenous rights and Adani’s land deal. Retrieved from theconversation.com: https://theconversation.com/the-last-line-of-defence-indigenous-rights-and-adanis-land-deal-79561
