The Policy Of Assimilation Of Aboriginal People

The assimilation policy was brought into the aboriginal community in 1937, by numerous commonwealth and state government representatives. This policy aimed to make the aboriginals of Australia conform to the custom and traditions of the white Australians of British origin. When the policy was brought in it only applied to people of mixed decent, people who are part European and aboriginal. In1951 the assimilation policy changed to state all aboriginals shall attain the same manner of living as other Australians. Again in 1965 the policy was adjusted, but continued to apply to all aboriginal people. Aboriginal people of Australia have always had a strong connection with the land, each other and their religion. In 1960 the assimilation policy was declared a failure; through out the previous years surprisingly the community of aboriginals had continued to grow. This was to the white people, a sign of their strength, their traditions and how they as a community will continue to fight for their rights. While they still continued to grow in number

Since the time of federation the Aboriginal people have been fighting for their rights through protests, strikes and the notorious ‘day of mourning’. However, over the last century the Australian federal government has generated policies which manage and restrained that of the Aboriginal people’s rights, citizenships and general protection. The Australian government policy that has had the most significant impact on indigenous Australians is the assimilation policy. The reasons behind this include the influences that the stolen generation has had on the indigenous Australians, their relegated rights and their entitlement to vote and the impact that the policy has had on the indigenous people of Australia.

These ideals were inevitably challenged when white society was confronted by people of mixed blood. The lack of conformity by the Aboriginal race to a white lifestyle was seen as a problem as was the growing number of ‘half castes’.[17] Some Australians found it offensive to see almost white children living amongst Aboriginal families.[18] As a solution to this problem, in 1937 the Federal Government adopted the Policy of Absorption as the future destiny of the Aboriginal people of Australia.[19] This decision was based on prevailing scientific and anthropological knowledge which suggested that Australian Aborigines were descended from the Caucasian race[20].

The Assimilation policy (1961) has impacted on Indigenous Australians within their physical and mental state and identity present in today’s society. Australia is commonly considered to be free and fair in their culturally diverse societies, but when the Indigenous population is closer looked into, it is clear that from a social and economical view their health needs are disadvantaged compared to non-Indigenous equals. In relation to this, the present Indigenous health is being impacted by disadvantages of education, employment, income and health status. Even urban Indigenous residents are being affected just as much as those residing in remote and rural areas of Australia.

Kevin Rudd’s apology was to the Aboriginals; but in particular, to the Stolen Generations. From 1909-1969, the Australian Government forced a policy know as assimilation upon the Aboriginals. Assimilation is the forced integration of minority groups onto the dominant society. Inhumane acts were inflicted upon these proud people because of the ‘Aborigines Protection Board’ which entailed that the Australian Government had full rights to forcibly remove half-caste children from Aboriginal care without parental consent nor a court order.

The police could also expel ‘trouble makers’ from reserves. The policy of Assimilation/Integration was in force from the 1930’s to the early 1960’s. The Assimilation policy was aimed to make the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people more ‘civilized’ and ‘westernised’. It was hoped by the State Governments and Federal Government that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identity would be destroyed and lost forever.

There is recurrent tension between the maintenance of Indigenous culture and essentially assimilating to the rules and regulations of the predominantly white society in Australia (Dockrey, 2010). Australia’s Aboriginal culture represented the oldest surviving culture in the world (Aboriginal culture, 2017). The traditions include having at least 270 different language groups and 500 dialects in the indigenous community (Shareourpride.org.au, n.d). The vast amount of languages and dialects were present to represent the intellect of Indigenous Australians. Language is a strong aspect of Indigenous culture as it connects and influences many Indigenous tribes as it is their form of communication. The environment also connects aboriginal people spiritually to their land and provides them with a sense of identity (Jackson 1999). Although there were many different groups and clans in the past, the tribes fighting over the land was a rare occurrence (Treatyrepublic.net 1996). This showcases the connection and respect they exhibited for the land and maintaining structure was their main priority. Additionally common law was a way that Indigenous Australians could preserve the ecosystem and cultural integrity, through their spiritual and emotional connection with the land (Langton 1996, p.10). However due to the colonization, there was less formal acknowledgement for Indigenous

By the 1950’s all state governments invoked a new policy called assimilation (1950’s – 1960’s), which aimed to eliminate Indigenous cultures, religion and languages. Assimilation was based on the belief that if living conditions were improved, Indigenous Australians were to be absorbed into White Australian society (Hampton & Toombs, Racism, colonisation/colonialism and impacts on indigenous people, 2013). After the failure of the assimilation policy, governments aimed their sights towards Integration (1960’s - 1980’s). Integration was a step towards

Throughout the early 20th century, the Australian public was led to believe that Aboriginal children were disadvantaged in their communities, and that there was a high risk of physical and sexual abuse. Aboriginal children were being removed in order to be exposed to ‘Anglo values’ and ‘work habits’ with a view to them being employed by colonial settlers, and to stop their parents, families and communities from passing on their culture, language and identity

Throughout the 20th Century Indigenous Australians rights have been detrimentally and unjustly affected by the frequent changing of governmental policies. This has been evidenced throughout the history of Australia, starting as early as the beginning of colonisation, to current time. In this time, Indigenous Australians have been forced from the land that they not only have used to sustain their physical needs, but is significant to their spiritual beliefs and Dreamtime. During the course of Australia’s shared history, there has been many different periods greatly dependant on the Government at the time and their beliefs when it come to the rights of the Indigenous people, discussed in this essay are the, Protection Policy, Assimilation Policy,

In the 19th century the federal government of Canada decided that they were responsible for the aboriginal people 's assimilation into mainstream society and that they, the aboriginals, needed to adopt the British and French also known as Euro-Canadian culture, as their own. Government officials knew that the aboriginal children would be easier to mold than the adults, and therefore created residential schools specifically for them and deemed attendance mandatory. The majority of these schools were run by churches and thus one might then assume these aboriginal children were provided with a good and solid upbringing and education. But in this paper I will prove this assumption not only to be incorrect, but that the treatment of the children by all those involved was immoral and unethical.

64, Commonwealth of Australia 2011). Policy then moved towards more assimilationist strategies in which attempts were made to convert Aboriginal Australians into ‘responsible citizens’ (Gilbert 2005, Haebich 2000). The protectionist and assimilationist policies share the core values that Aboriginal culture is inferior and on its way to an ‘evolutionary end’ (Gilbert 2005, p. 64).

Therefore, it comes down to not only a question of welfare but also of cultural differences and whether the white population deemed the aboriginal way of life to be undesirable rather than the children’s living conditions. Jacobs (2009, p. 256) makes the assertion that the aboriginal conditions were judged in comparison to white middle-class, Christian standards and were not applicable to an indigenous context. For example, it was reported by Elkin, a contemporary academic who studied aborigine culture, that the aborigines showed no desire to join a mission and to partake in the ways of the white people, as farming, houses, and schools interfered with the aboriginals’ pre-existent lifestyle of nomadism (Elkin, 1951). Therefore, their perceived ‘inhumane’ lifestyle and their resistance to conforming to a white lifestyle arguably confirmed the held beliefs that the aborigine culture was detrimental and inhumane to the Indigenous children. This can further be seen in the aims set out in to be accomplished with the aborigines by Leake, Premier of Western Australia; these being humanising, civilising and Christianising (Prinsep, 1900-1901). This clearly indicates that the white settlers were working towards a goal with the aboriginals, and that perhaps this perceived inferiority affirms the HREOC’s (1997) assessment that ‘systematic racial discrimination’ did occur.

Australia is a country which supports the integration of immigrants within its culture. Successful integration of immigrants into Australian culture has the potential to create a rich multicultural society. The development of expectations and values which immigrants are required to conform to contribute to the creation of a cohesive society. Expectations and values are developed in response to historical events and social constraints. However, the degree to which immigrants are required to conform to a series of expectations and values may affect the integration of immigrants into Australian society. The forced conformance of expectations which Australia imposes on immigrants aims to create and preserve a cohesive and egalitarian society (Noble,

Early 20th century, the Australian government began to implement a plan for the Aboriginal, the whites who left the tribe of mixed Aboriginal children forcibly from their mother taken away, sent to the Moore River Camp, will they transform the Anglo-Australian. On the surface, this seems only to train more cheap labor, but in fact this cruel plan also hidden behind a more sinister purpose. Indigenous Australian Government regards as inferior race, is bound to be eliminated under natural law of survival of natural selection, the extinction, in order to "protect" them, as the government decided to gradually "improved" their lineage: these existing white blood Indigenous descendants will be accepted in addition to a series of "education," but was also forced to intermarry with white people.