Worldwide change
Aborigine tribes from all over the world are changing. They
are either taking in new technologies like agriculture advances or even TV, as
seen on the polygyny documental in class or moving to more bigger cities closer
to them. By doing this they are looking for a brighter future and a change on
their lives. Some of them accomplish what they are looking for, other like
Australian aborigines, have a much harder path.
Change in Australian
Aborigines
Australia’s aborigines came from Asia 40,000 years ago and
settled all over Australia. They made their living out of hunting and
gathering. They lived in small groups and control their own marriages and
society. They have different groups inside each society, which determines
marriages and positions among them. These groups are Karimera, Burug, Palyeri
and Banaka. Today some of these people from different tribes are looking for a
change in their lifes.
Moving to the suburbs
Some of the aborigines decided to abandon their tribes and
move to suburbs. By doing this, they decided to abandon their culture and habits looking for something better for them and their loved ones. Once they moved to
the big cities, things were not as easy as they thought it would be. They
started suffering all types of discrimination because of their different
culture. They suffer discrimination from the people, police, education system,
establishments and even from the government. There is a big unemployment among
the aborigines, around 40%. This makes aborigines dreams of a better future still far away from them. There are small steps being
taken from the government towards aborigines’ rights.
Constitutional changes
The Australian constitution was first created to unite
Australia’s people, but the aborigines were never included. Since then they have
always been discriminated and the constitution never gave them full rights. The
people started to get more concerned about aborigines and started to push more
on the government. In 1936 there was an increased Commonwealth control
involving aboriginal affairs. In 1980 the Aboriginal Development Commission was
established. It provided a solid base for economic sufficiency. In 1976 and
1993 the government returned some land to the aborigines. This supposed a big
advance for the aborigines still living their traditional lifestyle. The latest
and one of the bigger accomplishments came in 2013 when the first aborigine
headed a state-level government in Australia by being elected as chief minister
of the northern territory.
Australian aborigines are accomplishing some goals and
earning more rights but the way is still long and more changes are to come.
References:
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. 6th Ed. 2012.
Australian Aborigines.http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/society/australian-aborigines.html,
accessed June 3nd, 2015.
Australian Aborigenes. http://siekman.tripod.com/presentday.html, accessed June 3nd, 2015.
Constitutional
reform: Fact Sheet - Recognising Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander people
in the Constitution, 2011. Australian Human Rights Commission. https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/constitutional-reform-fact-sheet-recognising-aboriginal-torres-strait-islander-people,
accessed 3nd June, 2015.
Aboriginal
Societies: The Experience of Contact. Australian Government. http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/3.%20Aboriginal%20Societies%3A%20The%20Experience%20of%20Contact/changing-policies-towards-aboriginal,
accesed June 3rd, 2015.
Society is constantly looking for a change; it can be a minor change such as moving to a different city and something bigger such as changing a religion or moving to another country. I am from Spain and I moved here looking for a change in my life. In my case this change was not very hard and I was very welcome here. Changes do not always come in an easy way.
ReplyDeleteAustralian aborigines have been looking for a change for almost two hundred years. Their change means a new life for most of them and a better future. But as I said before, changing is not always easy. They have been suffering all types of discrimination. If we put ourselves in that situation we will understand how brave and persistent they are. It is something hard to do, but they keep pushing and fighting for a better tomorrow.