IssuesforAboriginalSpiritualities

Syllabuspoints:
StudentslearnaboutissuesforAboriginalspiritualitiesinrelationto:
theeffectofdispossession
Studentslearntodiscussthecontinuingeffectofdispossessionon
Aboriginalspiritualitiesinrelationto:
separationfromtheland
separationfromkinshipgroups
theStolenGeneration

Dispossession:

As European settlement spread across Australia, many Indigenous people were

forced off their lands. Theywere ________________. Throughout the19thcentury,
white Australians believed that Aboriginal people would eventually die out, or that
they must be _______________ into the white Australian population to survive.
During this time, it was believed that Aboriginal people were
__________________________totheEuropeansettlers.

The Aboriginal attitude towards the land was not taken into account. Colonial
Australians began cultivating the empty land by using the theory of
_______________. Settlers argued that the land was empty as there were no
__________________ ,______________ or________________onthelandthat
would signify any occupation of the land, therefore, the Europeans believed they
werefreetosettleinAustralia.

Along with theintroduction oflivestock, manycropsand dwellings,thesettlers also

introduced many _________________ to the Aboriginal people, which caused
manyofthemtodie.

The concept of ________________ children was later introduced as many white

andAboriginalcouples begantohavechildren.Thegovernmentthenintroducedthe
___________________, which saw these children forcibly removed from their
familiesasawayofprotectingthemfromtheir_________________.

Christian ________________ were established to protect these children and to

also evangelise. Children were forced to speak english, practise the Christian
traditionandweretrainedtobelabourers(boys)andhouseservants(girls).

Somemissionaries, whilst______________________Aboriginalchildren,werein
factadvocatesfor thechildren. Theyoften argued againstexcessive legislation put
inplace,oftentonoavail.

The missions and the protection policy led to dispossession and affected the
expression of Aboriginal spirituality two of the greatest factors were
___________________________________________________________.

Activity:Watchthefilmandanswerthefollowingquestions:

DescribethesurroundingsoftheAboriginalpeopleonthereserve.
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Howistheprotectionpolicycarriedout?
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DispossessionCauses:

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

SeparationfromLand:

Separation from the land removes ____________________. Belonging to life

involves belonging to a world. Belonging to the Dreaming gives life purpose and
thereforeremovalfromthelandremovesthepurposeoflife.

Part of the Dreaming concept is the belief in ___________________after death.

Removal from the land withdraws an Aboriginal person from their place in the
Dreamingandmostspecificallytheplaceoftheirspiritafterdeath.

Anequivalent for a memberofoneofthefivemajorworldreligionsistoremoveany

conceptofHeavenoreternallifewithGodortheconceptofNirvana.

By 1945, a number of major factors had resulted in the removal of a majority of

Aboriginal people from their lands. This wasespeciallythecasewhenthatlandhad
______________forwhitesettlers.TerraNulliusheldthatthelanddidnotbelongto
anyoneandsothesettlerscouldgovern.

SeparationfromKinshipgroups:

____________ were often lost or severelyrestrictedin their use. _____________

related to kinship were not enacted and so were lost. The place and roleof tribal
elderswas undermined, andmuchculturalinformationregardingkinshipobligations
andtabooswasalsolost.

The laws of social behaviour are based on kinship and prescribes the range of
activitieswhichallowedincertaincircumstances.

TheStolenGenerations:

The ___________________ is a term used to describe the many children of

Aboriginal and __________________ who were removed from their Aboriginal
families to be cared for on missions, in institutions such as the Cootamundra
AboriginalGirlsTrainingHome,orfosteredwithwhitefamilies.

The government claimed that the aim of this removal was to protectchildrenfrom
the _____________________ of theAboriginalcommunities, to ensure theywere
givenagoodeducation,andtohelpthem______________intoWesternsociety.

Perhapsone ofthegreatestongoingeffectsoftheStolenGenerationsisthelossof
_________________. As it was predominantly an oral culture, the removal of a
generationfromthelineage of________________________ meansthatfarfewer
childrenreceivedtheirculturalheritageinitscompleteform.

Today there are many children whohave losttouchwiththespecificknowledgeand

cultureoftheirtribes.Theyfeelthelossofthisheritagedeeply.


Activity:Sourceanalysis
Lookingattheadvertisement,whatcanwelearnaboutthevaluesandattitudesofnon
IndigenouspeopletowardsAboriginalchildrenatthetime?
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TheAftermath:BringingthemHome

TheBringing themHomeenquirybeganin1995.Thefinalreportwasbasedonthe
stories of Aboriginalchildrenwho hadbeen _______________fromtheirfamilies
and had lost their language, culture, identity, links with the land and thus their
spirituality. In many cases, they never saw their family members again.
Controversially,thereportconcludedthat______________hadtakenplace.

Genocide:plannedexterminationofanationalorracialgroup.

One of the recommendations of the report from the Bringing them Homeenquiry
was for an__________________ bytheCommonwealthGovernmenttotheStolen
Generations.

Throughout the late 1990s the Howard government chose not to deliver this
apology. Howardbelieved that, howeverwrong theiractionswere,peoplewhotook
Aboriginalchildrenfromtheirhomeshadthe__________________.

One ofthefirstactsbythenewlyelectedRuddLaborgovernmentwastoapologise.
On 13 February 2008, the nation stopped as Prime Minister Rudd delivered his
apology.

Activity:Watchthefilmandanswerthequestionbelow.
IdentifysomeofKevinRuddskeypointsduringtheexcerptofhisspeech.
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Activity:Usingpage212ofyourtextbook,answerthequestionsbelow.
DescribesomeofthepersonalexperiencesoftheStolenGeneration.
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Whatwasthepolicyofselfdeterminationandhowdiditdifferfromthepoliciesbeforeit?
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HSCstylequestions:
DiscusstheimpactoftheStolenGenerationsonAboriginalspiritualities.