Indigenous Australians-Family & Social Justice
Report written by Jie, Rita, Silvia & Sue
INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
Indigenous peole in Australia, who are the first Australians, have their particular traditional lifestyles.
Family
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people have a very complex system of family. They use particular ways to educate children and pass knowledge and skills to the next generation. Their lifestyle is different to western people, and they have their own toys and games.
Every adult in the family is like the children’s parents and has the responsibility to educate and care for the children. One of the things all children learn is who other people are in relation to them: uncles, aunts, cousins and later brother-in-law and mother-in-law.
Fathers-in-law and sons-in-law maintain an avoidance relationship, they will rarely speak to each other directly, but communicate through a third party, and often they will avoid being in the same room as each other.
Girls marry when they are 14 or 15 years old, and boys in their 20s. They never used to separate, but that is changing now.
The elders and storytellers have an important position in the family. They pass their skill, knowledge, personal experiences and important traditions to the young people. The mothers usually indulge their children, boys in particular. However the elders or the father disciplined the boys and were very strict.
Aboriginal people have their traditional tools, weapons and toys . They play particular games, such as string games. String games were also used to help tell stories.
Since the late 1800s until 1969, the Australian government had a policy of taking Aboriginal children from their families. The children were adopted by white families or were put into government institutions. This policy failed. The Aboriginal children haven’t changed into white children. That generation was to be called the “stolen generation”
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Social Justice
Indigenous people are the first Australians, but since the Brithish landed in Australia, they have suffered racial discrimination from the governments and the community. Indigenous people did not get the same rights and services as non-Indigenous people in areas of health, population, employment, income, accommodation, public education, law and justice.
In 1965 Indigenous people started to fight for their rights with the Freedom Rides in NSW. Later some anti-discrimination legislations were drawn up But the struggle for social justice continues today.
(Information collected from interpretation signs at the Australian Museum & Museum's website)
posted by rosa ochoa @ 3:43 PM
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