Mabuyu

Effects of European
Settlement

Learning Intentions
You should be able to:
Outline the different effects of
settlement on Indigenous clans
SUCCESS CRITERIA:
Identify any changes in Indigenous
perceptions and relationships with
environments as a result of
settlement

European Settlement
90% decrease in number of Indigenous
languages spoken fluently and regularly since
1800.
These languages have been lost and will never again
be spoken

Disease and massacres decimated indigenous

populations
Smallpox, influenza, tuberculosis
Introduction of Opium, Alcohol and Tobacco
Only 10-20% of original populations survived
exposure to these diseases they had no immunity for

Melbourne editorial published in 1868, after over of

Indigenous population had died from introduced
disease

Let us make their passage to the grave as

comfortable as possible - let us do our best
to civilize them and convert them to
Christianity; but let us not flatter ourselves
that, up to the present at any rate, we
have succeeded. Something may be done
with the half-castes, but the case of the
full-blooded aboriginal is, we fear,
hopeless

Oppression through
legislation
In 1858, the Select Committee of the
Legislative Council on the Aborigines was
established and advised that reserves
were needed to protect Aboriginal
people from corrupt Europena influences
and harsh treatment.
Eg. An Act to provide for protection and
management of the Aboriginal Native of
Victoria. December 16th(1886)

A chain gang, 1900, going to work

European Settlement and

After
Forced manual labour without pay was not
uncommon for Indigenous Australians and their
children during the 1800s early 1900s
Paid in rations of European diet (flour, sugar, coffee)

Children, especially part-Aboriginal children,

could be removed from their parents
The Stolen Generation (Late 1800s to 1970s)

Today, Indigenous Australians have significantly

lower mortality rates than non-indigenous
Men: 57, Women: 61 years, compared to nonIndigenous rates of 74 and 80

Lets make em civilised

Christians!

Effects of European
Settlement
Many indigenous clans were forced from their
traditional lands and experienced significant loss
of:
Spiritual connection to country
Traditional food sources, due to agricultural practices of
settlers
Access to sacred sites, ceremonial grounds, ancient
Dreaming trails
Traditional ways of life

Reflection: what might it be like if you were forced

to do manual labour, had no rights to access IT,
news, phones and could never again live your usual
life? 5 min

Understanding the impact of

settlement
A modern writer, Professor Colin Tatz, has shown the nature of
what happened during settlement:
For Aborigines ... land is a spiritual thing, a phenomenon
from which culture and religion derive, it is not sellable or
buyable. Land is not private property ... Land was and is
endowed with a magical quality, involving a relationship to
the sun and the water and the earth and the animals all put
together - for the collective use of all. the notion of a fence to
separate portions of the land was unknown to them for fences
defaced the land. They could not, and some still cannot,
understand the concept of making land into private property
and giving its 'owners' the right to bar everyone else ... And
so bloody conflict and massacre developed ... because whites
'took' what Aborigines did not comprehend could be 'taken'.

Indigenous Australia conflicting view

with European Settlers of resources

Indigenous clans are hunter-gatherer

societies
Resources are nobodys and everybodys
Food hunted and gathered was shared
with all members
Example? (ten canoes)

Pastoralism and Agriculture: the key

reasons for violent clashes
Indigenous people regarded nonIndigenous settlement as an
unjustified intrusion on their lands
Food competition:
Waterhole control:
Unbalanced population & food
resources:
Traditional food sharing practices
ignored:

Massacrethe dark side of our

history
Example: Massacres at East
Gippsland
Investigate Angus McMillan

Realities of Indigenous
Rights
Until late 1950s, land holders could still apply for
permits to shoot Indigenous trespassers that
hunted livestock
1967 Referendum passed to give Aboriginals
citizenship rights
Prior to this, the legal rights came under the Flora and
Fauna Act of Australia

Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1976

Legislation giving indigenous the right to lay claim for
traditional lands

Native Title Act 1993

Legislation regulating native title claims and ownership

What have you learned that

you didnt know before about
Indigenous Australians?
Have your views changed?
What would you like to know
more about?