Introduction
Australia is one of the continents with very rich records tracing to the period before 1788. During that time, the area was called the Gwondaland, characterized by the presence of the Aborigines and huge animals called the dinosaurs. The country’s history is significant and could help one understand the present Australia, the struggles it has undergone and its people.
The Aborigines were the natives of the land prior to colonialism that tried to resist the English invasion of their territory, but lost the battle due to the sophisticated weapons that the whites had at that time.
It only through having the basic and deep knowledge of the country’s history that could shade lights on what it is today and its future The history of the country has been told through the preserves of generations and lately documented for its population to appreciate the past and what their forefathers did in making the place a better place for the then and future generations. Therefore, the paper presents an account of the country’s history.
The Original Inhabitants
The people who originally lived in Australia, together with those who were living in the neighboring Islands constituted the Aborigines, and formed the rich history of the continent (“Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission” 22). After transforming through generations, the Aborigines are estimated at 2.5 percent of the total population of Australia.
The fore fathers of the Aborigines are estimated to have arrived in Australia 125,005 years back (Bartlett 44). Therefore, the original inhabitants of the Gwondaland, the present Australia who were the Aborigines descended from the ancient people whose history was not documented and have not been properly traced.
Those people lived in the continent before 1788 and faced off with the colonialists, thus an attempt to discuss the history of Australia has to touch on the uniqueness of the natives. In this regard, the natives of Australia were distinct from others in the way they lived and related to one another (Bartlett 44).
In essence, different people have different way of life as well as the cultural practices. Therefore, the indigenous Australians, their culture, the various issues affecting these people as well as the outcome of the issues are important while trying to understand the history of the continent. It is equally significant to determine whether these issues are stereotyped or not, then consider how the history of this country was reported (“Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission” 1).
The Historical Culture of Aborigines
As a result of the diversity of the communities of the Aborigines, there are historical differences in the cultural practices of the people. Notably, each community had its cultural practice and way of life that they identified with (Baumann 4). However, there were other historical practices, such as dances and traditional songs, which were commonly practiced across many communities.
Culturally, some of the common historical beliefs, which the Indigenous communities shared, were the Baiame, the Bunjil, Rainbow Serpent, and the Dirawong (Baumann 7). The author called these spirits controlled most of the ancestors (Baumann 7).
In relation to the history of Aboriginal credence, the resilience of the ancestors of the land came down from the sky, surfaced from the earth or pounced from streams. These ancestral spirits had supernatural powers, allowing them to transform into animal or human forms throughout the Dreamtime of the earth’s creation (“Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission” 2).
Ceremonial songs and dances honor myths of the Dreamtime creation period; they celebrated through music and dances, the activities and journeys of superhuman spirit ancestors. Members in traditional dance rites are painted with the emblems as well as totems of their tribes as well as their performances are purposed to hark back the spiritual influence of the spirit ancestor (Baumann 12).
Issues that Affected the History of Australia and the Aborigines
The history of the country was reported orally through the preserves of generations, thus distorted the content and accuracy of the information. On the historical context of the country, its indigenous people were mostly affected by health issues due to poor living conditions of the people (“Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission” 26).
Some of the diseases that the people experienced included the circulatory infections, communicable diseases, renal failure, diabetes, mental illness among others. In addition, the aborigines lived in poverty, suffered cultural tensions as well as insufficient education (Baumann 17).
Effects of the Issues
The cultural and historical differences resulted to tension among the various communities, which lived in the content. Historically, the Aborigines suffered health complications that sometimes led to the death of the people (Flood 20).
According to statistics, diabetes accounted for 18 percent of the total deaths of the indigenous people. On the other hand renal failure accounted for 2.5 percent of the Aborigines who died, thus created a historical disaster of in the continent at that time (Bowern 55). The impact that the effects had on the people was the insufficient preparedness of the people to deal with the diseases, and the failure of the local herbs to curb the effects of the diseases (Hughes 28).
Racial Stereotype
To an extent, the historical problems that the people faced in Australia were attributed to racial stereotypes of the different cultures (Crawford & Tantiprasut 23). The people’s primitive ways of life was attributed to the numerous problems that the population faced. The Blacks who lived in Australia were seen as primitive in their thinking and capabilities, compared to the other people of different races.
The historical matters particularly those regarding Australia and its Indigenous people, the voices of the natives were, and are still intimidated by dominant non-Indigenous voices, especially those originating from the press coverage. A research finding that emanated from Sydney Morning Herald’s reporting of the native titled ‘Wik’ established that merely one quarter of the pertinent articles reflected the Indigenous voices (“Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission” 1).
In some way, the bad portrayal of the contents and its Aborigines by the media has been documented showed prejudice against the Indigenous peoples in Australia. In the recent findings, the claim has been confirmed by The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody who believed and openly argued that racism was mainly caused by unenthusiastic depictions of Indigenous Aboriginal issues by the media. Consequently, the organization proposed that the journalists need to be trained and evaluated about their understanding and clarity regarding cross-cultural traits and awareness (“Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody” 2).
This verified the discoveries, which were made by the National Inquiry into Racist Violence in Australia during 1990. The body, after carrying out the study, established that the greater percentage of the Aboriginal people in Australia alleged that the print media was one of the mechanisms for perpetuating the prevailing condition of cultural racism and misconstructions of the historical context of Indigenous Aboriginal cultures and their ways of life.
Similarly, the National Indigenous Times is the Australia’s main media. It has adequate and important information about the historical context of the aboriginal cultures. On the other hand, the Mainstream Australian newspaper has only four articles regarding the history of the aboriginal culture.
How the Country’s History was Reported
There were differences in the way the Mainstream Newspapers and the Indigenous Papers reported the historical problems that were affecting the indigenous people of Australia (Bowern 44). While the Mainstream Paper constantly reported that the Aborigines are becoming extinct with time, the local paper, once reported that, the extinction of the Aborigines was a dream that might never be achieved.
Besides, it was argued in the paper that the assumption of the extinction was a plot to curtail the operations of the Aborigines (Flood 45). The two mode of reporting conflicted on the reality about the historical context of the continent, probably because of poor or inaccurate record that was available about Australia.
Conclusion
In summary, it is realized that the Aborigines were the ancient occupants of Australia. In addition, they lived miserable life due to poor living conditions, which was marred with deadly diseases that could not be cured easily. Also noticed is that there was racial Stereotyping among the different communities of the Aborigines. Consequently, the stereotype led to the discrimination of the communities that were regarded as inferior among the Aborigines.
Works Cited
Bartlett, Ann. The Aboriginal Peoples of Australia, Sydney: Lerner Publications, 2002. Print.
Baumann, Zygmunt. Traditional Aboriginal Culture, New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons Publishers, 2011. Print.
Bowern, Claire. Australian Languages, Sydney: Benjamins Press, 2004. Print.
Crawford, Joanne and Tantiprasut, Lisa. Australian Aboriginal culture, South Africa: R.I.C. Publications, 2003. Print.
Flood, Josephine. The Original Australians: Story of the Aboriginal People, London: Allen & Unwin Publishers, 2006. Print.
Hughes, Chris. Who are Indigenous Australians, New York, NY: Routledge, 2008. Print.
Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission: Racist Violence, Report of the National Inquiry into Racist Violence. Sydney: Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 1991. Print.
Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody: National Report. Canberra: Commissioner E. Johnston/AGPS Publication, 1991. Print.