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Young World
’Sorry’ for the past
MURALI N. KRISHNASWAMY
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From the late 1800s to 1969, over a lakh Indigenous Australian children were taken away forcibly from their families. This was the “Stolen Generation”.
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“To the stolen generations, I say the following: as Prime Minister of Australia, I am sorry.
On behalf of the Government of Australia, I am sorry.
On behalf of the Parliament of Australia, I am sorry.
I offer you this apology without qualification ....”
(from the text of Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s apology to Aborigines, February 13, 2008)
The Aboriginals are a part of Indigenous Australians who are Australia’s first peoples. History says that they have been in Australia for at least 60,000 to 1,20,000 years. The indigenous people were in contact with other cultures, sharing cultures and skills much before the European occupation of Australia began around 1788. There was also the influence of Melanesians, the Dutch, the English and Portuguese navigators and traders as well as other Aboriginal communiti
es and Torries Straits Islanders people. It is a fact that the indigenous cultures of Australia are among some of the oldest in the world.
At the time of the European invasion, there were over 700 different indigenous languages spoken in Australia. Now, less than 250 are still in use. One of the ways in which colonisation spread was to wipe out indigenous languages which prevented their being passed on from generation to
generation.
There were also conflicts over land.
Forced separations
But, perhaps, the greatest attack on indigenous cultures and family life was the forced separation of indigenous children from their families; an event in history that occurred in every Australian state. In many cases, it involved mixed-race children. It began in the late 1800s and continued till 1969, when it was officially declared to have stopped. As many as 1,00,000 children may have been affected. These children were called the “Stolen Generation”. Indigenous children were taken away from their families in three ways — by putting them in government-run institutions, having white families adopting these children, or by having white families foster them. The aim was to make these children forget their culture and adopt European ways ...
Special homes were also set up for boys and girls. Communication with their families was not allowed. For many of these children who survived and grew up, it meant despair and a sense of helplessness. Until 1969, state-run Aboriginal welfare boards controlled the lives of indigenous peoples. It decided things such as where they could live, the jobs they could have, where they could travel and even who they could visit. Finally in 1969, these were stopped and the Commonwealth took charge. Under the Constitution, indigenous peoples were entitled to the same rights as all other Australian citizens.
In Aboriginal society, the family unit is important. When it was broken down, it resulted in a high rate of infant mortality and disease. Other problems were inadequate housing and sanitation. Today, the neglect of education has brought in its wake drug-and-alcohol-related problems and ushered in a society that is often crime-ridden.
In 1997, the New South Wales Parliament was called upon to apologise to the indigenous people of NSW for its part in forming laws and policies which caused these children to be separated. The resolution was passed unanimously. Tasmania offered some compensation.
... there have been several calls for a public apology, and Prime Minister Rudd’s may indeed be the first step. The healing touch in Australian history may have just begun.
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For the people, the earth and the sun
Among the many images that were shown on television during Prime Minister Rudd’s apology was the Aboriginal Flag. Designed in 1971, the black symbolises Aboriginal people, the colour red the earth and the people’s relationship with the land, and the yellow sphere the sun. It got national and international attention when it was first flown over the first Aboriginal Embassy. There is also a Torres Straits Islander Flag. The green stood for the land, the blue the sea and the black, the people. In the centre is the white deri or a type of head dress and a five-pointed star. The star, used for navigation, showed the importance of the sea for the Islanders.
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