aboriginal land rights lecture 4 chapter 9. native australians arrived about 40,000 years ago...
TRANSCRIPT
Aboriginal Land Rights
Lecture 4Chapter 9
Native Australians
• Arrived about 40,000 years ago
• Arrived in 1788
Aborigines
Aborigines
Today about 500,000 individuals = 2.5% of population
Geographical distribution:• Northern Territory 32.5% of population
• Western Australia 4%
• Queensland 3.6%
• New South Wales 2.5%
• South Australia 2.3%
• Victoria 1%
Aborigines
Social problems:
• Inferior life expectancy– But higher birth rate
• Higher imprisonment rates – alcoholism, suicide, (domestic) violence
• Higher unemployment rate– poverty, lower education levels
Protest
• 26 January = Australia Day
• 26 January 1938 – Day of Mourning
• …this being the 150th anniversay of the whitemen’s seizure of our country …
Land rights
• Terra nullius = unclaimed not uninhabited– Explorers claiming land in the name of the English Crown– Squatters taking land from the Crown without paying for it– Leaving Aborigines with hardly any land
• Occupation = civilization– No recognizable land ownership delimitations
• Agriculture = making use of nature’s gift– Settlers using large spaces for pastoral activity (sheep)– Mining companies claiming further land
• Destruction of a race– Taking their land and their means of subsistence (=> desert)– Clash of two completely opposite views
Aboriginal vs. Anglo-Celtic culture
• Communal
• No social distinctions
• No political distinctions
• Close relationship with nature
• The lands owns the people
• individualistic
• Preferment and ownership
• Class privileges and distinctions
• exploiting and transforming natural resources
• The people own the land
From the 1960s onwards• 1967 referendum giving government the power to legislate
in favour of Aborigines
• 1972 Aboriginal Tent Embassy, Canberra
• 1973 multiculturalism
• Putting a stop to discrimination
• The issues of mining and land ownership
From the 1960s till 2008
Aboriginal lands
Integration or self-government
• What can Aborigines do with their lands?– Communities,
• What value do these lands have nowadays?– Mining, tourist attractions (Ayers Rock)
• What can be done to integrate Aborigines into society?– Education, occupation, …