Aboriginal Health

Era Of Assimilation

As the invaders took control of our country, a new phase developed. These times were marked by a belief amongst the invaders that our people would die out. Aboriginal people, they said, would have to be "assimilated" into white society and culture. The view of the invaders was that the 'solution' to the 'Aboriginal problem' was for Aboriginal culture to be destroyed, and for Aboriginal people to embrace 'civilisation' and become part of the invading society. Aboriginal culture was seen as 'primitive'; European intervention was for our own good. Europeans thought they knew what was best for us. Many continue to think this way.

Government settlements were established in many areas, where further attempts were made to change how we lived and what we believed. This process further robbed our people of access to traditional foods, and they became more and more dependent on hand outs. We are still suffering the effects of this.

In the Central Australian cattle industry, Aboriginal stockmen provided cheap labour while the women worked on and around the non-Aboriginal homestead. These workers were not paid in cash, but given clothes, tea, flour and other food. This was outlawed by the courts in 1966: from that year on, Aboriginal people were to be paid the same as non-Aboriginal workers. However, while the exploitation of Aboriginal people's labour for food and clothes was unjust, it did allow some Aboriginal people to remain on their lands, even if these were now pastoral leases. After the 1966 decision, many were thrown out of work, and forced from their country into towns, as the cattle industry opted to employ non-Aboriginal people or mechanise aspects of their operations instead.
In 1967 the referendum gave Aboriginal people citizenship in Australia for the first time. It also gave the Commonwealth Government constitutional power to deal with Aboriginal affairs. However, successive Governments have failed to use this power over the States.

During the times of conquest and assimilation, our women were often raped or sexually used by these invaders. Children born from these encounters were taken away to distant parts of the country where they were isolated from their, country, family, and culture. These are the "stolen generations." Our people are still feeling the profound ill effects fromthis practice.

But whilst attempts were made to destroy our culture, our economic base, and our way of life, our people were not accepted into the invader's society. Racist attitudes excluded us from any opportunities to participate equally in the dominant society.