The Effects of British Colonisation on Indigenous Australians Free Essay Example

The Effects of British Colonisation on Indigenous Australians There are many effects of British colonisation on Indigenous Australians. One of the worst impacts was the loss of land. The land is the sole provider of food, medicine and other basic needs to Indigenous Australians. It is also the main part of their spiritual and cultural beliefs. The Indigenous Australians lived ‘nomadic’ lifestyles. They lived in tribes that moved around, using only what they needed, recycling what they could, and moved on when they felt that the resources at the site had been exhausted.

This gave the site time to recover and recuperate, and so, their resources never ran out.

To the Europeans, land stated how wealthy the owner was, and they linked land ownership with power. The more fertile land you owned, the wealthier and more powerful you were considered to be. This, of course, did not apply to all Europeans who came to Australia, as most were convicts who were given land to farm and provide food for their community.

When the Europeans came to Australia, their main aim was to build another colony, as well as find another place to situate their convicts.

There were many reasons for the British to build extra colonies. These reasons include politics, religion and economics. Politics plays a very important part in colonialism. Extra colonies provided status, power and influence over the settlers, for the colonizer. This power enabled other effects of colonisation to take place, e. g. the spreading of religion Religion was a vital part of everyday life for the British.

They felt that they had been ‘burdened’ with the task of having to spread their faith – Christianity.

When the British had come into contact with the Aboriginals, they tried to ‘save’ them by introducing them to their religion, however, the Aboriginals had their own religion – the dreamtime. Building extra colonies also provided access to more natural resources, goods for trade and opened new markets for trading around the world. This provided even more wealth, and increased the economic status of many countries. When the British had ‘invaded’, many indigenous communities were forced off their land, which they considered sacred.

In the early 19th century, many settlers took vital parts of the Aboriginal land, such as waterholes and soaks. By the 1870’s, all fertile land had been distributed. Many communities were reduced to living on the borders of British owned land, or on lands that were infertile, and considered unsuitable for settlement. As a result of the loss of land, the number of Aboriginal communities and the number of Aboriginals were greatly reduced. Consequently, they lost essential resources such as food and water, as there was less land to move around in, and less time for the land to recuperate.

There are many effects of British colonisation on Indigenous Australians. Some of these were good, some others were bad, but the loss of land was one of the worst. Bibliography: Retroactive 1 – stage 4, world history. First published 1999 by John Wiley and sons Australia, Ltd. Lisa-Marie Long’s excursion booklet http://www. aboriginalart. com/aboriginal_australia. html – visited on the 24/11/08 http://www. skwirk. com. au/p-c_s-17_u-504_t-1361_c-5239/QLD/5/Consequences-of-British-colonisation-for-Aboriginal-People/British-colonisation-of-Australia/Colonisation-resources/power-and-exploration/SOSE/ – visited on the 24/11/08.

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