Australian Aboriginal Studies

Running head: ABORIGINAL STUDIES
Aboriginal Studies
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1ABORIGINAL STUDIES
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people represents the earliest inhabitants of
Australian continent. They were hunter-gatherers who had powerful spiritual connection to
animals, land and water (Nguyen & Cairney, 2013). The pages of history have remained a proof
as to how these people utilized and occupied an entire continent and successfully adapted to the
range of climatic and ecological conditions. The population densities of these people ranged
between 1 to 8 square miles to over 35 square miles. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people had certain common cultural features and shared great bonding amongst them with hardly
any consciousness of shared identity on a national level. However, I have found that these people
were expansive in nature and considered society as community of common behaviors and
understanding shared even beyond confines of local group. However, the rapid colonization of
the European Nations during the 1920s led to the decline in the population with only sixty
thousand Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal people (Lowe & Yunkaporta, 2013). As far as my
perceptions goes, European colonization had adverse effects on these people as were removed
from traditional lands and an active lifestyle of hunter-gatherer. Many Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander groups tried to resist the attack but it ultimately resulted in violence. Europeans
also brought about various kinds of infectious diseases that killed these traditional inhabitants.
These people were even moved to various reserves or missions where they were restricted from
maintaining their cultural practices and own language. I have also found the enactment of the
various laws that limited the rights of these people and separated them from the Australians

2ABORIGINAL STUDIES
thereby providing them with scopes of little self-determination. Moreover, the Europeans away
from their families and communities raised the children of traditional inhabitants (Fredericks,
2013). Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experienced tremendous amount of
sexual or physical abuse in the hands of the Europeans. The indigenous people not only lost their
cultural identity and language but also prevented them from having any contact with their family
members. Thus, I have found that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were affected
significantly by the European colonization, discrimination and cultural displacement, family
disruption that resulted in unemployment, homelessness, higher incidence of poverty and poor
health amongst their communities.
Presently I have found that there were around 458,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people living in the continent of Australia that accounts for around 2.4 percent of the
total population of Australia (Rowse, 2014). This population is believed to grow by 550,000 by
the year 2011. I have found that more than half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
population primarily took refuge in Queensland and New South Wales. The northern territory
recorded the highest proportion of Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal people that was close to
29 percent. If I go by percentage then around 69 percent of the Aboriginal or Torres Strait
Islanders has been living in the urban centre while only smaller proportion inhabits the remote
areas (Fredericks, 2013). There was a massive transformation in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people since I found 80 percent of them speaking in English even at home with only 12