ABORIGINAL HISTORY AND CULTURE Author's Note: All Australians need to understand Aboriginal history and culture

Running head: ABORIGINAL HISTORY AND CULTURE
ABORIGINAL HISTORY AND CULTURE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1ABORIGINAL HISTORY AND CULTURE
All Australians need to understand Aboriginal history and culture
As stated by Warwick et al. (2019), the aboriginals of Australia are an integral part of the
concerned nation and had been residing within the concerned nation for more than 50,000 years.
Canuto et al. (2019) are of the viewpoint that despite residing within the nation under discussion
here for more than 50,000 years these individuals had to face discrimination, stigmatization,
ostracism, social depravity and other kinds of societal evils within the societal framework of the
concerned nation. More importantly, despite having a rich cultural heritage and history, it is seen
that the recent history of these people within Australia is marked by oppression, suppression,
exploitation, depravation of basic human rights, fundamental rights and others. Furthermore, an
analysis of the historical annals of Australia clearly indicates the fact that the history and the
cultural traditions followed by the aboriginals and the European settlers are starkly different to
one another (Langham et al., 2017). These differences between the two groups of people within
Australia had been the root cause of the various disputes or the conflicts between them.
I strongly agree with the fact that all the people of Australia need to have a working
knowledge regarding the history as well as the culture of the aboriginals or the indigenous people
of the concerned nation. This is important since by way of knowing the history as well as the
culture of the aboriginals the individuals of the concerned nation would be able to know the rich
history and the cultural heritage of the nation. More importantly, this would also help them to
understand the aboriginal people of the nation and thereby would not only help them to
acknowledge the rich diversity of the nation but would also enable them to celebrate the same as
well (Zambas & Wright, 2016). However, at the same time it needs to be said that there are many
individuals who are of the viewpoint that it is not essential to have a knowledge regarding the

2ABORIGINAL HISTORY AND CULTURE
history as well as the culture of the aboriginal people of Australia. Larkins et al. (2019) are of the
viewpoint that this viewpoint of the individuals can be explained on the basis of the fact that the
aboriginals or the indigenous people have been able to attain the required inclusion within the
Australian society and thereby do not have to face the societal evils that they had to face in the
past. More importantly, remembering the past evils or for that matter the past history of these
people is likely to only enhance the bitterness without making any significant contribution
towards the present condition of their lives. It is in the light of these aspects that many
individuals do not feel the need to remember the history or the culture which had been followed
by the aboriginals or the indigenous people since they have been assimilated within the
Australian culture and thus there is no need to remember or even to hold on to the past.
However, at the same time it needs to be said that having an effective idea or knowledge
regarding the history or the culture of the indigenous or the aboriginal people is important since
these have substantially shaped the views, outlook, the practices, the behavior and other aspects
of the life of these people (Naccho.org.au, 2020). These aspects become even more important
from the perspective of the nurses, the care providers, the healthcare professionals and the other
individuals related to the healthcare industry. This can be explained on the basis of the fact that
the aboriginals people despite the inclusion as well as the growth attained by them still try to
hold on to their roots and the impact of this becomes prominent when their outlook towards
diseases and healthcare treatment services are being taken into consideration (Canuto et al.,
2018). As a matter of fact, it is seen that even in the present times there are many aboriginal
people who do not like to take injections, take the help of pagan medical practices and others.
Thus, it becomes important for the nurses, care providers and also the healthcare professionals to
substantially modify the treatment approaches that they use while they are dealing with the

3ABORIGINAL HISTORY AND CULTURE
indigenous people. In the light of these aspects, it becomes clear that having an effective
knowledge regarding the history and the culture of the aboriginals or the indigenous people of
Australia is likely to substantially improve the quality of the care or for that matter the treatment
services which are being offered by the nurses, care providers and the healthcare professionals of
the concerned nation to them.
Health professionals’ own cultural beliefs influence their health care decisions
Smith, Fatima and Knight (2017) are of the viewpoint that the important factors which
greatly affect the healthcare decisions that are being made by the healthcare professionals can be
attributed to the values, cultural beliefs, traditions and others held by the healthcare
professionals. Adding to this, Larkins et al. (2016) have noted that the decisions made by the
healthcare professionals are important since they not only impact the quality of healthcare
services which are being offered by them to the patients but also the outcomes of the same for
the patients as well. In this relation, I would like to say that I strongly agree with the fact that the
healthcare professionals’ own cultural beliefs substantially influence their healthcare decisions.
This can be explained on the basis of the fact that the cultural beliefs, traditions, values and
others held by the individuals not only form an integral part of their identity but also their actions
as well. For instance, the decisions regarding the healthcare services made by the indigenous or
for that matter the aboriginal people is being made by them on the basis of their cultural heritage,
the values as well as the beliefs that they hold and other important factors (Harfield et al., 2018).
This even holds true in the particular context of the healthcare professionals as well since it had
been seen that the decisions regarding the healthcare services made by the healthcare
professionals are greatly influenced by their cultural beliefs. As a matter of fact, within the
nation of Australia itself it is seen that the Australian healthcare professionals in the majority of