European Colonization: Examining the Impact on Indigenous Australians

This essay examines the profound and calamitous effects of European colonization on the Indigenous people of Australia, starting from 1788. It details the initial separation of the Indigenous Australians from the rest of the world and the subsequent disruptive changes brought about by European settlement, including the introduction of modern infrastructure alongside the forceful imposition of European culture. The essay highlights the clash between European exploitation of the land under the concept of 'terra nullius' and the Indigenous people's traditional respect for their environment. It further discusses the violent conflicts, epidemic diseases, and discriminatory practices, such as the 'stolen generations,' that decimated the Indigenous population and eroded their cultural identity. While acknowledging some infrastructural benefits, the essay emphasizes the deep scars left by colonization, which continue to affect Indigenous communities despite later governmental efforts to address racial discrimination and offer apologies for past injustices. The essay concludes that while progress has been made in recent decades, the historical trauma of colonization remains a significant factor in the lives of Indigenous Australians.

Running head: ACADEMIC ESSAY
Academic Essay
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ACADEMIC ESSAY
Indigenous people depend on their native land for their survival. Before 1788, Australia was
mostly inhabited by the aboriginals of Australia. The indigenous people spoke approximately
700 languages throughout Australia that consisted of an estimated population of 7,50,000
inhabitants. In 1788, the first fleet of British ships arrived at Port Jackson in Australia from
which 570 men and 160 women stepped on shore who created a predominant society in
Australia marking the era of European colonization (Roberts, 2013). The European
Colonization left a scar on the community that made a lasting impact on the lives of the
Indigenous Australians.
Until the beginning of 1788, the Indigenous Australians were separated from the rest
of the world, as there was no formal contact between the inhabitants and the rest of the world.
However, with the onset of the European colonization, extensive changes started taking place
in the lives of these native people. The European colonization introduced modernism, which
was delivered to these native people in the form of transportation, communication and
infrastructure (Sherwood, 2013). The forceful imposition of the European culture made a
negative impact on the nomadic lives of the inhabitants. Before the arrival of the Europeans,
Australia used to be an unexplored land where the natives respected their land. In 1778,
Captain James Cook, a British Lieutenant first explored the eastern coast of the land after
which perpetual settlement of the Europeans began in Australia. The Europeans, later on
colonized the region on the grounds of ‘terra nullius’ meaning the land belongs to none. This
made a disastrous impact on the lives of the Indigenous people that resulted in forced
removal from their native land, homelessness, epidemic diseases and exploitation of
resources. There were also huge differences in the lifestyle of the Europeans and the
Indigenous people that generated difficulties for both the communities being able to
understand each other (Geia, Hayes & Usher, 2013).

2ACADEMIC ESSAY
Within a decade of establishing their settlements, the Europeans tried enforcing their
lifestyle considering Australia to be an uninhabited land and started exploiting the land. The
Europeans were of the opinion that the changes brought upon the natives of the land was for
the betterment of their lifestyle and towards a civilized society. Whereas, the Indigenous
people had a belief that one should respect their land, their resources and must respect each
other (Ahmed, 2013). The behavior and attitude of the Europeans towards the Indigenous
people clearly indicated that the Europeans intended to exploit Australia. There are many
instances in the history of Australia where there have been violent conflicts between both the
communities and because of which almost 20,000 Indigenous people had to lose their lives.
Upon the arrival of the Europeans, approximately 1 million Indigenous people inhabited the
continent of Australia (Bennett, 2013). However, the Indigenous population failed to sustain
their lives because of the epidemic diseases carried by the Europeans due to lack of
immunity. The Indigenous people were exposed to many other diseases as well such as
measles, smallpox, tuberculosis and influenza. The repeated occurrence of these diseases
drastically affected the population of the Indigenous people of Australia (King & Knox,
2014). In addition to that, malnutrition and starvation also plagued the population of the
Indigenous people.
The early 20th century also marked the formation of The Commonwealth of Australia,
where the colonies were transformed into states and a Federal Parliament was established as
per the constitution. The European government had taken complete control over the lives of
the Indigenous people, where the children with mixed ancestry were taken away forcefully
for raising them in white institutions which is now known as ‘stolen generations’. Later, in
1948 the Commonwealth Citizenship and Nationality Act granted citizenship to most of the
Australians but the Indigenous people were discriminated (Neale, 2016). The past events had
inflicted much greater impact on the lives of the Indigenous people where there are incidents

3ACADEMIC ESSAY
of children taken away from families and deprived of basic education and healthcare facilities
and were discriminated from enjoying the same rights as the white people. The emotional
wounds and agony of deaths, imprisonment and slavery still haunts the mind of the people
even after years. In the 1970’s, Racial Discrimination Act was passed that acknowledged the
prior ownership of the land by the Indigenous people. Almost after 200 years of the European
Colonization, the surviving agitators were dignified and the perception of equality was
celebrated. Later in 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Ruddy apologized to the families of the
‘stolen generations’ in the House of Representatives. In 2009, the government of Australia
backed the United Nations declaration regarding the rights of the Indigenous community
(Dudgeon & Walker, 2015).
Though the European Colonization played a significant role in enhancing the lives of
the Indigenous people by establishing infrastructure and providing other basic amenities, the
Europeans failed to empathize with the natives of Australia and only considered them as mere
resources of exploitation. The aftereffect of the European Colonization has inflicted deep
scars that has remained fresh in the minds of the Indigenous people even after generations. In
conclusion, the European Colonization had a calamitous effect on the natives of Australia.
The original culture of the primitives have destroyed and the forceful imposition of the
foreign culture impaired the traditional values of the Indigenous people. However, the later
government bodies of Australia has undertaken strict measures to eliminate racial
discrimination from the lands of Australia. The community has now adapted itself in a
manner that accepts and respects people from other communities.

4ACADEMIC ESSAY
References
Ahmed, S. (2013). Strange encounters: Embodied others in post-coloniality. Routledge.
Bennett, T. (2013). The birth of the museum: History, theory, politics. Routledge.
Dudgeon, P., & Walker, R. (2015). Decolonising Australian psychology: Discourses,
strategies, and practice. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 3(1), 276-297.
Geia, L. K., Hayes, B., & Usher, K. (2013). Yarning/Aboriginal storytelling: towards an
understanding of an Indigenous perspective and its implications for research
practice. Contemporary nurse, 46(1), 13-17.
King, J. A., Brough, M., & Knox, M. (2014). Negotiating disability and colonisation: the
lived experience of Indigenous Australians with a disability. Disability &
Society, 29(5), 738-750.
Neale, R. S. (2016). Class and ideology in the nineteenth century. Routledge.
Roberts, S. H. (2013). History of Australian land settlement. Routledge.
Sherwood, J. (2013). Colonisation–It’s bad for your health: The context of Aboriginal
health. Contemporary Nurse, 46(1), 28-40.