INDIGENOUS AUSTRALIANS
1850 - 1880
What was life like for Indigenous people living on missions and reserves?
How was their way of living affected?
Stephanie Trinca
How were they treated?
When the white settlers came, the Aborigines were dispossessed of their land and were, "encouraged" onto reserves, supposedly for their protection. They were forced off their traditional hunting grounds, and certainly herded away from the fertile coastal areas where there was plenty of food. White settlers wrecked the very effective native fishing traps, cleared native habitats and reduce the native food supplies, as well as polluting their water. Massacres of the indigenous people occurred on a regular basis.
The Europeans also introduced foods and diseases, which were unknown to the native community. All of which were perfectly harmless to the white settlers.
Stephanie Farag
Below: A group of children from the ages of 3-5 who have been separated from their parents.
OTHER CHANGES THEY EXPERIENCED:
- forced confinement
- new religions
- separation and removal of their children
- breakdown of tradition values
- banned use of their traditional languages