The Effects Of European Civilization On Indigenous Australians

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Indigenous Australians are the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia, which ancestors are from tribes that lived in Australia and surrounding islands before the colonisation of British (Australian Law Reform Commision 2003). Latest archaeological proof reveals that 65000 years back the first Homo sapiens may have entered this land (Clarkson et al. 2017, p. 306). After the European settlement in the 18th century, the population of Indigenous Australians is gradually decreasing as the Caucasian declared warfare against the Indigenous Australians. Glynn and Glynn (2004, pp. 145-146) state that European also bringing in series of epidemics such as smallpox which is estimated to have killed many of the Indigenous Australians who had no immunity on it. Even though the European colonisation has brought modern civilisation to Australia, however Indigenous Australians’ unique cultural values and ethnic identities have …show more content…
According to Wilson (2004, p. 79), Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were forcibly taken away from their families and communities by the Caucasian government and put them into church-run missions and foster parents to “...assimilating those children into European society...” furthermore “...training them to meet the demand of cheap labour...”. When they were removed from their own community, Aboriginal children were also taught to live like in ‘European lifestyle’ which cause them to feel ashamed of their ethnic identity. Thus, Indigenous Australians’ unique traditional culture values would have slowly destructed when the younger generation know nothing about it. Moreover, Behrendt (2012, pp. 304-305) points out that many Indigenous children were “...psychologically, physically and sexually abused…” which cause them to suffer from “...depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, post-traumatic stress and