1. Australian Indigenous Culture Flashcards
TERRA NULLIUS
- means ‘land of no-one’ in Latin
- From 1788, the British espoused Australia to be a colony of settlement, not of conquest. Indigenous peoples’ lands were taken over by British colonists on the premise that the land belonged to no-one.
Prior to the arrival of the British …
… there were between 600 and 700 Aboriginal tribal groups and 250 Aboriginal languages spoken throughout the land.
Why was colonial takeover seen as appropriate by the British?
- based on the assumption that British culture was superior to all others, and that Europeans could define the world on their terms
- the new government and its colonists thought the Indigenous people should speak English, obey British laws and live a British way of life
What was the result of colonial takeover?
- many cultural traditions and languages have been lost forever
- many tribal groups had to live together on missions and reserves and were forbidden to practice their cultures or speak their languages
Explain the significance of Eddie Mabo.
- 1992
- first case of Indigenous Australians being recognized as the original owners of tracts of land by the High Court of Australia
- Eddie Mabo if the Meriam people took the Queensland Government to court because it refused to grant his people ownership of Mer Island in the Torres Strait
- the High Court granted the Meriam people the right to native title of the land
DISPOSSESSION
the process through which colonial power lays claim to ownership of territory
(this effectively involves dismissing Indigenous peoples’ rights to ownership of their traditional lands)
CULTURE
- refers to an entire way of life of a group or society
- including learned ideas, values and knowledge shared by members of a collective
- eg. AIC
MATERIAL CULTURE
- refers to all the physical objects, artifacts, resources and spaces of a society, which are passed onto subsequent generations
- (eg. the Aboriginal Flag)
NON-MATERIAL CULTURE
- refers to the non-physical creations and ideas of a society, such as knowledge, values, beliefs, languages, symbols and social norms, which are transmitted across generations
- eg. the meanings associated with the Aboriginal Flag
STOLEN GENERATION
- refers to Australian Indigenous peoples who were removed from their family as children and adopted into non-Indigenous families
- 1909
- plans were to put in place to train these children in institutions as laborers and domestic servants - essentially slave labour for the wealthy
- also refers to the descendants of those forcibly removed who, as a result, have been denied culture and language, community connections and links with traditional lands
- between 1900s and 1960s
- refers to the forced removal of Indigenous children from their homes
- they were put into missions or foster care and many lost touch with families and ancestry as a result
VALUES
- abstract ideas about what a society believe to be good, right, desirable and beautiful
- eg. with Australian society, a ‘fair go’
For many Australian Indigenous People, where were values derived from?
The Dreaming tells the journey of the actions of ancestral beings who created the natural world. The Dreaming is connected to a period of sacred, eternal time in Australia when ancestral spirits created all people, animals and plants that were to live in the country and laid down the laws, customs and codes of conduct their lives were to follow.
SYMBOLS
- anything that acquires a particular meaning that is recognized by the people sharing a culture
- eg. a sculpture
What is a symbol related to the Aboriginal Indigenous Culture?
- Harold Thomas created the Indigenous flag, which was a symbol of unity and national identity for Aboriginal people
- in 1995, the Australian Government proclaimed the flag to be an official ‘Flag of Australia’
The symbolic meaning of the flag colors, as stated by Thomas are:
- black - the Aboriginal people of Australia
- red - the red earth, and the spiritual relation to the land
- yellow - the sun, the giver of life and protector
LANGUAGE
- refers to a socially-constructed set of symbols, used as the main method of communication within a culture
- eg. the English language
Why is language particularly important to Indigenous people?
- important in understanding Indigenous Australian heritage, as much of their history is an oral history
How many Australian Indigenous languages were there estimated to be in the 1700s?
- it is estimated that there were over 250 Indigenous Australian languages in the 1700s
How many Victorian Indigenous languages exist today?
- approximately 38 Indigenous languages are within Victoria today, as many are now extinct
NORMS
- the shared rules which exist in every culture that act as a guide for a wide range of behaviour
- eg. to wear clothing in public
What are the three categories of social norms?
- folkways
- mores
- laws
FOLKWAYS
- refers to the everyday activities within a culture which have become established and are socially sanctioned
- eg. maintaining eye contact with people you are having a conversation with
Amongst many Indigenous Australian cultural groups, what governs much of everyday behaviour (folkways)?
- kinship (family expectations)
- kinship obligations concern meeting the obligations of one’s clan (immediate family) and are specified by Aboriginal lore (sometimes known as the ‘Dreaming’)
MORES
- refers to social norms that are viewed as central and significant to the functioning of society
- eg. respect for private property
Explain the term ‘sacred site’.
- sacred sites are an essential part of many Indigenous peoples’ beliefs
- some Indigenous Australians believe that their ancestral spirits still guard these areas
- they feel that they protect them and have the power to harm any person that disturbs, destroys or disrespects them
- it is not acceptable to visit some sacred sites
LAWS
- refers to norms established and enforced by the political authority within a culture
- eg.
LORES
- refers to the customs and stories that most traditional Indigenous Australians learned from the Dreamtime
- Indigenous lore was passed across generations through songs, stories and dance
- it provided rules for all areas of traditional life including how to interact with the land, kinship and community
SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
page 15
- a term coined by (Charles Wright) Mills to describe the sociological approach to analyzing issues (1959)
- we think sociologically when we make a link between personal troubles and public issues
- eg. unemployment
- to view societies issues as someone from the outside would (without bias)
What are the four factors to consider when applying the Sociological Imagination?
- historical
- cultural
- critical
- structural
- HISTORICAL
How have past events influenced the present?
eg. policies, Stolen Generation
- CULTURAL
What influence of traditional, cultural values and particular belief systems have on our behaviour and social interaction?
In what ways has cultural change occurred?
What subcultures exist?
How does our own cultural background influence our sociological gaze?
(eg. ceremonies, religions, norms, values, languages, parenting skills, identity, sense of self)
- STRUCTURAL
How do various forms of social organization and social institutions affect our lives?
How do these vary over time and between countries and regions?
(eg. Aboriginal Protection Board, government, media)
- CRITICAL
Why are the things the way they are?
How could they be otherwise?
Who benefits and who is disadvantaged by the status quo?
What ‘alternative futures’ are possible?
How do sociological insights relate to our own life experiences?
(eg. What can our 2015 Government do to break the cycle of damage created by the Stolen Generarion? Will the Australian Government move forward in recognizing Australian Indigenous people as the first peoples in the Constitution?)
ETHNOCENTRISM
- the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture
- eg. judging Queensland Indigenous people as inhumane and cruel for killing sea turtles
- images on Australian Tourism Board campaign
The view that an individual’s culture is superior to that of other cultural groups often leads to …
a prejudicial attitude among individuals and cultural groups that their particular language, customs, traditions and lifestyle are better.
Ethnocentrism exists in all people and all societies as it is …
impossible to completely view your own culture objectively.
It is believed that a certain degree of ethnocentrism is necessary for people to be emotionally attached to their way of life.
CULTURAL RELATIVISM
- the practice of judging a culture by its own standards
- eg. understanding that the killing of sea turtles by Queensland Indigenous people is cultural and traditional
- sea turtles in Queensland; ‘First Contact’; 8MMM, Black Comedy, First Contact
The variety between cultural practices both within and across cultures suggests that …
there is no single ‘best’ cultural pattern.
REPRESENTATION
refers to the creation in any medium of aspects of social ‘reality’, such as people, places, objects, events, cultural identities and other intangible concepts
Historical representations of Australian Indigenous culture were …
influenced by the ethnocentric views of British colonists.
NOBLE SAVAGE
historical representation
- refers to an idealized concept of uncivilized man who symbolizes the innate goodness of one not exposed to the corrupting influences of civilization
- were admired for their courage and freedom, living simole, contented lives
‘GREAT CHAIN OF BEING’
historical representation
- refers to a hierarchical order ranking all living beings
- Europeans were placed highest of the human races and Indigenous Australians lowest, nearest the animals
- pseudoscience of phrenology: very influential; claimed that the shape and bumps on a person’s head approximated personality, abilities and size of the brain within; it was assessed that Indigenous Australians were both a morally and intellectually inferior homogenous race
NATURAL SELECTION
historical representation
- refers to a process proposed by Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882) used to explain the evolution of the natural world which had been applied by Herbert Spencer (1820 - 1903) to human societies in the context of ‘survival of the fittest’
- this scientific racism was also used to ‘prove’ that Indigenous Australians were biologically and culturally inferior to the British colonisers
- it was believed that they were a race that was doomed to extinction
From the late 19th century some Australian Indigenous cultural symbols in the form of art gradually gained acceptance, but …
it was primarily understood through the category of ‘primitive’ art.
COLONISATION
when a nation takes and maintains power over a territory that is outside its boundaries, based on a belief of superiority over those being colonized
Contemporary ethnocentrism includes:
- the exclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from representations such as print and television advertising
- stereotypical portrayals of Australian Indigenous people in tourism and advertising reflecting the ‘noble savage’
- the ongoing myth in film and television that most Indigenous Australians live in remote and regional parts of Australia
- the over-reporting in news and current affairs programs of Indigenous Australians as victims and perpetrators of violence, and/or paternalistic reporting of social disadvantage
- Culturally relative representations of Indigenous culture:
Education and awareness programs, and Australian curriculum, now …
recognizes the need for all Australian children to ‘understand and acknowledge the value of Indigenous cultures and possess the knowledge, skills and understanding to contribute to, and benefit from, reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians’
- Culturally relative representations of Indigenous culture:
Political activism includes:
- Albert Namatjira’s social movement for full citizenship rights in the 1950s
- the Freedom Rides in 1965
- the Australian Human Rights Commission calling for the Australian Constitution to be amended in order to recognize Australia’s first peoples
- Culturally relative representations of Indigenous culture:
Opportunities for the expression of Indigenous culture:
includes Indigenous-run theatre companies, websites, education programs and consultancies, businesses and galleries, books, journal articles and magazines, films, songs, poetry, television and online discussion forums
- Culturally relative representations of Indigenous culture:
Protocols and sanctions/legislation:
- Commonwealth - Racial Discrimination Act (1975)
- Commonwealth - Racial Hatred Act (1995), Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Act (1986)
- Victoria - Racial and Religious Tolerance Act (2001)
- Equal Opportunity Act (1995)
Building awareness and perception of Australian Indigenous culture includes:
- healing
- challenging stereotypes
- survival and strengthening of Australian Indigenous culture
CULTURAL SUPPRESSION
- involves the domination of one culture over another by deliberate policy or by economic or technological superiority
- eg. Assimilation Policy
The arrival of British colonists saw …
considerable resistance from Australian Indigenous people.
What led to the assumption that Australian Indigenous people needed to be protected?
(P & S)
- the British belief that they were an inferior race
- seen as primitive, savage and incompetent
In what year did the British Government first implement new ways to solve the ‘Aboriginal problem’?
(P & S)
1837