Aboriginal Contact and Colonisation Flashcards
What the impact of diseases?
Aboriginal Peoples had lived isolated in Australia for thousands of years with little contact from outside.
As a result, they had not been exposed to diseases that had been present in
Europe (such as the Black Death).
Diseases brought by the First Fleet, including smallpox, measles and the flu, spread rapidly through the population.
Smallpox had the biggest impact and spread the quickest.
What was the impact of alcohol?
European settlers used alcohol in exchange for goods and labour with
Indigenous Australians. Alcohol was also used by the Europeans as a way
of subduing the Indigenous Australians. The harmful effects of alcohol on the lives of Indigenous Australians soon became obvious. Alcohol became a ‘cure all’ for Indigenous peoples’ pain, with many using it to cope with the devastation of being ruled by European settlers.
What was the nature of early contact between Aboriginals and English?
Early relations were typically friendly, and the British government instructed the colonists to respect Indigenous rights.
What was the nature of the pre-contact society for Aboriginals?
Before Europeans arrived, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples lived as hunter-gatherers. Each clan had it own Country, which it relied on for food, shelter, medicine, and tools. Indigenous people did not think of land in terms of monetary value, and they did not believe that they “owned” the land.
What were the Aboriginals relation to the land?
For Aboriginal peoples, country is much more than a place. Rock, tree, river, hill, animal, human – all were formed of the same substance by the Ancestors who continue to live in land, water, sky. Country is filled with relations speaking language and following Law, no matter whether the shape of that relation is human, rock, crow, wattle. Country is loved, needed, and cared for, and country loves, needs, and cares for her peoples in turn. Country is family, culture, identity. Country is self.
What were some significant individuals during the colonisation of Australia?
Bennelong, Captain Arthur Phillip.
