It is quite difficult to find the heritage of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders, without being one!I have had quite a hard time. What I have found - my opinion, is that Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders are a special group, - yes. Aboriginals had settled the land of Australia before the white man came. They descended from one of Noah's sons, - Japheth, I believe. The darker skinned person migrated to a mass of land that would later be called 'Australia'. When the white man came, Aborigines had lived in this land for a long time. They knew the land, and they were a part of the land. And my argument is that they worshiped the land, and nature, and ignored God. When the white man came, they came looking to conquer the land. They wanted to be kings. And they did, through force. Through force...forgive my brain, but that means the Aborigines fought the white man. The white man came into the land with big expectations and with barbarian ideas. But, the Aborigines fought fiercely back at them. In this day and age, we have politicians and other people that think they must repay the Aborigines in this day and age for the wrongs white man did to them back in the 19th Century. Well, I think that idea is the weirdest notion ever!“The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice.”
Mark Twain (Heritage, Aboriginal, 2013)(Heritage, Aboriginal, 2013)
I teach Sunday School and enjoy it immensely. In my class I have three Aboriginal children. These children have a right to their heritage, they have a right to the land. But, I have a right to my heritage, no matter how gory ancestors were, or the fact that my ancestors came in chains, I have a right to my heritage. I do not have a right to force others to repay me a debt that happened to someone I had never met. And the little children I teach do not have a debt to repay white man, or to hold a grudge on behalf of the Aboriginal man.
We all have dark parts to our heritage, but we should be proud that we live in a land that allows us to work together. I thank the Lord that He has given me a love for children. Because if we still lived in a world that segregated white man against Aboriginal, I would still teach those three little ones...and as many as I could!
(Heritage, Aboriginal, 2013)
(Heritage, Aboriginal, 2013)European Discovery and Arrival
"The arrival of Lt James Cook in 1770 marked the beginning of the end for this ancient way of life. Cook’s voyage of exploration had sailed under instructions to take possession of the Southern Continent if it was uninhabited, or with the consent of the natives if it was occupied. Either way, it was to be taken. Upon his arrival, Lt Cook declared the land he called New South Wales to be the property of Britain’s King George III, and ignored the inconvenient fact that the land was already well populated. His failure to even attempt to gain the consent of the natives began the legal fiction that Australia was waste and unoccupied.
"Cook was followed soon enough by the arrival of the First Fleet, in January of 1788, under the command of Captain Arthur Phillip, whose mission was to establish a penal colony and take control of Terra Australia for settlement." (Heritage, Aboriginal, 2013)
"We found the natives tolerably numerous as we advanced up the river, and even at the harbour’s mouth we had reason to conclude the country more populous than Mr Cook thought it. For on the Supply’s arrival in the [Botany] bay on the 18th of the month they assembled on the beach of the south shore to the number of not less than forty persons, shouting and making many uncouth signs and gestures. This appearance whetted curiosity to its utmost, but as prudence forbade a few people to venture wantonly among so great a number, and a party of only six men was observed on the north shore, the governor immediately proceeded to land on that side in order to take possession of this new territory and bring about an intercourse between its new and old masters."Watkin Tench, January 1788
"The first act of land ownership by Europeans came within four days of arrival when a group of men from the HMS Sirius went ashore to clear land to gain access to fresh water. By 26 January, the First Fleet had found its way to Sydney Cove and landed there on the harbour." (Heritage, Aboriginal, 2013)
(Heritage, Aboriginal, 2013)
(Heritage, Aboriginal, 2013)Rediscovering History
"Aboriginal history has been handed down in ways of stories, dances, myths and legends. The dreaming is history. A history of how the world, which was featureless, was transformed into mountains, hills, valleys and waterways. The dreaming tells about how the stars were formed and how the sun came to be.
"In the metropolitan area of Sydney there are close to 5,000 Aboriginal sites. These sites are under threat every day from development, vandalism and natural erosion. The sites cannot be replaced and once they are destroyed, they are gone forever. The sites that are located in Lane Cove, North Sydney, Willoughby, Ku-ring-gai, Warringah, Manly, Pittwater and City of Ryde Council areas are still in reasonable condition and hold an important part in our history. The Guringai people, who once occupied this area, left important evidence of their past and way of life before colonisation. All Aboriginal sites are significant to Aboriginal people because they are evidence of the past Aboriginal occupation of Australia and are valued as a link with their traditional culture. An emphasis is placed on the scientific investigation into stone technology for a great deal of insight is obtained by studying the manufacture techniques and animals associated with them that tells us about daily traditional life. Clues to what these sites were used for can also be surmised by talking with Elders from other parts of Australia where traditional knowledge has not been lost to the same degree." (Heritage, Aboriginal, 2013)
(Heritage, Aboriginal, 2013)
(Heritage, Aboriginal, 2013)
**All photos found on Aboriginal Heritage website** - (Heritage, Aboriginal, 2013)
Blog References
Heritage, Aboriginal. (2013). A brief Aboriginal
history. Retrieved from Aboriginal Heritage:
http://www.aboriginalheritage.org/history/history/
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