How does the process of dispossession affect Aboriginal people

In your response mention land, kinship groups and the Stolen Generation The dispossession of Aboriginal land had a damaging impact on the indigenous peoples in post 1945 Australia. Throughout Aboriginal history, land, spirituality and kinship have been inextricably linked. The dispossession from land and kinship has had a devastating impact on the stolen generation in that it took away their culture and spirituality. Dispossession of land has produced a devastatingly damaging effect upon the Aboriginal community and individual.

Inhibited with rituals and ceremonies which followed Dreaming tracks (paths that follow the Spirit Ancestors as they created the landscape) that provided the people with a physical connection to the Dreaming. Out of context the ritual/ceremony is meaningless and the people become misplaced spiritually and psychologically with no home and no stable base of life. The land is the context of the Dreaming stories, a constant around which their spiritual world revolved. Removal from this land would then be likely to cause a severe disruption to the normal pattern and processes for handling traditions.

Physical presence in the country was important to the people in keeping the tradition (stories, songs, dances, art, customs) alive and passing it on. The lore is related land were their shared personal property, perhaps the most important ‘permanent’ and ‘tangible’ constant in their nomadic life. The Aboriginal culture is largely based on The Dreaming. This is a metatemporal concept incorporating the past, present and future through the process of song, art, dance, storytelling and various other rituals for this notation of time to really happen it has to be connected with the land.

The impact of dispossession has been enormously and overwhelmingly detrimental effect on Aboriginal people because altimetry loss of land is really loss of cultural heritage and identity; it also places a big burden on the shoulders because they are not able to for-fill ritual responsibilities as guardians of the land. Dispossession of the land for aboriginal people has deprived them of the independence, culture, identity and ultimately their spiritual world. It has caused a damaging effect on the system of totemic responsibilities because they are no longer in control of their totems and are no longer able to protect their totem.

The dispossession of land for aboriginal people has had a devastating affect to their system of kinship. The kinships act an important role in the Aboriginal spirituality and dreaming as it assigns responsibilities to transmit knowledge and understanding to the elders and to the young generation. To Aboriginal people the Kinship defines the rights and duties of the individual and determines their responsibility in preserving the environment. It also determines their responsibility in the preservation and survival of the creature or element of the land named as the totem.

Kinship groups are vital in the aboriginal culture in that they tie clans and families together, allocating roles and responsibilities within a community. Separation from kinship groups, working systems, then meant that the aboriginal society lost its point of fixture and every personal affiliation became lamed. When the kinship system is destroyed it members inevitably suffer from psychological distress such as withdrawal and depression where the individual has suffered a loss of identify this extends to the breaking up of communities and a spirit of solidarity.

The impact of dispossession for Aboriginal people has been enormous and overwhelmingly detrimental. The Stolen Generations refer to those Aboriginal children who were removed from their families between 1900 and 1972 by the government and church missionaries in an attempt to assimilate them into white mainstream Australian society. This was based on two policies Protection, where removal of aboriginal children from their families under the pretence that they were living in an ‘uncivilised’ environment and Assimilation, the idea that Aboriginal people could be improved by being civilised and Christianised basically integrated.

This affected the aboriginal community because there were no generations to pass knowledge, language and traditions to. This result in a loss of identity and self-esteem the Aboriginal culture deteriorated. Also Kinship ties were broken resulting in a loss of identity where the young indigenous generation is lost in-between two opposing cultures in a struggle to find balance. The Effects of the Stolen Generation had on aboriginal children was very traumatic, children suffered maltreatment, sexual exploitation, inhumane working conditions and degrading forms of humiliation.

But the worst of all was the loss of the connection with the dreaming. The dispossession of aboriginal Land has had a tremendously damaging effect on the indigenous people post 1946 Australia. With the dispossession of land and destruction of kinship groups and the removal of children “ The stolen Generation” all have negatively impacted the aboriginal community as well as individuals and well as their dreaming.