Natalie Siow Yan Wei

ABST 100 Assignment 2

Title : Reconciliation movements
Abstract
The council of the City of Sydney recognizes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples
as the traditional custodians of our land - Australia. The city recognizes the Gadigal of the
Eora Nation as the traditional custodians of Sydney. There are about 29 family groups of the
urban area which are known as the Eora Nation. The Gadigal are family of the Eora Nation.
The territory of the Gadigal natives lengthened along the southern side of Port Jackson which
is known as Petersham. The' Eora people' was the name given to the coastal Aboriginal
people around Sydney. There are about 29 families of the Sydney Metropolitan area which is
known as the Eora Nation. There have been wide discussions about which nation these 29
families belong to.
Compared with 100 years ago, Australians today are much older and are more likely to live in
urban areas, conceive fewer children and are more likely to be born overseas in countries
outside of the British Isles. Sydney has been a city with a huge percentage of immigrants. As
the municipality of Sydney turned into a city, the Gadigal were united by other Aboriginal
people from exterior of NSW and counterfeit associations within the urban Aboriginal
community. Governor Arthur Phillip predicted there were 1500 Aboriginals within a 10 mile
radius of Port Jackson in 1788. There is much scepticism about inhabitants statistics
accessible by historians. It should never be forgotten that there were bounties on the heads of
Aboriginal nation and some whites went as far as digging bodies up to earn some money.
Based on these situation it was hard to conclude population records .
1

Having said that, historians have reported that the population decrease radically when the
beginning of small pox into Sydney's Aboriginal neighbourhood when the European came in
contact with many reports of bodies floating near the harbour. It is predicted that almost half
of Sydney's Aboriginal inhabitants passed on in the smallpox epidemic of 1789. Hinkson
2010,p.13 states that the Gadigal "the recognised tenant of Sydney Cove" were reduced in
number from about 60 in 1788.

Plate 1 : Edge of Trees

Edge of Trees is a site precise portion commissioned for the public space of the Museum of
Sydney at its aperture in 1995 by an Indigenous artist collaborating - Janet Laurence and
Fiona Foley. This award winning public art mechanism evokes the physical and cultural
history of the site. A 'forest' of 29 massive pillars made of steel, wood and sandstone which
were cluster near the museum entrance. Wooden pillars from trees in the area have been castoff from vanished manufacturing buildings of Sydney. Names of the 29 Aboriginal families
from Sydney correspond to the 29 vertical poles. While walking between and aroudn the
pillars, we take notice of sounds of Koori voices reciting and chanting the names of places in
the Sydney region that have been used by the metropolitan area. Organic materials such as
shell ,bone, feather, ash, honey and human hair are entrenched in windows within the
rudiments evoking preceding ways of life. Cultural and natural histories are evoked by the
names of botanical class burnt or carved into wooden sections in both Aboriginal languages,
Latin and along with the signatures of the First Fleeters. Name of places are engraved on the
sandstone in pillars in Aboriginal languages and English.
1. Reconciliation deed essay what organisations can do to supplement the goal of
reconciliation by focusing on 3 key points 1)building respect 2)forging relationships
3)creating opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The
existing study presents a contented study and an overview of the "Stolen Generations"
as an instance of how structural aggression of Australia by Europeans. Galung(1969)
suggested the term "structural violence" to pass on to the restraint on human
impending caused by political and economic structures. Christie et al.(2001)difference
structural aggression is visible and clear and has a executor who are agents of the
harmful measures. Leighton and Winter(2001) states " Structural violence take place

when people are disadvantage by legal, political and economic traditions. Australian
historian Humphrey McQueen(1986) recommended that racism of the majestic era
have not been measured to be disgusting as they "were just of course White
Australian" (p.42) Spoonley(1993) states that racism is a fundamental assumption of
superiority that is used to give good reason for the utilization of others. A
deconstruction of the idea of class suggests that for the biologist such kids should not
be alive. If the race was divided, then those of dissimilar racial origin should not be
capable to reproduce and bond. The aim of numerous of these removals was to
manage the fate of Aborigines according to methodical values as distinguished by a
woman distant from her family in the 1950's: " I remember all we children being
herded up, like a mob of cattle, and feeling the humiliation of being graded by the
colour of our skins for the government records". Confidential submission 332(p.186).
In all of the scenarios, agents of the government used duress pressure to get rid of
children from their communities and mothers. Mothers would be convinced to sign a
file about which she had little to no understanding and had no idea that she was
allowing her their child to be separated from her forever. A South Australian lady,
taken away from her parents along with her three siblings described how kids distant
to mission were not permitted to use their own languages: " Y'know, I can remember
we used to talk lingo; We had to sit down with Bibles everyday" Confidential
evidence 544 (p.154). Aboriginality was denigrate and Abbos were held on open lure
Many kids were told that they were rejected, unwanted, parents were dead or
worthless. For instance, a woman uninvolved from her family in Alice Springs in the
1930s at the age of 5.
Conclusion

The study of the Stolen Generations report has discussed that the rules and policy of the
taking away of part Aboriginal kids from their families comprise both an instance of what
structural aggression is. As well as an ingredient of settlement grounds our origin of
tranquillity in affairs and seeks an significant part of healing and justice that may be missing
from fewer compound meaning of peace.

References:

Galtung,J(1969). Violence peace and peace research. Journal of Peace and Research

p.176-191
Hinkinson et.al(2010) Aboriginal Sydney: a guide to important places of the past and
present http://www.trove.nla.gov.au/version/49883139 2nd ed. Aboriginal Studies

Press, Canberra
Laurence.J , Foley(2001) City's Inaugural reconciliation action plan Sculptural

Installation http://www.hht/net.au/discover/highlights/collection_items/edge_of_trees
McQueen(1986) A new Brittania, Melbourne: Penguin Books