franglofone a écrit :
c’est où l’éducation des jeunes (ou les ‘pas si jeunes’), la prochaine génération, et celle qui va se trouver confronter a le même situation ? Dans la culture aborigène, tout est inextricablement lié : si tu enlève même une partie (pour exemple le « walkabout » á Port Augusta) cette culture ne peut plus fonctionner, et c’est qu’on trouve la racine du « problème ». . .
I agree with you, Donna, that education really is the key. Of course people can be RE-educated, but it's much easier to start with the young. I think what's being taught in schools now is much more realistic now than when I was at school and we were only taught about 'primitive' Aborigines and how Australia was 'Terra Nullis' (an empty land) when Europeans arrived, which of course it wasn't.
My first encounter with aborigines was when I took a tour to the outback at age 14, attended my first corroboree (even if it was a little commercial), visited Aboriginal cultural centres, and saw them sitting in the streets in unhappy, alcoholic situations.
But I don't think I had any real understanding of them until many years later, when my husband announced that the Aborigines in the time period of 1830s - 1930s would be the subject of his phD thesis. I thought then that writing about the Aborigines for 3 years would be boring, but the more I saw of his work, the historical accounts, journals and books he was using, and read some of them myself, the more I found myself sympathising with their situation and understanding a little of how they must feel today. 3 years of being surrounded by the Aboriginal topic on a daily basis, changes you (whether I liked it or not, but by the end, I saw it all as very beneficial).
frangloflone a écrit :
Personnellement, j’ai honte pour ce qu’on a fait aux « original owners » de ce pays, mais c’est pas la honte qui va améliorer leur situation – c’est plutôt la reconnaissance de ce qu’on leur a fait (quand je dis ‘on’, je veut dire les australiens bien sur), la recognition de leur droits égales et, plus que tout (dans mon avis), du respect pour leur culture, et l’acceptation que ce n’est pas comme la notre, et donc peut jamais être « assimiler ».
Hmm, I think I used to feel ashamed, but then I wondered why, when it wasn't my ancestors who massacred them, and I have no ancestors who were politicians. I figure if you treat every section of society equally and with respect, including Aboriginal people, and teach your family to do the same by example, then one doesn't need to feel ashamed for the past that you had nothing to do with, just sorrowful for what happened, but one also has to focus on the future and some of the positive signs (because there are some), and moving forward.
I figure if I was supposed to feel ashamed, it would also be like feeling ashamed for what was done to the North American Indians and all other nations who've been conquered - just because I'm a white person.
franglofone a écrit :
But back to the original question - which was where are all the indigenous australians. The settlers/invaders of Australia did their best to destroy the indgenous population and/or their culture (in the end, it's the same thing) and very nearly succeeded: more than a 1000 dialects lost, population decimated, and australian aborigines even today live on average 20 years less than white australians. Not many people would dispute that (or maybe I'm just naive) but I think the question should be why and how does the Australian government continue to fail its indigenous people despite a lot of talk and a lot of money, and there you will find the answer to your question. I certainly don't have an answer.
Maybe I'm a bit naïve too, but despite the obvious failures of the Australian Government with some of the schemes they've had in recent years for Aboriginal people (like the giving of new housing to them without first finding out what they want), I also see that there have been some rather successful initiatives too. Perhaps living in a smaller city helps, to be able to see the smaller details more easily, rather than just the general overall national picture and statistics, which can look pretty depressing.
By positive signs that I see, I'm thinking of Aboriginal cultural/art/touristique centres (such as the very successful and spectacular Brambuk Centre in the Grampians National Park in Victoria,
http://www.brambuk.com.au/ which is run by the Aboriginal people of that community, and was established about 15 years ago. It has just secured another $1 million in new government funding)
There are also the Aboriginal Co-operatives (Government funded, aboriginal run community health/education centres, specifically for indigenous needs)
Not every Australian region has one, though Warrnambool (on the Great Ocean Road - population 28,000) has two of them
http://www.worngundidj.org.au/cooperative.htm and they seem to be becoming more common and well known.
The Ballarat Co-op is quite large, and was built brand new as a two storey building in the centre of the city a few years ago. It not only delivers health and education programmes, but also provides many employment opportunities for indigenous people, and they seem to be developing stronger links between this centre and the wider Ballarat business community, which is especially evident each year during NAIDOC week. (National Aboriginal week)
A brand new initiative in my region has been the 'Koori Job Shop' (Koori = Victorian aboriginal people). It is run by the Central Highlands branch of a government organisation called "ACC" (Area Consultative Committee). In this latest scheme, their indigenous worker helps to operate a 'Job Shop' - aboriginals can come in to this office freely and get resume help, one-on-one coaching and mentoring and other help that they need in getting a job. The indigenous employment officer also provides the link between jobseekers and employers, a kind of liaison (a bit like the system of Job Network Agency which exists for the general population in Australia but with more individual help)
My husband worked for the ACC a few years ago, just after his PhD. He said he learned more about their ways and local issues in 6 months of just sitting next to his aboriginal colleague, than he did in the 3 years writing and researching his Aboriginal thesis. While my husband was working for the ACC, they sometimes organised and held community events involving the local aboriginal community (which in our city of 83,000 people stands at about 600 - including white aboriginals). One such event was when the famous aboriginal movie "Follow the Rabbit Proof Fence" was released. The ACC organised a movie night and many free tickets were distributed to the white business community and the local aboriginal community, with local aboriginal spokespeople speaking to the audience before the film, and a supper gathering afterwards.
They were also involved in helping to run the aboriginal NAIDOC week ball one year - a formal dinner and ball with aboriginal guest speakers, and local aboriginal entertainers such as choirs and an aboriginal guy and his son who often busk (perform) in the local shopping mall. This was also attended by many members of the 'white' business community and was a great opportunity for the 2 groups to mix (pity this mainly happens only once a year).
And within the next few months, Ballarat is about to get something really spectacular: it will be the completion and grand opening of the Kirrit Bareet Aboriginal Cultural and Art Centre
http://www.aboriginalballarat.com.au/ which has taken $2 million dollars to establish (largely government funding, I believe) but will be operated by the local aboriginal community, and all the artwork by local artists.
This, I feel is what is being done right: the government giving the funding to set these things up, but the control and the running of them in the hands of the local aboriginal communities.
And when these initiatives succeed, they can provide a model for other communities to follow.
Kate
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) pas franchement saxon et anglo encore moins...et la population d'origine asiatique.... mais du coup anglo celt me gêne un peu... ni anglo ni celt, les thaîs, viets, indiens et chinois...pour ne citer qu'eux.
