Dispossession refers to the Aboriginal people being forced from their land and traditional way of life as a result of government policies such as “Protection and Assimilation”. Aboriginal spirituality is a culture and a way of life, so this separation of Aboriginal people from their land and kinship groups has had a severely detrimental impact on their spirituality, and subsequently their culture and identity. A quote by Noel Pearson in the book Voices of Aboriginal Australia: past, present, future compiled by Irene Moores for the Aboriginal Deaths in Custody Watch Committee.
Aboriginal title has to be treated differently because Aboriginal culture is inseparable from the land to which Aboriginal title attaches. The loss of impairment of that …show more content…
They compulsory British common law on the native inhabitants and took away their rule. This common law superseded normal law, as no acknowledgment was given to the rights of the native population due to the idea of terra nullius. British common law dictated the land was considered territory belonging to no one as Jack waterford editor of the National Indigenous Times (17th of February 2001) “.....When they (Aboriginal) were forced onto reserves from the 1850 onwards, their traditional way of life was eroded even further. They were not allowed to have Aboriginal name or continue their traditional customs. Then in the mid-20th century, as many were forced off the reserves and into town and cities, they were expected to leave their beliefs and traditions behind them. In response to this The Aboriginal Protection Board said they had to develop from 'their former primitive state to the standards of the white man'. This serves no rightful purpose as in effect the targeted Aboriginals lost their spirituality and become ‘No …show more content…
Whilst Captain James Cook claimed the Eastern coast of Australia for the British Crown he justified the move with the concept of Terra Nullius. He believed, "We are to consider that we see this country in the pure state of Nature, the Industry of Man has had nothing to do with any part of it. They seem to have no fixed habitation but move about from place to place like wild Beasts in search of food." (Yarwood and Knowling 1991:31). The British law system recognised rights of land based on particular principles so that ownership was exposed by the frame of land to mark boundaries, the building of eternal structures and the farming of the land. Intended for Aboriginal people the dispossession and dislocation from their land had overwhelming consequences because for Aboriginal the Land was central to their whole existence. Also, their link with the land, particularly their own country, is of basic significance to their spirituality. When the Aboriginal people were located in missions and reserves, they were not simply disadvantaged of their possessions; they were disadvantaged of their deep spiritual connection with their Ancestral Beings, as they no longer had access to their country and sacred
Aboriginal title has to be treated differently because Aboriginal culture is inseparable from the land to which Aboriginal title attaches. The loss of impairment of that …show more content…
They compulsory British common law on the native inhabitants and took away their rule. This common law superseded normal law, as no acknowledgment was given to the rights of the native population due to the idea of terra nullius. British common law dictated the land was considered territory belonging to no one as Jack waterford editor of the National Indigenous Times (17th of February 2001) “.....When they (Aboriginal) were forced onto reserves from the 1850 onwards, their traditional way of life was eroded even further. They were not allowed to have Aboriginal name or continue their traditional customs. Then in the mid-20th century, as many were forced off the reserves and into town and cities, they were expected to leave their beliefs and traditions behind them. In response to this The Aboriginal Protection Board said they had to develop from 'their former primitive state to the standards of the white man'. This serves no rightful purpose as in effect the targeted Aboriginals lost their spirituality and become ‘No …show more content…
Whilst Captain James Cook claimed the Eastern coast of Australia for the British Crown he justified the move with the concept of Terra Nullius. He believed, "We are to consider that we see this country in the pure state of Nature, the Industry of Man has had nothing to do with any part of it. They seem to have no fixed habitation but move about from place to place like wild Beasts in search of food." (Yarwood and Knowling 1991:31). The British law system recognised rights of land based on particular principles so that ownership was exposed by the frame of land to mark boundaries, the building of eternal structures and the farming of the land. Intended for Aboriginal people the dispossession and dislocation from their land had overwhelming consequences because for Aboriginal the Land was central to their whole existence. Also, their link with the land, particularly their own country, is of basic significance to their spirituality. When the Aboriginal people were located in missions and reserves, they were not simply disadvantaged of their possessions; they were disadvantaged of their deep spiritual connection with their Ancestral Beings, as they no longer had access to their country and sacred