Over the centuries when the Europeans came upon the Aboriginal land here, the Quandamooka people showed kindness by helping shipwrecked crew members, providing them with accommodation water and food, teaching them how to fish and even help build canoes to help them on their travels. However, conflict was inevitable it would seem, with more and more of their land being taken over and more and more aboriginal communities being pushed out. By the 1800s, a convict settlement was set up by the Europeans. Tension began to rise slowly over the years after this, as the European’s began to inhabit more and more of the land, and one of the first conflicts broke out when the Europeans set up a cotton plantation at Moongalba, taking over a well-known
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They acknowledge the disadvantages faced by their people; health problems such as asthma and diabetes, crime rates, unemployment levels and poverty, and they believe that the way to overcome these disadvantages is for them to find a balance – a way for them to stay true to their roots, be allowed to practice their traditions so they can maintain and protect their lands, while finding a balance that allows them to fit in with the practices of the general society around them. The Aboriginal elders state in the Quandamooka Aboriginal Community Profile and Action Plan 2007 (Redland City Council, 2007, page 4), ‘We acknowledge that other people live here with us and we are seeking your support to apply the knowledge we have gathered over more than 25,000 years, to the protection and fostering of our traditional land and sea country.’ They believe that by giving their people back responsibilities they had before colonisation, they will find a sense of self-respect and purpose again. (Redland City Council, 2007).
After so many years of oppression, racism and dispossession, it is understandable that Aboriginal families may feel a sense of apprehension or even a lack of trust when it comes to the cultural competence of their child’s early education provider. We as educators need to understand the difficulties faced by the aboriginal communities by getting to know the history of the area, take the time to research,, speak with the community, speak with families, and then discuss this with our peers and supervisors to come up with ways to include activities, events and experienced that include the aboriginal
They acknowledge the disadvantages faced by their people; health problems such as asthma and diabetes, crime rates, unemployment levels and poverty, and they believe that the way to overcome these disadvantages is for them to find a balance – a way for them to stay true to their roots, be allowed to practice their traditions so they can maintain and protect their lands, while finding a balance that allows them to fit in with the practices of the general society around them. The Aboriginal elders state in the Quandamooka Aboriginal Community Profile and Action Plan 2007 (Redland City Council, 2007, page 4), ‘We acknowledge that other people live here with us and we are seeking your support to apply the knowledge we have gathered over more than 25,000 years, to the protection and fostering of our traditional land and sea country.’ They believe that by giving their people back responsibilities they had before colonisation, they will find a sense of self-respect and purpose again. (Redland City Council, 2007).
After so many years of oppression, racism and dispossession, it is understandable that Aboriginal families may feel a sense of apprehension or even a lack of trust when it comes to the cultural competence of their child’s early education provider. We as educators need to understand the difficulties faced by the aboriginal communities by getting to know the history of the area, take the time to research,, speak with the community, speak with families, and then discuss this with our peers and supervisors to come up with ways to include activities, events and experienced that include the aboriginal