Contact History
The history of white contact with Aboriginals has
been one of European invasion, genocide, theft
of land, rape, torture, removal of children from
parents, destruction of livelihood and severe
impact on culture, law, religion, society and
government.
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
1.2
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
The colonisation of Australia in 1788 and
onwards was based on the false premise of
Terra Nullius or empty land. Yet in Captain
Cook’s and many other explorer’s records and
diaries there are numerous confirmations of
sightings of Aboriginal people and in fact
Cook’s diaries record him actually stepping
onto mainland Australia in North Queensland
and bartering with Aboriginal people.
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
So, during a period of undeclared war, nonAboriginal claims to land nearly always overrode
the Aboriginals’ right to life.2 Aboriginal people
were seen as a “doomed” race, destined to
disappear in the face of the superior white
civilisation.3 This “doomed” race concept was
part of the “smooth the dying pillow”
philosophy. Massacres, poisoning of flour and
waterholes and the banishment of Aboriginal
people from traditional sources of food and
water were used by pastoralists and others to
‘disperse’ Aboriginal groups.
○
○
○
○
○
It might take 30 - 40 years for a man or woman
to work through a full series of initiations,
during which they would go through the bora
ring a number of times. As women have their
own ceremonies, there is distinctly men’s
business and women’s business.
○
○
○
Elders, both men and women, who had been
through the initiation process and learned the
sacred knowledge were the ones who jointly
made decisions for the welfare of the secret and
sacred sites and the ceremonies linked to them
and each clan. Those responsible for the
ceremonies were accountable to the whole clan
for their correct performance at the right place
and time as negligence could cause great harm or
bring “bad luck” to their people.
○
○
○
Family groups or clans were either patriarchal or
matriarchal and individual membership or
“belonging to” were determined by these factors.
Men and women could not marry into the same
clan and each clan’s area contains a number of
sites of spiritual and sacred significance. Clans
and particular individuals had responsibility for
these places. They had to care for these sites,
keep unauthorised visitors away and perform a
range of ceremonies. One such ritual brings back
the ancestral beings or powers which, when
released, renew the land and all life in it.
○
Aboriginal history continued
○
1
Rowley C. D., The Destruction of Aboriginal Society, Vol. 1,
(p.154) Aboriginal Policy and Practice, ANU Press, Canberra,
1970.
3
Loos, N., Aboriginal-European Relations in North Queensland
1861-1897. (p.456) Ph.D. Thesis, James Cook University,
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
○
2
Townsville, 1976.
10
D e p a r t m e n t o f A b o r i g i n a l and T o r r e s S t r a i t I s l a n d e r P o l i c y a n d D e v e l o p m e n t