During my time abroad so far in Australia one of my biggest observations has been their acknowledgement of country and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples. Whenever I travel using a plane or before my lectures, the pilot or instructor always says, “I’d like to begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet today, the (people) of the (nation) and pay my respects to Elders past and present.” Acknowledging the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples who lived on this land before colonization. It is extremely important in Australian culture to respect and acknowledge the traditional owners of this land before the colonization and genocide the British brought upon them. There were more than 500 First Nations groups before colonization in 1788, and now only 3% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples make up Austrilian population. The history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples has been excluded from a great part of Australian history, including their generational stories, flags, and anthems and to this day Australia is still working on recovering Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples history and generational trauma.
During my lecture in my Introduction to Aboriginal Studies course, my professor spoke about how he and his brothers were born without birth certificates in the 1970s because the British didn’t feel Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples needed them. Up until the 90s in through primary to high school aboriginal students had to have their hair and gums checked before going back into class after recess because they were perceived and dirty and unsanitary compared to the white students who were allowed to go straight back to class after recess. My professor also noted that if a white parent was uncomfortable with their child being in a class with a aboriginal student, that aboriginal student could be removed from the classroom. It baffles me how these issues were faced by Aboriginal people up until the 1990s and makes me reflect on how our Native American and Indigenous peoples were treated in America, since I feel like I have little to no education about them throughout my high school curriculum.
After learning how important acknowledgement of country and traditional owners is in Australia culture, and how they’re constantly trying to improve the damage done from colonization and genocide, giving maximum support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples, It’s crazy to see America doesn’t do this for any of our Native American tribes. Seeing Australia doing the bare minimum to acknowledge those here before colonization has been so eye opening for me and how America doesn’t care to implement this into our values what so ever makes me extremely sad. Native Americas faced colonization just as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples did, but we give no acknowledgment what so ever of them in America and the reservations that have currently are extremely under funded and have little to no resources for mental or physical health, and Native American women make up the greatest number of missing and murdered women in the United States. After learning the huge culture values differences of the traditional owners of Austrilia compared to America, I want to educate myself more and take courses on Native American tribes when Im back home in America and work towards a change in our values regarding the traditional owners of American lands.