1971 School Magazine

g g

* & & z

civilize the aborigines, but also individuals. For instance, in I854, a farmer of Mount Gambier established a private school and afterwards, a night school. Attempts were made to reform the worst types of natives in a prison on the island of Rottnest off the Western Austraiian coast. The prisoners worked on the prison farms so that they were self supporting. As a reward for good conduct, an original system was introduced. The natives who had behaved admirably for a couple of weeks were allowed to spend weekends on "walkabouts" around the island, hunting and fishing which they enjoyed so much. There were several effects of European settlement on the aborigines but few were for the better. They soon picked up the poor qualities in the whites' society, and many became cadgers of alcohol, opium and tobacco, especially in the towns. In Sydney, Parramatta and Hobart Town, the aborigines were treated as figures of fun, and a popular sport arose. In this, the intoxicated blacks were encouraged to fight and eventually murder each other much to the amusement of the whites. In the country also, the gift of higher civilization worsened the position of the aborigines. The whites embarked on a policy of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth if the natives harmed them or their property in any way. Seldom was there any sympathy for the natives, especially in law courts. Even if it were obvious that a white man had committed an offence against a black, white juries refused to convict him. The aborigines did benefit from the Europeans in that their primitive way of life was gradually improved, but they did not blend in with the white population as the early governors had hoped. Many were cured of diseases by the whites' medicines, but others experienced new vtuses, previously unknown, and often even measles proved fatal to the aborigines. On the whole, the gift of higher civilization degraded the aborigines and the tribes quickly decreased in numbers. In 1804, there were well over three thousand natives living in Tasmania, but in 1830, only three hundred remained. "If the early European settlers had accepted the fact that the aborigines were already in possession of a complex social system evolved over numerous generations, the history of the relationship between the whites and the aborigines might have been different . . ."* As I have already described, it was a bitter and involved relationship, but it is a significant part of our Australian history.

them, including corroborees were to be abolished, no armed natives were to come within a radius of one mile of a white's settlement and settlers had the right to fire on natives if they did not leave a property when requested. In 1837, a Special Committee was organized to consider the position of aborigines in Australia. The members pointed out that the aborigines were the original owners of Australia and yet they were given no compensation for losing their territory, while the whites were paying the Colonial Governments for it. They also decided that protectors should be assigned by the government to understand the language and the customs of the blacks. They thought too that lands should be reserved for the natives on which the young should be educated by missionaries. After this, Lord Glenelg appointed George Robinson as Chief Protector of the Aborigines at Port Phillip. Under him were four missionaries and teachers to assist him in this huge task. From then on, both the British and the Colonial Governments had this policy of betterment on their minds, but neither had the time nor the money to spend on these unfortunate people. Many colonists thought it was useless and costly, for they believed that there could never be peace between the two races. Queen Victoria was known to be concerned about the treatment of the natives, which showed that she was interested in all the races, even the most primitive in her large empire. Many attempts were made in the early l8th century all over Australia to christianize and educate the aborigines by a variety of sympathetic people and churches. In 1815, the first missionary, a Methodist one was sent out from England, thinking it would be well supported. A school was begun later, but like so many others, it was abandoned. Most missionaries opened schools and found the children intelligent, but they did not stay long because of their parents' wandering habits. In 1838, a Lutheran Mission tried to teach as they travelled with the aborigines, but found it too difficult. In 1836, the Methodists reserved an area of sixty-four thousand acres, but the tribes which were brought in soon began to quarrel amongst themselves, so this scheme soon fell through. Around 1840, a system of boarding schools developed, whereby some respectable settlers agreed to train natives in domestic and manual affairs for two years. Many of the attempts to assist the aborigines lasted only a few years, because of the rapid extinction of the blacks and the inability of the missionaries to understand them. It was not only church groups who wanted to

ti t v t ,t: .ai

t t:,

t t ,t. t ,, ? .a;,

xB. Munday & J. Grigsley. "Mainstreams in Australian History".

Bibliography

A CLERGYMAN- "Australia As It Is", Ed. Paul Flesh & Co.,_

Published by Charles E. Tuttle Co. Inc., Tokyo, 1967.

R. M. & C. H. BERNDT- "The First Australians",

Published by Ure Smith Ltd., SYdneY,196?.

Page Thirty-Eight