Reflection Writing Assignment Help for Socio-cultural Factors that influence Views of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
Question
Task:
Reflect On The Social And Cultural Factors Which Have Shaped Your Views Of Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander People
ASSESSMENT 1: Reflective assignment writing Consider influences such as mass media and the literature that has shaped your views of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Comparisons of indigenous peoples from other countries may inform your descriptions and discussion of similarity that might be experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Consider the following points when constructing your assignment:
- reflect on how your personal views of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have been shaped;
- Describe family and/or personal history influences on your perceptions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
- them should be no introduction or conclusion;
- the assignment should be written in the first person
- review the marking rubric associated with this assessment item as your marks will be allocated based on rubric criteria.
Answer
Shaping of personal views The contemporary Australian society has been subjected to specific changes regarding health and culture, primarily as a consequence of globalisation. The Consequential enhancement in the cultural diversification in Australia has allowed me to identify a number of practices that are culturally competent regardless of values, beliefs and attitudes. The primary example of such culturally competent practices which I have identified is through the ethnicities prevalent among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. Influenced from the view of Clarke (2015), I acknowledged that the Aboriginal Australians refer their traditional lands as “Country” and are much particular about their identity. Being the original and native inhabitants of Australia, these indigenous communities retain their links to the traditional and spiritual beliefs that were once prevalent. Personally, I believe that as a minority population, they intended to live in an excluded social stratum. However, the Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders had always prolonged their connection to their family or “country” to be specific in a much broader sense. This made me realise the importance and respect that these indigenous communities maintain towards the culture, heritage and ethnicity by participating in every possible areas of contemporary life. For example, In Australia, Aboriginal Labour provided the initial force in development of the pastoral industry in the country (Thorpe, 2017). In this context, I can realise that despite the historic as well as contemporary contribution of the Aboriginal people in shaping economy of Australia, these people continued to remain segregated by the non-indigenous people.
However, alike the Aboriginal people, Torres Strait islanders also created a separate niche of environment by retaining their customary and traditional cultural practices. On the contrary, with the discarding of old cultural practices, they did not hesitate to adopt a new one. Thus, my personal thinking faced a drastic change, when I realised how important culture and ethnicity can be for a particular community to prolong a process of self-actualisation. The context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders can be compared to the similar condition of the Maori people of New Zealand. However, as per the view of Harwood (2015), I acknowledged that the major difference between the Maoris and the indigenous population of Australia is that the former did not compromise with the segregation and continued to fight for their rights till the Treaty of Waitangi was sanctioned. On the contrary, the Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal people possess more sacrificing and compassionate nature with high family values. This helped me in shaping my personal views regarding the respect, one should provide towards their family, culture, heritage and country.
Personal history influence on Strait Islanders and Aboriginal peopleMy awareness and own perspective towards the Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal people was significantly impacted based on the immoral battles that these communities had to face in past for establishment of their identity. As per the view of Bach & Larson (2017), I acknowledged that the Aboriginal individuals were expected to embrace the Western trend of living by giving up their own traditions and cultures. Moreover, an official policy was developed by the Government in 1951 that emphasised on the significance of the policy of aforementioned assimilation (Aph.gov.au, 2017). I was compassionate towards indigenous families, as well as could not control my outrage on acknowledging the fact that the Aboriginal children were subjected to horrific sinful acts. However, the fact that overwhelmed me about these indigenous communities is that in spite of being segregated, they did not intend to give up their hope for a single moment. Their participated nature has inspired me to realise that seclusion is not a sin that is punishable, but an issue that can be rectified in the forthcoming years. Andersen, Edwards & Wolfe (2017) stated that the Torres Strait Islander people were more adhered to the European ideals, where as Aboriginal concepts was more sharing and communal ownership.
I am totally intrigued about the “spirituality belief” of the Aboriginal people which they refer to be “Dreaming”. This also made me realise that the indigenous people possess great respect towards the nature and country despite of being mistreated as well as being secluded in their own land. However, a crucial gap of inequality is present between the health status of the Australian people and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. My personal judgement stated that the socioeconomic disadvantage that is prevalent between the indigenous and non-indigenous people needs to be addressed for increasing the health status. In this case, the indigenous people need to be stringent regarding their equality rights to prolong in the mainstream of the society. I personally believe that the constantly changing lifestyle trends and attitudes of the current globalised world are letting a more convenient life to the indigenous population of Australia.
Reference List Andersen, C., Edwards, A., & Wolfe, B. (2017). Finding Space and Place: Using Narrative and Imagery to Support Successful Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in Enabling Programs. The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education, 46(1), 1-11. Retrieved from https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/australian-journal-of-indigenous-education/article/finding-space-and-place-using-narrative-and-imagery-to-support-successful-outcomes-for-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-people-in-enabling-programs/32EDDBF6C8212A377436DD3EB8D4B4B0
Aph.gov.au. (2017). Overview of Indigenous Affairs: Part 1: 1901 to 1991 – Parliament of Australia. Retrieved on 12 November 2017, from https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_ Library/pubs/BN/1011/IndigenousAffairs1
Bach, T. M., & Larson, B. M. (2017). Speaking About Weeds: Indigenous Elders' Metaphors for Invasive Species and Their Management. Environmental Values, 26(5), 561-581. Retrieved from https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/49360470/Bach.pdfAWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y5 3UL3A&Expires=1520928162&Signature=%2FAzbl0ytnJBnzo%2FBUfsJKrIE%2B30%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DSpeaking_about_weeds_Indigenous_elders_m.pdf
Clarke, P. A. (2015). The Aboriginal ethnobotany of the South East of South Australia region. Part 1: seasonal life and material culture. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia, 139(2), 216-246. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Philip_Clarke8/publication/280580373_The_Aboriginal_ethnobotany_of_the_ South_East_of_South_Australia_region_Part_1_seasonal_life_and_material_culture/links/585b2f4908ae6eb8719 ab12f/The-Aboriginal-ethnobotany-of-the-South-East-of-South-Australia-region-Part-1-seasonal-life-and-material-culture.pdf
Harwood, A. (2015). Horis, neffs and aunties: Social media, language and identity for young M?ori in Australia. Crossings: Journal of Migration & Culture, 6(1), 7-21. Retrieved from http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/intellect/cjmc/2015/00000006/00000001/art00002
Thorpe, N. (2017). Labor to establish national caucus to increase Indigenous representation. NITV. [online] Retrieved 23 November 2017, from https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/nitv-news/article/2017/02/20/labor-establish-national-caucus-increase-indigenous-representation
