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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
(Regarding Domestic Violence and Indigenous Peoples)
by Margaret Haylock

Margaret Haylock is a decendant of the Mandandanji Tribe from the Marona area in Southern Queensland, Australia.  She works with the Women's Justice Network, which uses videoconferencing (among other forms of communication) to assist battered women.  Margaret is moderating on the Brisbane side of the videoconference. 
 

Indigenous people lived in tribes organised by systems based on well-defined rules of marriage, behavior and interaction.  Elders and traditional healers held positions of authority in the kin and land based groups, fulfilled the functions of teachers, judges, spiritual leaders, and played a major role in determining the type of behavior that was correct and permissible.

Violence against women and children was practically unknown in traditional Aboriginal society.  Men and women shared the food hunting and gathering roles and had equal social and economic importance within their tribes.  Acts of violence against women received severe punishment and condemnation.

The arrival of the white settlers brought levels of violence which were not known by the indigenous tribes.  Many Aboriginal people were massacred or driven off their land by means of poisoning and rape, and many died from the white man's diseases.  Also, the white man brought alcohol, in the form of rum.  The consequences of the introduction of colonial policies, white man's justice, and alcohol, are still being dealt with today.  From the outset, alcohol was part of the colony's economy, and was used to (supposedly) make life easier by the oppressed and traumatized, by Aboriginals, and by convicts and settlers, in the 18th century.  Alcohol was used to pay for labour, and to lure people into assimilation.  Indigenous women were encouraged to consume alcohol, which was used by white men to barter for sex.  Young boys and girls were fed alcohol and used for sexual gratification.  The horror of it all was that when they were of no more use, poison was put into bags of flour which were then given to the Aboriginals.

Land and people were lost, and cultural values and customs were forcefully removed.  Aboriginal people were denied access to traditional languages, their land and customs, and were forced into missions and reserves.  Their traditional ways were ridiculed by the white man's system, and their way of life destroyed by racist policies and white religion.  People who practiced traditional ceremonies or told Dreamtime stories were severely punished by Church representatives.

Members of Aboriginal tribes were linked to spirituality and land, and had deep connections to their birthplaces and to sacred sites, carrying out rituals and obligations to protect these places.  Men, women, families, and extended family members provided support for one another, guided by the values and teachings of the elders and the lore.  They socialized children into their place in the kinship system and provided them with a holistic education about life, health, survival, and responsibilities to family and kin. 

Large numbers of Aboriginal people were taken against their will to government-owned or controlled reserves in the late nineteenth century.  Many were taken a long way from their birthplace, so that they lost contact not only with their ancestral lands, but also with kin, and their customs and traditions. 

Government policies saw generations of children stolen from their families and forced to adopt completely alien attitudes and environments.  The effects of this practise on both the children and their families have been devastating and in some cases have led to identity problems, difficulties in forming relationships, and dysfunctional parenting skills.  Those families which have lost children have not only suffered intense pain and anguish, but have also learned to not trust government authorities, policies and workers

These factors, along with other discriminatory policies and practices, led to the disintegration of social and family structures, and the disintegration of women's social positions within many Aboriginal communities.

This is not to say that domestic violence amongst the Aboriginal communities has been wholly caused by white colonisation, or that Aboriginal people themselves hold no responsibility for acts of violence against women, but simply that sexism and resulting violence were not a major part of Aboriginal life before 1788; that the disintegration of Aboriginal life that has happened so rapidly and so violently since then has to some degree been the result of racist philosophies; and that Aboriginal communities today have a level of acceptance of domestic violence which may not be acceptable in other communities.

There are so many destructive factors affecting Aboriginal peoples' lives that domestic violence is accepted as just another one.  Many community women do not know their rights, or that they have a right to help.  Aboriginal people have been denied access to information, and communities are isolated in ways which hinder knowledge of rights and responsibilities.  The women are unaware that they have options and that violent behaviour is unacceptable, and the men are unaware of the serious consequences of their actions. 

Most Aboriginal people today have either been directly involved, or have a close relationship with someone who is involved.  A number of the Elders said that they had not experienced domestic violence in their youth but were aware of its presence now.  "Black-fella love" is a common term and in itself signifies the level at which domestic violence is accepted in the communities.

Aboriginal people generally have been profoundly affected by the erosion of their culture and spiritual identity, and the disintegration of family and community, that has traditionally sustained relationship and obligations and maintain social order and control.  Colonisation and dispossession have been indentified as being central to the current alcohol and drug abuse, violence and dysfunction witnessed in Aboriginal communities.

Some Aboriginal people were able to escape the past, whole families and communities are now fighting to address the consequences.  Appalling acts of physical brutality and sexual violence are being perpetrated within some families and across communities to a degree previously unknown in Aboriginal life and sadly many of the victims are women and children, young and older people are living in a constant state of desperation and despair.

There are few services available in communities to deal with these critical situations.  Many Aboriginal people carry unresolved trauma and grief from both historical and contemporary experiences.  There are inadequate counseling services available in a majority of communities.  This situation not only compounds the stress experienced by the individuals but also exacerbates the likelihood of violence because of the limited services available to assist people with alcohol and substance addictions or to deal with their traumas.  The feeling in many communities is now one of continuing fear from which there is no escape, due to isolation, poverty, and lack of public transport (private vehicles are primarily nonexistent).

The level of severity of much crime has increased; violence is now overt.  Murders, bashing and rapes, including sexual violence against children, have reached epidemic proportions with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people being perpetrators.

Indigenous youth are said to feel undervalued, lost, disillusioned, with many now living without hope.  Aboriginal people, both young and old, are continually going through "sorry business" with death, which is becoming an all too frequent presence in their lives.  The Indigenous youth of today are already into a cycle of alcohol, drugs and substance abuse, and on the whole family life is disintegrating.  Grandmothers are often burdened with looking after grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

The loss of culture and the changing attitudes of the young people towards traditional practices concern the Elders and some fear that important customs will cease due to peer pressure and western youth culture.  As one wise old Elder has stated, "The old people have closed their mouths and the young people have closed their ears."

One of the saddest things is people's lack of closeness to the land.  Even though many people can claim land on historical grounds, on some levels it is not theirs because of the forced removals and the lengthy separation from the land.  People are suffering multigenerational grief, and can't verbalise it but deep in their being they are crying for all of their losses -- loss of their country, respect for their Elders, their own language, laws and spirituality.