Throughout the twentieth century and more specifically from 1910 to the 1970s, Aboriginal Australian children were forced to be culturally assimilated with the white community under government policies. These policies were produced following the idea that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children needed to go through a process of assimilation, believing that the individuals would improve if they became part of white society.
Source: Third Sector
Because children were thought to be more easily adaptable to be assimilated, they were taken from their parents and taught to reject their Indigenous heritage and were forced to adopt white culture. Oftentimes these children had their names changed or even forbidden from speaking Indigenous languages. To secure assimilation, many children were adopted by white families or directed to institutions where they were neglected. It is important to note that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children could never see their family ever again from the moment when they were taken by the Australian authorities.
The impact of this treatment is clear:
17.2% of Indigenous children living in Stolen Generations households reported having missed school without permission in the previous year
Children in Stolen Generation families were nearly twice as likely to report having been “treated unfairly” at school because they were Indigenous
26% of Indigenous children living in Stolen Generations households rated their health as poor
They were 1.8 times as likely to have experienced stress in the previous 12 months
And also 60% less likely to live in a home owned by a household member.
Not only this but the children who were taken were subjected to psychological, physical and sexual abuse. Many lived in state-owned institutions where they were severely punished and were many times left to horrible living conditions, from cold to hunger, not to refer to the complete lack of affection. The level of education was very low since these children were expected to be manual labourers or domestic servers, which greatly impacted their future and the future of the generation that comes after them.
One of the most worrying consequences is the high suicide rates seen among Indigenous people. It is important to note that suicide was an unknown concept in Indigenous Australian before European settlement. The numbers speak for themselves:
95% of Aboriginal Australians were affected by a suicide.
The likelihood that Aboriginal people commit suicide is six times higher compared to non-Aboriginal people.
75% of child suicide between 2007 and 2011 was attributed to Aboriginal children.
However, the Stolen Generation is an intergenerational issue not only to the parents who saw their children being stolen or to the children that were stolen, but as well to further generations. Descendants of the Stolen Generation usually cannot embrace their Inidigenous culture since their parents were also not raised within their culture. It is pointed out that since the children who were stolen under these government policies were deprived of a healthy family environment and prevented from learning parenting skills, this often results in their children being raised in state care. This evolved into what some call the “new stolen generation”.
Since 1980, the Australian government has created programmes to reverse the consequences of previous policies and arranged Stolen Generation children to find their family. Financial compensation was also issued, but to this day the results of the process of assimilation are still visible.
Nowadays, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were victims of forced cultural assimilation are still suffering the effects, from their loss of identity to the trauma that still persists. To this day, these Indiginous people still experience great disadvantages compared to non-Indigenous people. It is still a topic as relevant now as it was 50 years ago and one that be should be known so as to prevent further discrimination, loss of living conditions and suicide rates.
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