Fundamental Requirement

1 Running head: CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY CULTURAL ANTHROPOL OGY Student’s name: Institution affiliation: Professor: Due date: 2 Running head: CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY Introduction The Aboriginal and Torres islanders are the indigenous communities living in Australia. These communities have faced some social injustices and subjection s in the past; this made them develop psychological and mental health problems (Purdie, N., Dudgeon, P., & Walker, R. (2019). The government ha s started to analyses the causes of th is problem. Racial discrimination and colonization w ere some key aspects that resulted in these mental conditions. This article will reflect on the key event and the impac t they caused on these communities. Some interesting and informative review s that will be explained in this literature will help reduce the effects of the events. Interventions and also what the government will do to minimiz e the reoccurrence of these event s will be stated. Cultural and beliefs value s must be appreciated in th is country , and hence there will be unity among the citizens de spite different backgrounds. The Aboriginal and strait Torres islanders history The Aboriginals and Torres islanders are indigenous group s in Australia, and these communities are culturally connected. Aboriginals have deep roots in their culture ; new them es and adaptations are becoming significant as they address them to abandon their traditions. These communities were hunter and gatherers in the past , and thus , adapting to the new tradition becomes very difficult and , hence, face social, emotional, and me ntal wellbeing. The communities live in small groups , and each family has systematically drawn boundaries. In both communities , land has been a fundamental requirement, and the change of l egal land ownership by the British colonizers has affected them both mentally and socially. During colonization , these communities were moved to reserves and other deserted land s. These were effects of colonization , and these communities faced displacement , and they were not able to do what they culturally and traditionally past taught them. When settling in the lands that they were displaced 3 Running head: CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY to, these communities faced health, social, and emotional , and mental effects before they co uld cope in the new envir onment ( Das, Kini, Garg, & Parker, 2018). Key events overview effects Colonization took place in the early 1800s in these communities ( Bnads, Orr, & Clements. (2021). The European settlers claimed their land for economic purposes. Colonization caused a full war between the European and these communities, and this was because they needed land to do their livestock rearing. This caused the massacre of women and children during the battle period. The European s introduced biological weapons by distributing i nfected food relieves to the communities , and thus the y started suffering from smallpox, measles, and influenza; this affected people with less immunity. Some of the aboriginal community members became social and friendly to the British colonizers and star ted to adapt to new life ways . Members of these communities became fringe dwellers to the British settlers due to the disruption of their traditional lives. After colonization , a high percentage of aboriginal members adapted to colonial lives and started a new life. When adapting to the new mode of life by these communities, it became hard for them to be accepted , and they were highly affected mentally, socially , and emotionally. This was evident when they were being converted to Christianity from a traditi onalist ( Morseu -Diop et al ., 2021). Racism in these communities w as evident during colonization and up to date ( Markwick et al ., 2019). This rejection of people from these groups as the colonialist was brutal, violent, and hostile due to superiority over the community. Racism w as divided into three levels, institutional, individual, and cultural racism. These communities were subjected to racial segregation due to their cultural practices and how they portrayed themselves in the eyes of colonizers. R acism mad e the m more disadvantaged when accessing legal, educational, and 4 Running head: CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY religious services. Adaptation became hard for them when trying to live a westernized life. This made the community members lower their self -esteem and develop a mistrust of the domi nating culture. Repeated racism also affected a person 's behavior and contributed to some psychological feeling s for people of color. Despite these changes due to events that occurred in the past for aboriginal and Torres islanders, these communities were facing challenging moments while interacting with other people in the society and event s in these recent days. These were done partially due to their strict cultur al values that c ould not be changed completely ( Moodie, N. , Maxwell, J., & Rudolph, S. (2019). Impacts of the key events on the health of these communities Colonization and racial segregation caused many effects that were evident in the years. The Aboriginal and Torres islanders become more disadvantaged communi ties in Australia , and they experienced po or health outcomes than others ( Socha, 2021). Due to the biological fighting strategies used by the Europeans, aboriginal and Torres islanders were affected by these diseases; the mo rtality level increased, lowers their immune system , and thus , getting health problem s became common. The aboriginal and Torres islander 's mortality rate is twice compared to non - aboriginals , especially in children less than five years. Due to historical occurrences, their life expectanc y ha s to reduce compared to other communities in Australia. Both aboriginals and Torres islanders have experienced physiological torture and distress. Due to racial segregation , these communities cannot get quality medical care and attention, and their hea lth worsens . The lands that they were displaced to have never been suitable for farming , and thus , these communities face malnutrition due to lack of proper diets and those who get it, and it is minimal. Due to devastation , many members of these communities face suicidal thought s and other psychological conditions. These communities' mental health and emotional wellbeing of these 5 Running head: CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY communities have worsen ed , this is due to the hardness of life , and they start abusing substance s. Addiction to these drugs ha s affected their mode of thinking , and many are hospitalized due to their menta l disorder and behaviors ( Dudgeon, Watson, & Holland, 2017). Interesting historical events There are interesting things in this article; their his tory and being part of the community. Being an aboriginal is more about carrying the identity and belonging to the community. This is interpreted by their geographical, social , and political places. The most interesting thing about aboriginals is that they identify themselves as the ideal part of the community , giving them more strength and unity. It is also a national concept that they are perceived as part of the community bec ause of togetherness that is not associated with different groups or any geographical location but with everyone in the community. Aboriginal s have created a community with significant meaning , as membership still needs aboriginal de scent. For aboriginal , they bring unity as they have a belief that believes in responsibility and obligations that strengthens the membership. The best definition of aboriginal identity is that aboriginal is not about color or a skin percentage or any person who ha s an aborigina l bloodline, but a person who is ready for unity and justice to all members of the society. The i nteresting history of Torres islanders is that th ese people competed for resources and would walk over a long distance for trading. They had close relationshi ps with other communities , which was strengthened by trade. Their leading economy was characterized by subsistence farming and fishing. They had a well introduced communal life that revolved around hunting, trading , and gardening. They traded weapons and other art ifacts to othe r communities around the shores ( McNiven, 2018). 6 Running head: CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY Interesting ly, this community was made up of warriors, farmers , and sailors who could navigate natural occurrences and start for direction. Thei r land could produce high -quality crops, provide food for themselves, and trade with other communities. Their primary sou rce of food was garden output and fishing. The best part of aboriginals and Torres islanders is that they faced colonization , but their unity was still firm , and thus they were ready to fight for their rights. Their source of income was interfered with , but they didn 't lose hope and fought for justice and recognition in society. They had mixed opinions about joining Christianity , but the high percentage still had to continue with their culture. They faced destruction during colonization, but they still had to fight their way through and still succeeded. This succession was through unity and guerrilla war tactics on the battlefiel ds , and thus , they gained their independen ce (Li, 2017). Reactions to the historical events My mind was broadened by th e fact s and history of aboriginals and Torres islanders. These people portrayed a sense of unity and equal right for all. In modern society , they live in a divisive way ; every person ha s to fight for their place in society, which makes it hard for people with different ideas to be neglected. Before colonization , these people were good trader s; they used farming and artifacts in trad ing ( Williams et al ., 2020). What amused me was that the Torres islanders used to navigate using natural occurrences to find their direction in the seas. It was so emotional that these people were racially segrega ted , and th ey didn 't receive the best quality in everything during the colonization period. If the current society that we live in can portray the strength of belonging and accept other individuals as part of them , it could be very beneficial in achieving their goals. A s ense of belonging in the communities was highly 7 Running head: CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY appreciated ; high numbers were not ready to adapt and assimilate into a new culture . They valued their beliefs and were not ready to change ( Butler et al., 2019). Concern about these communities wellbeing There are some arising questions when reading this chapter, and these communities were racially discriminated against during the period and still during this era. W hat actions does the government take in reducing this racial discrimination?. Torres and aboriginals value their cultures and beliefs in togetherness ; how can the government strengthen people 's culture and a sense of belonging? When these communities were being displaced during colonization , their lands were taken away from them . T hey were left devastated ; after independence , did the government reallocate the communities in their original lands? (Hartwig, Jackson, & Osborne, 2020). The government need s to reduce racial discrimination in this era ; they need to spread the sense of unity and equal right to all the Australian communities. The Australian government also needs to appreciate and celebrate cultural diversity in all socie ties , making other peopl e recognize and understand their culture and beliefs. Policy formulation to return grabbed lands during the colonization period must be commenced. This will solve some of the lands dispute that could be arising in the communities (Macniven et al . 2019) . Conclusion The life eve nts that took place in aboriginals and Torres islanders have impacted their lives in a very negative way. Racial discrimination and colonization are some of the significant things that happened . These communities have suffered social , cultural, and mental health problems due to the torture they had gone through during this period. Unity and strength are the 8 Running head: CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY core values that these communit ies have in every aspect of living in peace. They value their culture , and thus , it is difficult for them to assimilate or adapt to a new culture. 9 Running head: CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY References Bnads, H., Orr, E., & Clements, C. J. (2021). Improving the service to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders through innovative practices between Aboriginal hospital liaison officers and social workers in hospitals in Victoria, Australia. The British Journal of Social Work , 51 (1), 77 -95. Butler, T. L., Anderson, K., Garvey, G., Cunningham, J., Ratcliffe, J., Tong, A., ...& Howard, K. (2019). Aboriginal and Tor res Strait Islander people's domains of wellbeing: A comprehensive literature review. Social science & medicine , 233 , 138 -157. 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