Originally Posted by
DiscoMick
It's not true to say that Aboriginals have 'no traditional idea of land ownership.' They have a very strong idea of land ownership, but they express it differently to us because the tribes were nomadic and moved about, rather than building settlements and farms.
Their traditional lifestyle is also quite different to ours. There are successful stations, but remember that their traditional objective is not to farm like us, but to subsist on the land, so what looks like neglect to us is not neglect to them. There are two quite different concepts of how to manage land, so we can't judge one by the other. They probably think we neglect our land by not following their traditional practices.
Anyway, we can't undo the past invasion, dispossession and decimation, but we sure could get a lot smarter about how to achieve harmony for the future. For example, every time we hear outrage over the serious problems in Aboriginal communities such as drunkenness, violence, abuse etc., remember that they are symptoms of the breakdown of their traditional society caused by our invasion.
The answer isn't to force them to become more like us, but rather to assist them to re-establish positive elements of their traditional lifestyle. It has been done in other places, including New Zealand, so it is possible, but only if we in the dominant society get smarter in our appreciation of what's really involved.
For example, sending in the army or police is not the answer, it's just a repeat of the mistakes of the past. Helping communities to become self-governing and self-regulating would be a step in the right direction. It's certainly very difficult because the situation is such a mess, but it could only help.
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