Aboriginal Australians—have lived on the continent for over 50,000 years. Today, there are 250 distinct language groups spread throughout Australia.

Aboriginal Australians are split into two groups: Aboriginal peoples, who are related to those who already inhabited Australia when Britain began colonizing the island in 1788, and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who descend from residents of the Torres Strait Islands, a group of islands that is part of modern-day Queensland, Australia.

Br*tish settlement :ukkk:

When British settlers began colonizing Australia in 1788, between 750,000 and 1.25 Aboriginal Australians are estimated to have lived there. Soon, epidemics ravaged the island’s indigenous people, and British settlers seized Aboriginal lands.

Though some Aboriginal Australians did resist—up to 20,000 indigenous people died in violent conflict on the colony’s frontiers—most were subjugated by massacres and the impoverishment of their communities as British settlers seized their lands.

The Stolen Generations :aus-delenda-est:

Between 1910 and 1970, government policies of assimilation led to between 10 and 33 percent of Aboriginal Australian children being forcibly removed from their homes. These “Stolen Generations” were put in adoptive families and institutions and forbidden from speaking their native languages. Their names were often changed.

The struggle continues :red-fist:

Today, about three percent of Australia’s population has Aboriginal heritage. Aboriginal Australians still struggle to retain their ancient culture and fight for recognition—and restitution—from the Australian government.

The state of Victoria is currently working toward a first-of-its-kind treaty with its Aboriginal population that would recognize Aboriginal Australians’ sovereignty and include compensation. However, Australia itself has never made such a treaty, making it the only country in the British Commonwealth not to have ratified a treaty with its First Nations peoples.


The State and Revolution

:lenin-shining: :unity: :kropotkin-shining:

The Conquest of Bread

Remember, sort by new you :LIB:

Yesterday’s megathread :sad-boi:

Follow the ChapoChat twitter account :comrade-birdie:

THEORY; it’s good for what ails you (all kinds of tendencies inside!) :RIchard-D-Wolff:

COMMUNITY CALENDAR - AN EXPERIMENT IN PROMOTING USER ORGANIZING EFFORTS :af:

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  • FRIENDLY_BUTTMUNCHER [she/her]
    ·
    3 years ago

    This past summer we had the largest protest movement since the Civil Rights Movement. When Trump got elected we saw the largest protest in American history with the 2017 Women's march. With the exception of a couple of streets getting renamed and a few pink knitted hats getting sold, they accomplished next to nothing. Showing up isn't enough; that's not what accomplishes our goals. What bends the politicians to our wills is marching with tens of thousands of people who will not go back to work unless demands are met.

    Seems to me that class consciousness is lacking more than anything else. With those kinds of numbers we could collectively drag the nation to its knees, but we need to do more than just show up. How do y'all figure we help people make that connection?