Backbencher

Lecture I History 381 Suzanne Ready
The Background History of Australia and New Zealand
In the first lecture, I learned about the contrasting origins of the natives of Australia and New Zealand. I learned about the climates of the two countries and learned about the regions and how the topography contributed to the lifestyle of the Aborigine tribe and the Maori tribe. I found it interesting the way the two different cultures adapted to or resisted the British/European invasion and settlement. Australia became a permanent settlement to many British convicts, forced from their homeland by an overcrowded and stressed penal system. Many of the British commanders thought to reclaim the this new land as their own, they must reeducate and Christianize the native tribes. The British commanders also set about to colonize the convicts by rewarding them, after adequate time periods, their ownership of land, after years of labor. Working the dry and arid land was quite a challenge.
The Aborigine tribes, and there were many with different dialects, were a unique group, as they lacked a class system, were non-materialistic and had little interest in the trading of possessions. They were a group of equals, with no obvious chief. In contrast, the Maori tribes had more chiefs and a status system, had one common language and were favorable to trade and learning and blending with the Europeans. There was a violent conflict between the Aborigines and the British, as Clark discusses in his book.
Diseases had a resounding and fatal affect on the Aborigines, and yet, diseases did not quite destroy the Maori peoples.
The British were not comfortable with the race of the Aborigines, and their moral decision was justified in their view, as they tried to integrate the young population of Aborigines into the white society, by ruthless and deceptive means. One can view the movie "Rabbit Proof Fences" to better understand this crime against nature that was inflicted upon the Aborigine young.