Comparison of Australian Aborigine with the American Indian

There is a parallel between the American Indian and the Aborigine's who live in Australia. If you take a look at the two cultures, you will see that they both have had very similar backgrounds and could be compared in more ways than one. Both sets of people inhabited their land before anyone else and both have been pushed back further and further by others who invaded their land and took it over. There are different tribes of the American Indian as well as the Aboriginal people of Australia. You could, in fact, place the two people side by side and there would be a long list of the likenesses that they share with each other.

The "original" people who inhabited both of these lands were people who had a certain set of beliefs and standards. The American Indian, for example, were a relatively peaceful people until the Europeans entered the land and began to rape, pillage and murder their people. Anyone pushed long and hard enough will begin to fight back. The American Indian did begin to fight back, but it was of little consequence for them in the end because they didn't have the weapons to fight against the guns of the white man. They say all is fair in love and war, but this was definitely not a fair war. The Indian people were minding their own business when all of a sudden, they found that had to fight just to stay alive.

There is an article on ThinkQuest.com about the Aborigines of Australia that describes much the same type of thing happening to them when the Europeans. The Europeans entered the land and found that there were already people living there. When they decided they wanted to stay there, an all out war began for the land. The Aborigines weren't any happier about the Europeans than the American Indian was. The English people brought in strange animals that were foreign to the area at the time to include sheep and cattle that made a mess for the watering holes that the Aborigines depended on. On top of that, new diseases were introduced that the Aborigines weren't accustomed to. For instance, they began to get smallpox, influenza and whooping cough to name a few. It is no wonder the Aborigines would get just a little bit upset by these facts.

There is a definite parallel between the way the Europeans treated the American Indian (Native American) and the Australian Aborigines. Both were peaceful and living their life according to their beliefs. Both were treated horribly by the European settlers that invaded their land. Both Aborigines and Native Americans were forced off their land by the European people and both fought hard battles to try to keep their land intact.

Throughout history, the "white" man has made a mess of the lives of the original inhabitants of these two lands. The animals that they relied on became near extinct and in some cases became extinct. Both sets of "original" people were forced into certain areas where they have lived in conditions of third world countries. Though some of this may have been by choice rather than to give up, much of it is because the European people saw themselves as a better people and therefore forced their ways onto these tribes of people who were only trying to live their life without interference.

The Aborigines of Australia and the American Indian could be one in the same if you compare notes on the two. They both still struggle with their rights to their land that they lived on long before anyone else came along. These two countries are full of wealth and prosperity. The United States and Australia are both countries that have had an amazing amount of success throughout their histories. The truth is, though, that the original people who lived in these lands have paid the price for the things that the settlers have gained from being in these countries. The price of our freedoms can be high and in the cases of Australia and the United States, the Aborigines and the American Indian have paid the highest price of all. The comparison between the Aborigines and the American Indian are undeniable. The land was taken away from them and then we gave them a little, bitty portion of that back. The Aborigines and the American Indian often live in wretched conditions and little is done to correct the problems that they are having while they struggle to survive without the natural resources they once had to survive on. There are still ill feelings between these groups of people and the English with whom they are forced to live with. Our culture, the "white" man and the other cultures that live among us (American Indian and Australian Aborigines) can't seem to come together because of the past and present issues that still exist today. Is there a way for all of our cultures to truly come together? There is, but it will still be a long time before that is ever realized. Until then, we just have to keep working towards that goal to see that it does eventually happen.