After decades of fighting with White Australians, Indigenous Australians were beginning to be considered as true equals as the national referendum in 1967 recorded that 91 per cent of Australians voted ‘Yes’ for new laws to be created involving Aboriginal rights. In 1972 these land rights began to be upheld and Aborigines began to get their land back. As well as returning traditional land back to the rightful owners, some of the rights included removing areas that were seen to have valid complaints in order to keep social peace and the preservation of the spiritual link of an Aborigine and their land, if possible. In 1995, the Aboriginal flag was put into use and was a symbol of unity, national recognition and identity. This flag symbolized the acceptance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People as the same.
To commemorate the history of the Stolen Generation on the 26th of May Australians celebrate National Sorry Day. This annual event is how people apologize for the mistreatment of the Indigenous population and to raise awareness about this past history and its impact on the Indigenous population today. White Australians opinions on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have changed. They slowly developed an understanding for their way of life and accepted them as part of their society. Although they are finally accepting them, past conflicts and issues that were caused by European settlement as a lasting impact on the Indigenous population. Some traditional areas have not been maintained in times Europeans were in control of them so they are still mending back to their original state. Another lasting impact, is the Indigenous population. If it wasn’t for European settlement, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people would have a dramatically higher population to what it is now. It would be closer or even higher to what it was before European settlement, but because of past issues the population is significantly lower. Positively, the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders has ascended. |