Aboriginal Society - Complex or Simple?
Yr 9 History
Indigenous Australia: Essay
At the start of the video, Triumph of the Nomads, historian Geoffrey Blainey states that the white man dismissed the Aboriginals as “backward (primitive), and barbaric, and their lifestyle appeared haphazard, when really it has pattern and purpose.”
Explore the Aboriginal culture and their adaption to the harsh Australian environment, evaluating whether they were a primitive or complex society.
Use footnoted historical evidence to support your arguments and include a correctly formatted bibliography.
When European settlers first landed on the shores of what they called terra nullius[1], they almost unknowingly started off a chain reaction that was to prove fatal to the original inhabitants of terra australis[2]. The strange natives and their seemingly outlandish and primitive customs confused the Europeans, who almost from the very beginning began applying unfair and biased judgements to Aboriginal culture, calling them ‘primitive’ and ‘simple’. Without looking at the dictionary, the anthropological definition of ‘simple’ could be something along the lines of: Lacking technology, or lacking higher level cognitive processes to use or make technology. Another meaning could be: A formless society, having no rules or laws to regulate life. When we think of the word ‘complex’, we very likely think of our own civilization. ‘Complex’ might be defined as: A community that utilises and improves modern technology, and has form and orderliness. However, when we consult a dictionary, the word “simple” is defined as: Lacking sophistication; belonging or referring to a people who do not use or rely on complex technologies. The word “complex” is defined as: Multifaceted, a whole made up of complicated, intricate and interrelated parts.[3] If we accept these definitions as being true, then the Indigenous society fits into the latter category perfectly, rather than the former, and is by no means primitive or simple, but in
Indigenous Australia: Essay
At the start of the video, Triumph of the Nomads, historian Geoffrey Blainey states that the white man dismissed the Aboriginals as “backward (primitive), and barbaric, and their lifestyle appeared haphazard, when really it has pattern and purpose.”
Explore the Aboriginal culture and their adaption to the harsh Australian environment, evaluating whether they were a primitive or complex society.
Use footnoted historical evidence to support your arguments and include a correctly formatted bibliography.
When European settlers first landed on the shores of what they called terra nullius[1], they almost unknowingly started off a chain reaction that was to prove fatal to the original inhabitants of terra australis[2]. The strange natives and their seemingly outlandish and primitive customs confused the Europeans, who almost from the very beginning began applying unfair and biased judgements to Aboriginal culture, calling them ‘primitive’ and ‘simple’. Without looking at the dictionary, the anthropological definition of ‘simple’ could be something along the lines of: Lacking technology, or lacking higher level cognitive processes to use or make technology. Another meaning could be: A formless society, having no rules or laws to regulate life. When we think of the word ‘complex’, we very likely think of our own civilization. ‘Complex’ might be defined as: A community that utilises and improves modern technology, and has form and orderliness. However, when we consult a dictionary, the word “simple” is defined as: Lacking sophistication; belonging or referring to a people who do not use or rely on complex technologies. The word “complex” is defined as: Multifaceted, a whole made up of complicated, intricate and interrelated parts.[3] If we accept these definitions as being true, then the Indigenous society fits into the latter category perfectly, rather than the former, and is by no means primitive or simple, but in