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Sugar Slaves: The South Sea Islanders

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Sugar Slaves: The South Sea Islanders
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The South Sea Islanders were faced with many surprising lifestyle alterations however they had a great role which was the contribution they made to Australia. During the 1800s, the South Sea Islanders came to Australia to work on the sugar and cotton plantations. They made significant economic contributions and faced many problems which resulted in a struggle to contribute to society. The long term impacts being deported because of the Immigration Restriction Act (1901) however later on a Recognition Statement (1994) was made to acknowledge the South Sea Islanders contributions.
The South Sea Islanders were referred to as “Sugar Slaves” or “Kanakas” which they didn’t prefer as they felt as if it was disrespectful. They were from several
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They were continually taken from their homes, by force or being misled to become the sugar slaves. The Europeans would even use the culture of the islanders as a way of trickery. South Sea Islanders worked for long hours under extremely harsh conditions while being underpaid on the plantations. The change in environment had a physical effect on them as they were introduced to new diseases, which generally resulted in death because the insignificant health care and no immunity. The new diet also contributed to the tragedy. An excess of 14 564 Islander labours died between the years of 1868-1906 as stated by the Queensland Government Department of Communities. Another issue they faced with was racism. They were lived separately from the Europeans and were ruled out of services that were offered to the …show more content…
Their journey was harsh because of the treatment and labour. Throughout all this they economically contributed an immense amount, especially in agriculture and the development of industries. They faced many difficulties, which included slavery, racism, discrimination and diseases that resulted to death. Because of all the effects they were impacted on their long-term life, deportation playing a major role as going back some were endangered and remaining in Australia had new and repeated challenges. In 1994, the Australian South Sea Islanders community was recognised. This recognition developed the Queensland Government to adopt a formal statement, which shows that they are committed to ensuring equality of opportunity for the present and future generations of Australian South Sea Islanders (Queensland Government Department of Communities,

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