Moving Forward Together in Aboriginal Women's Health: - Theses ...

Moving Forward TogetherJanet KellyThe Assimilation Policy of 1951 clearly stated that;All Aborigines shall attain the same manner of living as other Australians,enjoying the same rights and privileges, accepting the same responsibilities,observing the same customs and being influenced by the same beliefs, hopesand loyalties (in Eckermann et al. 2006, p. 26).While this policy had humanitarian intentions, it was based on beliefs thatAboriginal people would benefit from assimilation into Western society, and thatsuch policy intentions could be implemented in society, organisations andgovernments that still held ideals of protection, segregation and inequality. MostAboriginal people had little or no income after being severely underpaid workersfor many years. Having few resources or previous experiences to prepare them forliving in a suburban area, they often stayed with relatives who had been in the citylonger leading to overcrowding and complaints from landlords and other residents.Newcomers were forced to move from one set of relatives to another or one form oftemporary accommodation to another, leading to increased mobility and disruption(Gale 1972).Relocation was very traumatic for many Aboriginal people, especially those whowent from complete segregation to assimilation. One Aboriginal man shared hisexperiences of moving from a reserve to mainstream society, saying;On the mission you’re locked in, you’re afraid to go off. ..When you move off the mission, it takes a long time for people to change theirways. You’ve been locked off from all that information that all the others takefor granted. You continually have to learn new steps; you’ve never got a stableposition.Children have to learn new things. You have to tell your kids to do thingsyou’ve never done yourself. You’re not of that system. You’ve learned one set.Then you have to learn another set. You’ve been brought up like cattle, ringthe bell, means you have to go to bed – you’ve been protected in this littleplace and suddenly you’ve got to go out. You don’t know how to ask people,how to talk to people. You’ve never even been taught the rules of conversation.You’ve been brought up not to talk out of turn. By law you can’t talk to white49