Aborigines and Native Americans

Aborigines and Native Americans

Life expectancy of indigenous people in Australia today, for example, is the same as it was for white Australians a century ago--55. The goals of aboriginal people, some indigenous leaders say, should include land rights and self-determination, and reducing widespread poverty, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse. Finally, many want to improve aborigines' educational achievement. (Maslen, 2000) The problem originates in primary schools: On average, less than half of indigenous students even finish primary school.

Aborigines usually enroll in college later in life than white students, and more than a third must first undertake a year or more of remedial study. Two out of three aboriginal students are women, and they are concentrated in a few key fields: A majority study arts or education. (Maslen, 2000) Although many relative newcomers to Australia have come to appreciate aboriginal spirituality, which holds that each person is inextricably woven together with spirits in the land, racist, negative attitudes sometimes prevail. The drive for reconciliation has sometimes met with accusations that aborigines are draining the economy by depending on welfare.

A lot of bitterness comes up when you're going through school and you're facing all this, you know, stupid things and that, petty racism and teachers, says Barry Raymond, an aborigine from Western Australia. (Maslen, 2000)That thousands of black students are now attending universities is remarkable, many say, given the alienation some feel from a white culture that destroyed their traditional lifestyle and has long ignored them. As Ms. Bourke notes, an aboriginal student in Victoria can go through the entire school system, get a college degree, and undertake no aboriginal studies at all.

On the other side of the continent, at Edith Cowan University, in Perth, aboriginal academics face other challenges. Edith Cowan has one of the largest schools ...