Indigenous art, culture and design

GREAT EXPLORERS

Christopher Allen

(In the weekend Australian, August 27-28 2011)

What I found very intriguing in this article was the talk about who is better off in life. The natives, whilst not forward in the ages, having such spirituality and clean morals, or the modern westerner, who has the luxuries of life and the land they desire.

“I am as free as nature first made man,

Ere the base laws of servitude began,

When wild in woods the noble savage ran”

The Conquest of Granada (Dryden 1670)

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Essay 1753

Discours sur les sciences et les arts

Rousseau “denied that progress in the arts and sciences had made civilised peoples morally better than primitive ones. On the contrary, moderns were more likely to be enfeebled and corrupted by their physical and social environment.”

Quote by Cook (I think)

“The Natives of New Holland in a Tranquillity which is not disturb’d by the Inequality of Condition: the Earth and sea of their own accord furnish them with all things necessary for Life”.

Article Quote

“It became widely assumed, even by sympathetic observers, that the Aborigines were a race doomed to extinction”

I found the article quite interesting. I didn't pay much attention to the talk of art pieces in it, but more to the small quotes and poems listed above. I don't understand how as caucasians in this country, that we have made ourselves seem better off than the Indigenous. 

From teachings and conversations and news stories throughout my life, all I have really been shown of the Indigenous culture is the bad things. Like the poorest families, the petrol sniffing, and the unfortunate parts of their lives. It is so hypocritical of us, as people who have come onto this land, to be so oblivious to the fact that our culture is the same, if even worse. Its only because the Indigenous have become the minority that they have been put in the publics eyes in such a way. Yes, it is true that some of the lifestyle choices are not good and should be fixed, but I don't agree with the fact that they have been shown to so many people in such a negative light when our culture is exactly the same.

I wish that when I was learning about their culture, that our lessons had been more of a celebration of their history and beautiful culture, rather than the problems that need to be fixed. I think that is why i am enjoying this course, because I am finally getting the opportunity to begin to appreciate, rather than to be concerned.