Outdoor and Environmental Studies

Unit 3

3.1.3
Non Indigenous
relationships with
Australian
environments

Key points
Arrived in 1788 from a continent that had
seen nature controlled for centuries. Europe
had high rainfall, predictable seasons and
fertile soils
Believed that god had created the world for
humans to use and control

Key points
Contempt all things British were superior
Australian trees, landscapes, animals were
harsh, ugly, strange and inferior and thus
replaced with British species and landscapes.
Harnessed natural resources without restraint
causing huge impacts such as deforestation,
animal extinction and pollution.

The First Settlers

The first fleet sailed into Australia in 1788,
landing in Botany Bay, Sydney. At first they
found this land somewhat strange, after
sighting kangaroos and koalas. They met with
some aborigines who seemed to object to their
arrival, however they were quickly scattered
with their fire-sticks (muskets).

The First Settlers

The most immediate
consequence of British
settlement within weeks of
the first colonists' arrival
was a wave of European
epidemic diseases such as
chickenpox,
smallpox,
The
arrival of the
First Fleet in 1788 not only brought
influenza
andlifestyles
measles.
new
people and
to Australia but also new
diseases. These diseases had a hugely negative effect
on Australia's Indigenous population, as they were not
even able to resist a common cold. Because they had
never been exposed to these diseases before, the
consequences were often deadly.

The First Settlers

The second consequence of British settlement
was appropriation of land and water
resources. The settlers took the view that
Indigenous Australians were nomads with no
concept of land ownership, who could be
driven off land wanted for farming or grazing
and who would be just as happy somewhere
else.
In fact the loss of traditional lands, food
sources and water resources was usually
fatal, particularly to communities already
weakened by disease.

First contact in the

Grampians
It is likely the Djab wurrung were well aware of
Europeans from their communications with coastal
tribes. Their first explicit contact was with Major Thomas
Mitchell exploring western Victoria in September 1836
when he surprised two women and their children near
Mount Cole. Two years later, in 1838, the squatters with
their sheep started settling in Djab wurrung country.
European Settlement from 1836 was marked by
resistance to the invasion often by driving off or stealing
sheep which then resulted in conflict and sometimes a
massacre of aboriginal people. From 1840 to 1859 there
were reports of 35 massacres and killings of Djab
wurrung people, most occurring before the end of 1842.
Very few of these reports were acted upon to bring the
settlers to court

The First Settlers

Had those Aborigines known what their future
would hold, they may have put up a more
substantial fight. Within 100 years their
population would dwindle from approximately 4
million to less than 200 thousand, through
murderous slaughter and introduced disease.

Continuing impacts on
Indigenous Australians

Settlers also brought alcohol, opium and tobacco,

and substance abuse has remained a chronic
problem for Indigenous communities ever since.
The combination of disease, loss of land and
direct violence reduced the Aboriginal population
by an estimated 90% between 1788 and 1900.
Entire communities in the moderately fertile
southern part of the continent simply vanished
without trace, often before European settlers
arrived or recorded their existence.

Perceptions
Most of the first settlers were convicts who
longed to return to England. They were
unsure if they would survive in this
desperate and hard place. They believed
the land was now owned, by them!

Perceptions
However they saw Australia as a threat that
had to be defeated, they wanted to tame this
wild land and turn in into Ye-old England
There was still fear of the unknown so many
decided to change rather than understand the
land.

Perceptions
They cared none for the way the
indigenous people looked after the land and
managed it. They wanted to clear land, put
up fences, introduce European animals, and
valued the land only on its commercial
yield (basic agricultural farming etc).
They saw land as an adversary

Interactions and Impacts

Settlers build close to waterways, thus
causing serious water pollution.
Logging forests was necessary to build
houses for Australias increasing population. It
also meant native trees could be replaced
with more familiar English gardens.

Interactions and Impacts

Sheep production was the dominant farming
practice of the day
Sheep are hard hoofed and aggressive
grazers and which in combination with land
clearing caused extensive soil erosion and
loss of quality pasture with deep rooted
perennial grasses disappearing from many
areas.
This was just one of the many introduced
species..

Interactions and Impacts

Settlers introduced many foreign species of
animal and plants such as rabbits, foxes, pigs
prickly pear, blackberries etc, most often for
food and sport.

Research one introduced/feral plant and animal

species. (refer to worksheet)

Perceptions

Own the land

Fear of this new
and harsh and
distant and
different place
seasons, weather,
local inhabitants
Some saw the land
as an opportunity
to start fresh, make
a fortune, build a
family, get away
from struggle in
other places
No one owned the
land Terra Nullius.
(Controversy over
this term.)
New land was to be

Practices and
Interactions
Colonisation
usually meant
bringing most
things with you
settlers struggled
to live off the land
as the Aboriginal
people did
Development of
towns and first
cities mostly near
the coast. Why?
Exploration of land
for farms and
treasure and
adventure
Introduction of
many species.
Animals for

Impacts

Initially small due

to numbers but
began an approach
to treating the land
that would create
larger effects as
the population
grew
Reduced use of
fires meant heavy
undergrowth
Clearing of forests
for farming and
construction
Impacts of
introduced species