Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission Canberra IN ORDER TO FULLY UNDERSTAND THE IMPACT OF EUROPEAN LAWS AND

lifestyle, violence and alcohol, and to gain some idea of how entrenched and misused these influences are in contemporary Aboriginal society, it is necessary to examine the factors leading up to it. It is a sad legacy of history that the Aboriginal people were colonised by a people who considered it their God-given duty to go forth and civilise the heathen, at a time when humanity was at best based on superiority, and at worst, at its lowest point. Aboriginal women have borne the brunt of much of this legacy. Traditionally, women in Aboriginal culture have a status comparable with and equal to men. They have their own ceremonies and sacred knowledge, as well as being custodians of family laws and secrets. They supplied most of the reliable food and had substantial control over its distribution. They were the providers of child and health care and under the kinship system, the woman's or mother's line was essential in determining marriage partners and the moiety (or tribal division) of the children. Consecutive policies and practices have served to undermine that status. While it would not serve any purpose, however, to itemise these in this paper, suffice to sa