Ethnocentrism of Colonists

26th of January, 1788 was the date when the British colonizers first faced the aboriginal people of Australia. This contact, however, was far from being a pleasant one for both of the cultures. The reason why is that their views were biased by their ethnocentrism. Of the two culture's ethnocentrism, the British aggravated the contact in a severe way.

On the day that the British first contacted the first Australians, the leader of the settlers, Phillip, wrote that they will be able to take over the land, for there is no owner of it. This was despite the fact that they saw and communicated with the aboriginals. What Phillip wrote implies that from the British perspective, the aboriginal culture was far from being a culture, and therefore, the aboriginals were not worthy enough to own the land. This, then implied that the British thought of the aboriginals far from being humans. However, the aboriginals did have their own culture. For example, the contributors of a society had rankings. Bennelong, as an adult warrior, had authorities over other members of the tribe, just as some of the British had more birthrights over others.

Despite the fact that the aboriginals had culture, the British colonizers, Phillip being a part of them, did not recognize it as a culture, and thought that the aboriginals were nothing more than beasts. This thought was affected heavily by the ethnocentrism of the British. In the perspective of the British, the aboriginals, who were nearly naked, may have seemed quiet unsophisticated. Also, the aboriginals who could contact the British the most were the ones who began living with the British settlers. They without knowing the consequences of drinking wine, began to drink excessive amounts of it, and soon became addicts. For the British people, the aboriginals that they could meet the most easily were alcohol addicts, who, usually, had bad temper and did not associate with others easily. Therefore, the British began to think that all aboriginals are drunken trash, who aren't worth being human. In other words, they began to make negative stereotypes of the aboriginals.

The first views of the aboriginals were negative, and the drunken people around their settlements didn't help to improve it. So, the British kept thinking that the aboriginals are not worthy to be treated as humans. Therefore, the British began to spread out to other parts of Australia, ignoring that there were owners of the land, and began to harm the nature, by which the aboriginals lived by. This enraged the aboriginals. In their perspective, the foreigners burnt down what was rightfully theirs, which threatened their survival. Since the other regions in Australia were owned by other tribes, the aboriginals had no choice but to fight back to the British, and get back the land and the natural resources they own. On the other hand, the British originally thought of the aboriginals as animals, so when they fought back by killing the white men and burning their settlement, they did not hesitate to shoot any inimical aboriginals in their sight. Since both sides were willing to fight, a war broke out. In the war, the aboriginals were led by a warrior who was named, by the British, 'Saturday'. However, the aboriginal warriors were overpowered by the British, who were armed with more advanced weapons, and asked for peace.

The ethnocentrism of British made them think that the aboriginals were no more than animals, and such arrogant thoughts led to a war. Therefore, it will be illogical to think that the ethnocentrism of British were, in any way, good. If such attitudes towards others are not abandoned, more wars will occur, and more people will be killed. Ethnocentricity must be discarded.


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