Impact of Eurpeans on Australian Aborigines

Before the arrival of the Europeans the only known relationships aborigines had with outsiders was with the Makassans, who fished off Arnhem Land in the northern territory.

Well before 1788, Makassan fishermen from the east-Indonesian archipelago, fishing for (trepang) began voyages to Arnhem Land. It is thought that the fishermen of Makassar had been visiting the north coast of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland from as early as the 16th century. Aboriginal cave paintings also illustrate the traditional Makassan sailing boats. In 1803, Matthew Flinders recorded the sighting of 6 Makassan boats off the east of Arnhem Land. There were also inter-cultural exchanges between the Aboriginal co

In 1867, the Dutch Governor-General in Makassar noted that there were 17 Aborigines in Makassar, which had returned with the Muslim fishing fleets. These early Muslim traders were among the first visitors to establish an economic enterprise, Unlike later European settlement, Makassan visits encroached little on the Aboriginal way of life.

The earliest European encounter with aborigines was reported by De Prado, who was aboard Luis de Torres’s San Pedrico when it passed through the Strait in 1606, De Prado describes how the Spaniards landed at Giaka, They looted a recently deserted camp, shot an Islander and kidnapped three women given. Since the violence of this first contact it is ironic that the islands, and the Islanders are named after Torres.

While the impact of the Makassans on the aboriginal population was limited, the impact of the Europeans was devastating. The arrival of the Europeans had a devastating effect on the aborigines. Disease, slave labor or outright murder took it its toll on

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