the Aborigine population (Blainey, 196). On top of that, many Europeans felt that the Aborigines needed to be wiped out. In the 1950s, the Aborigine Protection Board developed a policy called assimilation. Under this policy, Aborigine children were taken from their homes and brought to white homes to be raised in the superior white ways. Some of them were even kidnapped. It was estimated that about 100,000 children were victims of this policy. They became known as the stolen generation (McLeod, 214). The intent was to steer them away from their own culture make them want to adapt to the white culture. This practice was so bad that an official report from Australia written two years ago used the word Genocide to describe it. The article also talks about how the Australian government today is trying to make amends for its actions in the past (The Hardest Word, 48). This policy lasted up until the 60s. Assimilation, by far, is one of the crueler treatments of the Aborigines by the Europeans.Despite all of the hard times they have been through, the Aborigines are beginning to make a comeback. In the past few years, several music groups, consisting of Aboriginal singers and musicians, have emerged from Australia. Most of the songs performed by these groups remind the Europeans of their cruel treatment of the Aborigines (World Music, 655). Yothu Yindi is probably the most recognized Aborigine rock group around. The name means Mother Child and the group consists of a blend of Aborigine and White musicians. Their first album titled Homeland Movement was released in 1988, which was Australias bicentennial year. Soon after, Tribal Voice and Freedom followed. All three albums address political issues such as land rights and social injustice. They also sang about how they would like peace between them and the Europeans (World Music, 658). Some of their most popular songs include Freedom, which talks about how ...
