New estimates suggest Australia’s Indigenous population was much larger before European colonization and declined by roughly 93% between 1788 and 1861. European colonization of Australia began in 1788 with the arrival of Britain’s First Fleet. By the time early censuses counted Indigenous people, disease and violence had already devastated their communities, leaving those records an [...]
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ivanafterall@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1d
I suspect this trend will continue. When you start to dig into any indigenous group's history, you realize that the problems are still sooooooo fresh. In other words, we've been downplaying our own shittiness for centuries, by now. It's heartbreaking. My own interest has been mostly Hawaii. The population decline in the 1800s alone gives me an immediate pit in my stomach. There aren't words.