The last century has almost certainly produced one of the biggest and swiftest social and environmental changes in the human history of the Alligator Rivers Region. For many centuries, the people of this area were accustomed to occasional external social contact via the Timor Sea (Van Diemens Gulf).
But it appears that the establishment of a British settlement (Victoria) on the shores of Port Essington in the late 1830s marked the beginning of an escalating wave of external cultural devastation, which will not reach its peak until the Bininj way of life has been completely consumed. The introduction of foreign plants and animals, diseases, alcohol and tobacco; the forced possession and modification of clan land; disruption of burning patterns and other traditional practices; social re-arrangement into communities and the subsequent large scale adoption of non-aboriginal ways has made these very different people in less than 200 years.
I still regret everytime I see a aboriginal how far these people are taking out of their original way of living where taken.
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Kakadu National Park
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on Oct 24, 2003
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