In his book, Radical Hope, philosopher Jonathan Lear takes us through sufferings that indigenous aboriginal communities endure when their culture dies. Jonathan Lear interest was to reveal the bitterness and suffering the native Crow tribe of Western United States went through as they were being pressured to give up their hunting way of life and embrace civilization. The Crow tribe way of life revolved around buffalo hunting, and war which was used in case they needed to expand their hunting territory. Their only show of bravery was in battlefields fighting against enemy tribes where the winning side would plant coup sticks to mark their boundaries. This way of life ensured that the community prospered and survived even in the case of adversities. Colonization and civilization posed a significant threat to the culture of the Crow because hunting and war were no longer possible to practice anymore. The very act of hunting and war ceased to make sense after globalization, and the Crow had to look for an alternative way of life. Lear describes that cultural death can lead to demoralization and despair of indigenous tribes as it becomes difficult and at times impossible to adapt to a different and a new way of life. Out of desperation, indigenous communities find themselves indulge in self-destructive behaviors such; abuse of alcohol and drugs and school drop out by children and increased domestic violence in homes.
Indigenous tribes in northern Australia are faced with adverse effects of climate change which pose significant short-term and long-term threats to the cultures, health and livelihood of the native tribes. The negative impact that comes as result of climate change in northern Australia includes; drought and desertification, bushfire regimes which lead loss of property and sometimes loss of life, erosion and flooding of coastal strips (Parker & Milroy, 2014). Record heat-waves and bushfires have been witnessed across the remote northern area of Australia, Cape York, in the early months of 2009. Australian Division of Marine and Atmospheric Research predicts that by 2050 there will be increase rise of temperatures up to 1.8 degrees Celsius which would bring adverse complications to the indigenous communities in Cape York. Some of the problems that the communities will experience include; health-related difficulties which will be heat related resulting in vector-borne illnesses. The research projects that there will be a loss of biodiversity species including loss of the Greater Barrier reef. Communities on the coast will be vulnerable as there will be cyclones would have an adverse impact on infrastructure and buildings of these communities.
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A lot of measures have already been put in place to curb the problems that come as a result of climate change. Loss of property and lives have detrimental mental health effects to the victims. The government has developed policies and enacted plans which will ensure that they are ready to face challenges in case they occur ( Maru et al., 2014). Policies drafted include; consistent planning and adaptation and long-term sustainability measures that will ensure that climate change is monitored over time and problems are tackled before they cause damage. The government can embark on training, sensitizing and educating the indigenous communities on changing climate and weather patterns so that they can learn the measures they can use to save lives and property in case catastrophic conditions struck.
Indigenous communities in Australia are socially disadvantaged. There is a state of backwardness regarding literacy level (education), mode of housing and also in health matters. They are adversely affected by climate change because they are clinging to their traditional way of life and shunning globalization. For the indigenous communities to have radical hope, Jonathan Lear, suggests that they should be able to face the unknown , that is, globalization, and embrace the future the same way the Crow community of the United States did. It is only through adaptation, resilience and preparation that Australian indigenous communities will be able to overcome and mitigate the negative impacts they face whenever unfavorable climatic conditions hit them.
While developing measures and policies to regulate the adverse effects of climate change, the government must ensure full participation of the indigenous people to ensure that the established measures are congruent to the culture and beliefs of the indigenous communities. This is to prevent further erosion of language, culture and traditional way of life and dispossession of land from native communities.
References
Maru, Y. T., Smith, M. S., Sparrow, A., Pinho, P. F., & Dube, O. P. (2014). A linked vulnerability and resilience framework for adaptation pathways in remote disadvantaged communities. Global Environmental Change , 28 , 337-350.
Parker, R., & Milroy, H. (2014). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health: an overview. Working together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health and wellbeing principles and practice , 2 , 25-38.
