Instead the Aboriginals adapted to the environment, whereas the Europeans adapted their environment to suit their culture and their way of life. The English were convinced that they were the superior civilisation. Therefore, in their best interests and intentions, the European settlers felt it was there duty to impose their religious beliefs, customs, laws and way of life onto the Aboriginals. Aboriginal Spirituality was immensely effected by Colonisation. Aboriginals were driven from their land, and had to leave behind the basis of their religious beliefs, destroying the notion of Kinship Groups and Moieties. In the development of land, hundreds of Sacred Sites were invaded and destroyed. A cartoon found in The Sydney Morning Herald in 1985 depicts this point. Companies mined for lead, bauxite, iron and other minerals at sites precious to the Aboriginal people. This attitude that the Whites adopted concerning Holy Land is prominent in this cartoon. .
The introduction of European diseases to the Australian environment killed many Aboriginals. Fifty percent of indigenous people were annihilated in Sydney alone. The Ku-RingGai Aboriginals are an example of this. An extract from the journal of Captain William Tench in 1789 confirms this. He writes an eyewitness account on the severity of small pox effecting Aboriginals. The government condoned the distribution of small pox infected blankets and clothing to the Aboriginals causing a plaque of death and disease amongst them. This is largely due to the lack of Aboriginal immunity to these alien diseases. Lastly, many indigenous people suffered as a result of punitive expeditions that attempted to conform the Aboriginal people to European expectations. Eventually the Aboriginals became dependent on the whites due to the loss of their land, food and other resources. Terrible vices, such as alcohol and tobacco were introduced to Aboriginals by the Europeans.