Environment & Human Adaption
Aboriginal people are
thought to have arrived in Australia as early as 60.000 years ago, however
archaeologists believe that the Aboriginals first came to the Australian
continent around 45,000 years ago. The population is just over 21.3 million,
with approximately 60% concentrated in and around the cities of Sydney, Melbourne,
Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
The kangaroo is unique to Australia and one of its most
famous mammals. There are 40 million kangaroos in Australia. Today Australia
has a wildlife not found anywhere else in the world. You can see the koala, the
emu, the dingo, the echidna, the platypus... there are around 800 species of
birds, 4,000 fish varieties and tens of thousands of species of invertebrates
and micro-organisms. Australia has also got 25,000 species of plants.
Aborigines are forced
to travel in summer over long, dry stages; they do not set out on their journey
until nightfall. Before leaving the last waterhole, they drink as much as
possible, then keep going until a little after sunrise. Then they put a rough
shelter over the top, reduce their skin temperature by throwing sand over their
bodies, bury themselves up to the neck, and remain covered until the cool of
the evening allows them to continue their way.
In cold weather Aborigines would often sleep between fires at night -
though it might bring the risk of rolling on to hot embers. Grease could be
smeared over the skin to ward off the cold. In some parts of Australia,
especially in the south, Aborigines wore possum, wallaby or kangaroo skin rugs,
the result of much careful treatment of skins and sewing them together. A small
fire at the entrance gave warmth and deterred mosquitoes, while the dark
interior discouraged flies. Bark, branches and grass were the materials
commonly used.
A hut usually had a circular base, with a roof fastened at a
peak or left rounded. In the wet season in Arnhem Land, Aborigines built a
bark-covered platform, below which a fire burned to ward off insects. In some
places, where people made seasonal camps, huts were sturdier and could be
insulated with a layer of leaves, mud, seaweed, animal skins or sand. Rock
shelters provided a natural sleeping place in many areas.
One significant difference between
modern Aborigines and their ancient ancestors is in overall size. Modern
Aborigines are usually stocky with a wider build, whereas past
Aborigines were lean and tall.Their physique was suited to the exertions of hunting and
gathering food.Their skin
tone varies from very light to very dark. They generally have broad noses and
it's not uncommon in some regions for children to have blond hair but they tend to have straight, dark hair. Their eyes are deeply set in their eye sockets beneath a
prominent brown ridge.
Language & Gender Roles
Australia suffers from the highest rate of language extinction in the
world. Once home to more than 200 languages spoken by the indigenous
inhabitants of the continent, now only about 20 are spoken on a daily
basis. They were often
rich in meaning and vocabulary, especially in reference to the natural world.
To understand any of them it is necessary to understand the way their users
lived and thought. Words were often built up to a considerable length, and were
spoken in voices of a reasonably high pitch. In different parts of the
continent variations could be noticed in the different language sounds, the use
of vowels or consonants of the end of words, and so on. These variations can be
recognized even now in surviving Aboriginal place names Accents, body gestures
and other mannerisms gave fuller meaning to spoken words.
Since there were so many spoken languages but no written
language, it was often difficult for Aborigines to communicate beyond their own
language group. Message-sticks carried when traveling had in fact no messages
written on them, but were to help identify the bearer and give him some
authority. Sign language, used extensively, was a common method of overcoming
the language difficulty. Signs were made with the hands or by facial or body
movements. They could also be used within a group to convey secret meanings and
to give messages when hunting. This allowed considerable 'conversations' to go
on. Another form of communication was by smoke-signals - these, like
message-sticks, conveyed no actual message, but were per-arranged signs useful
in hunting and in faxing a camp location.
A child's birth, as
with other events in the Aboriginal world, was believed to be not solely a
human affair. It was commonly believed that a spirit-child, from somewhere in
the landscape, entered a woman's body at the time of conception.
Girls learned about
gathering food and preparing meals by assisting their mothers. Boys were
directed more towards the hunting carried out by males, beginning to recognize
the calls and notes of animals and birds. They came to recognize the tracks of
game, until they could even distinguish between individuals of the same
species. They began to hunt for reptiles and birds and gather food for the
camp. Parents gradually demanded more from their children, requiring them to
understand their responsibilities as members of a group. Proper behavior
towards parents was expected. Then as children grew older they learned songs
and dances, preparing for the important future learning of ceremonial songs and
dances. They also learned to bear pain and hunger, which they would probably
experience in ceremonies and on other occasions in later life.
The men were
responsible for providing food, shelter and clothing. Women were responsible
for the domestic sphere and were viewed as both life-givers and the caretakers
of life. Elders are initiated men who are selected to be ritual leaders upon
the basis of their personal qualities (such as bravery and compassion) and upon
their knowledge of the Law. Elders provide leadership in matters affecting the
group, including dispute resolution, educating the young and advising on
marriage partners. In traditional Aboriginal society the advice of the Elders
is usually “heeded and unquestioned”. Elders assume responsibility for sacred
objects, spiritual matters and the performance of ritual. The Elders are vested
with custodianship of the Law. Their overriding duty is to honor and maintain
the Law, and pass it down to the next generation.
Subsistence & Economy
Cooking in hot ashes was the most common method of preparing
tubers, roots, and similar plant products including yams and the onion-shaped
tubers of spike rush both of which were important foods for Aborigines in
northern Australia. Witchetty grubs and similar grubs from other trees were
also cooked in hot ashes, if not eaten raw. Witchetty grub is a Fat-rich larva
used as food and crushed to provide a protective covering for wounds and burns.
Aboriginal people achieved two world firsts with stone technology. 
They were the first to introduce ground edges on cutting
tools and to grind seed. They used stone tools for many things including: to
make other tools, to get and prepare food, chop wood, and to prepare animal
skins. Tools and implements reflect the geographical location of different
groups. For example, coastal tribes used fish bone to tip their weapons, whereas
desert tribes used stone tips. While tools varied by group and location,
Aboriginal people all had knives, scrapers, axe-heads, spears, various vessels
for eating and drinking, and digging sticks. |
| Boomerangs |
In traditional
aboriginal society the aboriginal people are hunter gatherers. Aborigines
living in the urban environment can have “normal” modern jobs like the rest of
the population. Some, like the ones in Uluru in Central Australia receive money
from tourism and due to the natural resources under the ground throughout
Australia, some aboriginal societies who have had their land returned to them,
rent their land for mining as well. Fifty four percent of Australian aborigines
between the ages of 15-64 were employed in 2008. As
semi-nomadic people, trade was an important part of their lifestyle as they traveled, for example, coastal tribes could trade seafood with inland tribes.
Trading networks were frequently incorporated into formal
exchange systems. Large, gatherings of people came together for "exchange
ceremonies" where regional specialties were traded. Ritual paraphernalia,
sacred ceremonial objects, song verses and dance styles were also passed on from
one group to the next at such gatherings.
Marriage & Kinship
In traditional Aboriginal society marriages are significant
to the forging of alliances, and often betrothal arrangements are made when the
prospective bride is very young, or possibly even unborn. A man may not marry
until he has undergone a significant part of the lengthy initiation process:
thus, at marriage a man will be in his twenties or even thirties. Often a man’s first wife is the widow of an
older man, and his subsequent wives may be much younger. A marriage may be signaled
by the simple act of a couple living together and being accepted as married by
their kin. It has been noted that the mere act of a woman walking through a
camp to join a man at his request may constitute a marriage ritual. A family group might include secondary
wives or husbands, children, grandparents and other old or
close relatives. Where possible, a family lives and moves around its
traditional territory together. 
In traditional Aboriginal society inter-personal
relationships are governed by a complex and intricate system of rules, known as
the classificatory system of kinship. The kinship system is based
upon an expanded concept of family, and a concomitant extension of family
rights and obligations. The kinship system enables each person in a language
group to ascertain precisely where he or she stands in relation to every other
person in that group, and to persons outside that group. By providing a mental
map of social relationships, each person knows precisely how to behave in
relation to every other person.
Social & Political Organization
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| Australian Aboriginal Flag |
The aboriginal way of life came to an end with the beginning
of European settlement in 1788, when the British landed on the east coast of
Australia. The diseases brought in by the white settlers (smallpox, colds and
measles) killed almost half the aboriginal population between Botany Bay and
Broken Bay. The settlers were mostly male, and the rape of aboriginal women by
them was a frequent occurrence. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
most of the coastal and eastern Australian tribes were annihilated in violent
confrontations with white settlers.
During much of the 20th century, outright killings were
replaced with a policy of removing Aboriginal children from their parents and
giving them to white families or placing them in mission schools, to eradicate
traces of Aboriginal culture and language.
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| Australian Flag |
Today they still face racist attitudes, and there are
periodic incidents of violence towards them, particularly affecting those in
police custody. Their generally poor living conditions mean that Aboriginal
people have a far higher infant mortality rate and suicide rate and a lower
life expectancy than the rest of the population, and they make up a
disproportionate section of the prison population. Australia’s new ethnic
diversity and increasing independence from Britain contributed to an atmosphere
of political, economic and social change. In 1967, Australians voted ‘yes’ in a
referendum to let the government make laws on behalf of Aboriginal Australians.
The result was a strong reform campaign by both Aboriginal and white
Australians.
Belief System & Arts
In Australia, Indigenous communities keep their cultural
heritage alive by passing their knowledge, arts, rituals and performances from
one generation to another, speaking and teaching languages, protecting cultural
materials, sacred and significant sites, and objects. The central tenet of
traditional Aboriginal society is belief in the oneness of the spiritual, human
and natural world.
This spiritual worldview is known as the Dreaming, One Aboriginal
man explained it thus:
‘By Dreaming we
mean the belief that long ago these creatures started human society, they made
all natural things and put them in a special place.
’These Dreaming
creatures were connected to special places and special roads or tracks or
paths. In many places the great creatures changed themselves into sites where
their spirits stayed.
’Aboriginals have a
special connection with everything that is natural. Aboriginals see themselves
as part of nature … All things on earth we see as part human. It is true that
people who belong to a particular area are really part of that area and if that
area is destroyed they are also destroyed.’
Important aspect of Aboriginal spirituality is the belief
that every person has a totem. “Totem-ism” describes the relationship between an
individual with a plant or animal species, or a condition or a situation. There
are a number of distinct schools of traditional Aboriginal visual art, which
may be created on rock facings and in caves, on wood, bark, and even on clay or
sand. Broad traditional Aboriginal “art areas” exists across the Australian
continent, although each language group has its own distinctive form of
artistic expression. Aboriginal visual art may be broadly described as a stylized
form of communication which is inseparable from its cultural and social
setting.
Some common traditional aboriginal musical instruments are the
didgeridoo, a hollowed out narrow log or branch and clapping sticks which are
short, decorated solid pieces of wood. It is one of the oldest instruments to date. It consists of a long tube,
without finger holes, through which the player blows. It is sometimes
fitted with a mouthpiece of beeswax. The Aborigine would also listen to
the sounds of wind, thunder, trees creaking, and water running. The essences of
all these sounds were played with as much accuracy as possible within the
droning sound of the didgeridoo. Skilled players use the technique of circular breathing to achieve a
continuous sound, and also employ techniques for inducing multiple
harmonic resonances. Listen to the music (right).
The ceremonies of the youths, at which no fully adult male
or any women are present, are the most important to the participants. In these,
the young actors, their bodies decorated with the creature they represent, mime
the episodes of their creation during mythical times. These rituals, many of them
of considerable beauty, are the youth's first step toward their integration
into the life and responsibilities of the men.
Conclusion
Bibliography
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/43873/Australian-Aboriginal-languages
http://www.alrc.gov.au/publications/12.%20Aboriginal%20Marriages%20and%20Family%20Structures/marriage-traditional-aboriginal-societie
http://www.creativespirits.info/aboriginalculture/economy/index.html
http://www.ausanthrop.net/research/kinship/kinship2.php
http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/austn-indigenous-cultural-heritage
http://www.gondwananet.com/australian-aboriginal-food.html
http://www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/health-facts/health-faqs/what-are-the-main-references-about-indigenous-health/population-statistics
http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/aboriginals
http://www.unpo.org/members/7855
http://aboriginalart.com.au/
http://www.mcguinnessonline.com/australia/aussie_people_aboriginals1.htm
http://www.mcguinnessonline.com/australia/aussie_people_aboriginals1.htm
