Australian Aborigines - Indigenous Australians

There are several hundred Indigenous peoples of Australia, many are

groupings that existed before the British annexation of Australia in 1788.
Before Europeans, the number was over 400.
Indigenous or groups will generally talk of their "people" and their
"country". These countries are ethnographic areas, usually the size of an
average European country, with around two hundred on the Australian
continent at the time of White arrival.
Within each country, people lived in clan groups - extended families
defined by the various forms Australian Aboriginal kinship. Inter-clan
contact was common, as was inter-country contact, but there were strict
protocols around this contact.
The largest Aboriginal people today is the Pitjantjatjara who live in the
area around Uluru (Ayers Rock) and south into the Anangu Pitjantjatjara
Yankunytjatjara in South Australia, while the second largest Aboriginal
community are the Arrernte people who live in and around Alice Springs.
The third largest are the Luritja, who live in the lands between the two
largest just mentioned. The Aboriginal languages with the largest number
of speakers today are the Pitjantjatjara, Warlpiri and Arrernte.
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian
continent and nearby islands, and these peoples' descendants. Indigenous
Australians are distinguished as either Aboriginal people or Torres Strait
Islanders, who currently together make up about 2.6% of Australia's
population.
The Torres Strait Islanders are indigenous to the Torres Strait Islands
which are at the northern-most tip of Queensland near Papua New Guinea.
The term "Aboriginal" has traditionally been applied to indigenous
inhabitants of mainland Australia, Tasmania, and some of the other
adjacent islands. The use of the term is becoming less common, with
names preferred by the various groups becoming more common.
The earliest definite human remains found to date are that of Mungo Man
which have been dated at about 40,000 years old, but the time of arrival
of the ancestors of Indigenous Australians is a matter of debate among
researchers, with estimates ranging as high as 125,000 years ago.
There is great diversity between different Indigenous communities and
societies in Australia, each with its own unique mixture of cultures,
customs and languages. In present day Australia these groups are further
divided into local communities.
The population of Indigenous Australians at the time of permanent
European settlement has been estimated at between 318,000 and
750,000, with the distribution being similar to that of the current
Australian population, with the majority living in the south-east, centred
along the Murray River.
Though Indigenous Australians are seen as being broadly related, there
are significant differences in social, cultural and linguistic customs
between the various Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander groups.

History

The word aboriginal was used in Australia to describe its Indigenous

peoples as early as 1789. It soon became capitalised and employed as the
common name to refer to all Indigenous Australians. At present the term
refers only to those peoples who were traditionally hunter gatherers. It
does not encompass those Indigenous peoples from the Torres Strait who
traditionally practiced agriculture.
The word Aboriginal has been in use in English since at least the 17th
century to mean "first or earliest known, indigenous," (Latin Aborigines,
from ab: from, and origo: origin, beginning), Strictly speaking, "Aborigine"
is the noun and "Aboriginal" the adjectival form; however the latter is
often also employed to stand as a noun. The use of "Aborigine(s)" or
"Aboriginal(s)" in this sense, i.e. as a noun, has acquired negative, even
derogatory connotations in some sectors of the community, who regard it
as insensitive, and even offensive.
The more acceptable and correct expression is "Aboriginal Australians" or
"Aboriginal people," though even this is sometimes regarded as an
expression to be avoided because of its historical associations with
colonialism. "Indigenous Australians" has found increasing acceptance,
particularly since the 1980s.
The broad term Aboriginal Australians includes many regional groups that
often identify under names from local Indigenous languages. These
include:
There is no written record regarding prehistoric Aboriginal Australia.
Knowledge of the past is found in archaeological evidence and Aboriginal
oral traditions which have been handed down from generation to
generation. Therefore using reliable dates derived from archaeological
evidence, theories of the initial colonization of Australia have been
determined.
Prior to colonization which began in January 1788, the Australian
Aborigines lived a lifestyle based on their Dreamtime beliefs. They had
survived as a race for thousands of years and their lifestyle and cultural
practices had remained virtually unchanged during that time. We refer to
this as the traditional period.
However colonization imposed changes on the Aborigines as people who
lived in areas that were being settled by the Europeans, were forced off
their land as towns and farms were developed. We identify the period in
which the changes took place, as the historical period. The sort of changes
that took place usually commenced with explorers entering the area of a
tribe and being challenged by the people for trespassing on their land. The
Europeans often (usually) responded by shooting at the people. Many were
killed. When settlers followed the explorers and began felling trees and
building farms, they restricted the ability of the Aborigines to move freely
around their land. They also destroyed their traditional food sources.
These changes took place throughout the continent at different times.
They began in the Sydney and Parramatta districts from 1788; in the
Cowpastures (Campbelltown / Camden)area from the early 1800s and in
the Illawarra district from 1815. Gradually - but with increasing speed
colonization spread throughout the entire continent.
The settlers had arrived in this country to build a new life for themselves
and their families and had 'no time for the Dreamtime'. In other words
most were not interested in the affects colonization was having on the
Aborigines. In fact they were often considered to be a pest and a nuisance.
Many were killed by diseases such as influenza. Thousands were
massacred to make way for farms and settlements.
On the other hand some Aboriginal people adapted to the Whitman's laws
and the new lifestyle. In doing so, many were reduced to pauperism and
were beggars. Others broke the traditional tribal lore's by accepting Brass
Plates and by moving into the traditionallands of other tribes. In many
cases they had no option in doing this as they were facing starvation or
the gun.
Overall, the Australian Aborigines went through stages of being conquered
through an 'invasion' and taking of their lands. Many adapted to the new
lifestyle (when many became reliant on alcohol, tobacco and handouts of
food and clothing. However the settlers were often contemptuous of the
Aborigines and separated them from their society and the people became
the fringe dwellers of society. Others were removed from their families
and placed into institutions. From the late 1830s the remnants of the
tribes in the settled areas were moved onto Reserves and Missions where
they were 'managed' by Whitemen and were forbidden from teaching their
children their language and customs.
During the 1900s separation was an official government policy which
lasted for many decades and today, many Aboriginal people do not know
their origins. In other words, which tribe they are descended from or the
names of their parents and or grandparents. They are a lost generation.
Australian Aborigines - the original inhabitants of the continent - are one of
the best known and least understood people in the world. Since the
nineteenth century they have been singled out as the world's most
primitive culture and the living representatives of the ancestors of
mankind. Aborigines are therefore probably more familiar to the rest of the
world than are the white Australians who immigrated to the continent from
Britain and other European countries. In reality, Aboriginal culture, as
anthropological work over the last hundred years has revealed, is a
complex, subtle, and rich way of life. On our way toward describing and
understanding Aboriginal art, we need to look briefly at this culture, what
it was in the past and what it has become today.
Aborigines have occupied Australia for at least forty thousand years. They
came originally from southeast Asia, entering the continent from the
north. (Present-day Australia, including Tasmania, was then one continent
with what is now New Guinea.) Although Aborigines are Homo sapiens,
biological isolation has meant that they are not racially closely related to
any other people. Because of their relative cultural isolation, Aborigines
were forced to develop their own solutions to the problems of human
adaptation in the unique and harsh Australian environment. The result was
a stable and efficient way of life. Probably because of its effectiveness, the
society was slow to change, especially technologically. This gave to
Aboriginal Australia the appearance of unchangingness. The
archaeological record reveals, however, a number of innovations, among
them the earliest known human cremations, some of the earliest rock art,
and certainly the first boomerangs, ground axes, and grindstones in the
world.
The stereotype of Aborigines passively succumbing to the dictates of their
environment has also been recently questioned. We now know that they
altered the landscape in significant ways, using what has been called
"firestick farming" to control underbrush growth and to facilitate hunting.
Aborigines also altered species occurrence of flora and fauna by resource
management and possibly assisted in the extinction of prehistoric animals.
The notion of pristine natives with a "pure" culture was an artificial one -
many Aborigines had considerable contact with Melanesians and
Indonesians long before the European colonists arrived in Australia.
Aboriginal groups also influenced each other. Waves of change swept the
entire continent - changes in tools and implements, in social organisation,
and in ceremonial practices and mythological concepts. Aboriginal culture
was dynamic, not static. The Aboriginal culture of the last two hundred
years, the period after the arrival of the colonists, has also been dynamic.
This is why it is difficult to speak of a hard and fast dichotomy between
Aborigines "before" and "after" contact with the Europeans. Nevertheless,
it is useful to look at Aboriginal culture at the point of first contact and as it
is today.
The population of Australia at the time of the arrival of the whites in 1788
was probably between 250,000 and 500,000. The pattern of Aboriginal
settlement was like that for present-day Australians, except in the tropical
north, with most of the population living along the coasts and rivers.
Densities varied from one person for every thirty-five square miles in the
arid regions to five to ten persons for every one square mile on the
eastern coast. Residential groups ranged in size from ten to fifty people,
with some temporary ceremonial gatherings reaching up to five hundred.
Most people tend to think of Aborigines as a unified, homogeneous group.
Yet the Aborigines never used one collective term to describe themselves.
No one individual Aborigine, in the precolonial past, would have known of
the existence of many of the other Aboriginal peoples and regions of the
vast continent of Australia, which covers nearly three million square miles
- almost the area of the United States.
Recent scientific studies have concluded that the Australian Aborigines
were the original Americans! In other words, the theory is that ATSI people
were adventurers who arrived in the North American continent before the
Vikings or Columbus. This theory states that the ancestors of the American
Indians. are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. "Separate
studies by both Brazilian and US scholars are revealing that the first
humans to enter the New World more than 14,000 years ago were not
Mongoloid peoples as has always been thought - but were instead people
of the same race as present day Australian Aborigines."

Migration

Modern day scientists and others often say that the Australian Aborigines
arrived in the continent of Australia, by crossing land bridges or landing on
the northern shores by canoes.
Australia discovered by the 'Southern Route' PhysOrg - July 22, 2009
Genetic research indicates that Australian Aborigines initially arrived via south Asia.
Researchers found telltale mutations in modern-day Indian populations that are
exclusively shared by Aborigines.
Dr Raghavendra Rao worked with a team of researchers from the
Anthropological Survey of India to sequence 966 complete
mitochondrial DNA genomes from Indian 'relic populations'. He said,
"Mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from the mother and so allows
us to accurately trace ancestry. We found certain mutations in the
DNA sequences of the Indian tribes we sampled that are specific to
Australian Aborigines. This shared ancestry suggests that the
Aborigine population migrated to Australia via the so-called
'Southern Route'".
The 'Southern Route' dispersal of modern humans suggests
movement of a group of hunter-gatherers from the Horn of Africa,
across the mouth of the Red Sea into Arabia and southern Asia at
least 50 thousand years ago. Subsequently, the modern human
populations expanded rapidly along the coastlines of southern Asia,
southeastern Asia and Indonesia to arrive in Australia at least 45
thousand years ago. The genetic evidence of this dispersal from the
work of Rao and his colleagues is supported by archeological
evidence of human occupation in the Lake Mungo area of Australia
dated to approximately the same time period.
Discussing the implications of the research, Rao said, "Human
evolution is usually understood in terms of millions of years. This
direct DNA evidence indicates that the emergence of 'anatomically
modern' humans in Africa and the spread of these humans to other
 parts of the world happened only fifty thousand or so years ago. In
this respect, populations in the Indian subcontinent harbor DNA
footprints of the earliest expansion out of Africa. Understanding
human evolution helps us to understand the biological and cultural
expressions of these people, with far reaching implications for
human welfare."

Appearance
To the early Europeans, the Aborigines of the Sydney district (and later
those throughout the whole continent), were primitives, natives or Noble
Savages. So, descriptions of them (either written or in sketches/
paintings), were classificatory and comparative. There were a number of
physical distinctions between different tribes. It was noted that the
Gundungurra who lived in the Blue Mountains west of Camden were taller
and stronger than the Eora / Dharawal who lived on the coast. Or so
European observers said. Some tribespeople were said to be darker than
others (dark brown or black) and were different in other ways, but anyone
who indulges in descriptions should ask themselves why they are doing
this. People are people and differences of color and shape shouldn't
matter. However derogatory descriptions of Aborigines during the 19th
century were often a justification for massacres and poisoning of people.

Spears were personal possessions of individual Aboriginal males.

Each tribe had their own particular style of spears. Basically, all spears
were made from timber or from the stems of plants. They ranged in length
from about 1.5 meters to 4 or 5 meters with various forms of points, tips
or blades. Some spear tips were prongs which were used to catch fish;
others were made from stone flakes while others were made from fish
bones and shells. Spears were mainly used for hunting but they were also
used in battles.

Clothing
The Aboriginal people of the Sydney, Illawarra and Shoalhaven district
(and most, if not in all parts of Australia), were often observed by early
settlers to be naked. The men and women of some tribes are known to
have worn a belt around their middle made of hair, animal fur, skin or fiber
which they used to carry tools and weapons.

These belts often had a flap at the front, however, this was a modification
that was added during European colonization when the British colonists
and authorities were concerned about modesty and imposed their
standards on the Aborigines - who were unashamed of their nakedness.
However, Aboriginal people needed to be warm in winter months and did
make cloaks which they made from animal skins e.g.., possum skins. They
worn them during the day and used them as blankets during the night. A
number of skins were needed to make the garment and they were
cleaned, dried and sewn together.
During colonization individual settlers gave the Aborigines their old clothes
(known as slops). So the people were often recorded as wearing a variety
of clothes such as army or navy jackets, trousers, petticoats and blouses
(etc).
From the 1830's a number of Governors issued English blankets to the
Aborigines through Magistrates and well respected settlers in various parts
of the country. The blankets were not as warm as possums skin cloaks and
many Aborigines caught influenza and bronchitis and died from these
diseases.

Languages
Although there were over 250-300 spoken languages with 600 dialects at
the start of European settlement, fewer than 200 of these remain in use -
and all but 20 are considered to be endangered.
Before colonization there were between 200 and 250 Aboriginal languages
spoken throughout the continent of Australia. In other words the
Aborigines did not speak the same or 'one' language. It has also been
estimated that there were as many as 600 languages spoken at the time
of colonization. However, it has also been said, that there was one
language and several dialects.
The 'one language' theory fits with the theory of the migratory origins of
the people in the continent. In other words that all Aborigines belong to
the one race as descendants of people who came from Asia, Africa and
other places across land bridges. Whether this happened or not is
speculative. What is certain, is that the Aborigines who belonged to a
particular tribe spoke a language that was different to their neighbors.
This fact has led to scientists identifying Language or Cultural groups
which were comprised of a number of tribes who spoke the same
language. It is also certain that some Aboriginal people spoke more than
one language and it is interesting to note, that when the Europeans
arrived in this country some Aborigines quickly learned to speak English
while the Europeans themselves often struggled to speak even a few
Aboriginal words.
In 1888 it was said that the language of the Australian Aborigines was "in
fullness of tone, variety of sound, and easy flow, is not to be surpassed. In
proof of this it is only necessary to refer to the Aboriginal names of the
various locations throughout the colonies.
Some Aboriginal words are still used today. For example the word Bundi is
the basis for the name Bondi n Sydney's eastern suburbs which has
become the most famous beach in the world. Bennelong Point (the site of
the Sydney Opera House) is named after Bennelong an Aborigine of the
Manly area who was kidnapped by Governor Arthur Philip); Botany Bay
was known as Kamay to the Aborigines of the area; Cronulla is based on
the word Kurranulla meaning 'pink shell'; Dapto in the Illawarra district is a
corruption of the word Dappeto; Dhurawal Bay on the George's River near
Liverpool is named after the traditional tribe of the Sydney district the
Dharawal also called the Eora.
Aboriginal language had ice age origins
News in Science - December 13, 2006
Aboriginal languages may be much older than people think, argues a linguistic
anthropologist who says they originated as far back as the end of the last ice age
around 13,000 years ago. This challenges existing thinking, which suggests Aboriginal
languages developed from a proto-language that spread through Australia 5000 to
6000 years ago. The key to the new hypothesis is prehistoric Australia's single land
mass 13,000 to 28,000 years ago, when New Guinea and Tasmania were still attached,
says Dr Mark Clendon in the journal Current Anthropology.
Clendon says the continent, known as Sahul, was relatively densely
populated on the land bridge connecting northern Australia to New
Guinea, now separated by the Arafura Sea. The other populated area
was along what is now Australia's eastern seaboard. The two
population groups were separated by a vast, cold, windswept, arid
 stretch of land that covered most of the continent, says Clendon,
who was with the Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary
Education when he published the research. The eastern group spoke
a tongue that became what is known today as Pama Nyungan and
includes languages like Pitjantjatjara, Yolngu and Warlpiri. And the
Arafurans spoke another family of languages used in northern
Australia today. "What I'm suggesting is that Pama Nyungan and
non-Pama Nyungan languages go back about 13,000 years to when
there was a land bridge between New Guinea and Australia," he
says.
Until now, the reason why these two Aboriginal language groups are
so different, each with a distinct grammar and vocabulary, has been
a mystery. Climate change - Around 11,000 years ago what was the
Arafura plain was flooded by rising seas as the ice age ended. This
caused the northern people to migrate into either New Guinea or to
northern parts of Australia. Meanwhile, increased rainfall and
warmer temperatures made inland parts of the continent more
habitable and sparked a westward migration of eastern dwellers.
This introduced their language group to more central areas of
Australia. Both groups maintained their distinct languages, Clendon
says. His hypothesis provides an alternative picture to the traditional
view that 6000 years ago a single proto-language spread from the
Gulf of Carpentaria around Australia, eventually giving rise to
existing Aboriginal languages. "We know about changes in climate
and sea levels at the end of the Pleistocene era," Clendon says. "I'm
suggesting the way languages are configured in Australia today are
a result of those changes that happened at the end of the ice age."
Provocative but unconvincing - Writing in a reply to Clendon's article,
Professor Nicholas Evans, an expert in Aboriginal languages from the
University of Melbourne, describes Clendon's hypothesis as "fresh
and provocative". However, he says there are flaws in the argument,
including that there is only weak evidence of similarities between
southern New Guinea and northern Aboriginal languages. Evans says
he remains to be convinced about Clendon's proposal. "[But] it adds
a welcome alternative to a field in which we are still a long way from
having any clear picture of the unimaginably long human occupation
of Sahul," he says.

Diet
Hunting is a word that is used to identify the practice of catching and
killing 'game' either as a sport or as a source of food. Gathering is the
collecting of food such as plants, berries, eggs or insects. Fishing is
another method of obtaining food.
The Aborigines who lived in areas which included waterways such as rivers
or were on the seacoast, made canoes from bark or tree trunks.
The Eora / Dharawal made canoes which carried up to three or four
people. In other areas, the canoes were much larger and included dugouts
and outrigger types. They were made from tree trunks (not just the bark).
Aboriginal men and women who lived in coastal regions or in areas where
there were rivers, caught and collected food by fishing. Males usually used
spears, while females used hand lines with hooks made from shells and
rocks as sinkers. Fish species were also caught by the use of fish traps.
Some traps were made from rocks in the form of a pen. At high tide fish
could swim in and out of them, but some were trapped within the rock
walls at low tide. Traps were also constructed from sticks and tree
branches across rivers to make a dam. When sufficient numbers were
trapped the people would enter the water, scoop up the fish in their hands
and throw them onto the river bank to be collected for cooking.

Males hunted animals such as kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas and

possums. But also reptiles (snakes and lizards) and birds such as ducks,
swans and parrots. They used spears and boomerangs to hit, catch and kill
- but also climbed trees to get their food. Sometimes they hunted in
parties or groups and each person shared the catch. On these occasions
some of the men acted as 'beaters' driving animals towards another group
of men who were armed and waiting to spear the animals that were driven
towards them. Sometimes they used fire to drive the animals forward.
Aboriginal woman (often carrying babies on their backs) and assisted by
young children left the camp on a daily basis searching and collecting
berries, yams and other sources of food.
Some writers have suggested that 'gathering' provided the bulk or main
source of food for the Australian Aborigines. It has also been said that
some tribes people were mainly 'vegetarians' because 'meat' was not
readily available in some areas. It is also a fact that some Aboriginal
people ate more marine life (fish, oysters and mussels etc) because these
food items were predominant in the area in which they lived.
Survival was highly dependent upon knowledge of the life-cycle of flora
and fauna and it is certain that the Aborigines had excellent understanding
as they learned to track, hunt and gather food from when they were young
children.
In 1972 Australian Anthropologist, Kenneth Maddock,said: "Australia is the
only continent to have been populated until modern times exclusively by
hunters and gatherers..." (The Australian Aborigines. A Portrait of their
society). He also quoted statistics showing that in 10,000 BC all human
beings (100%) were hunters and gatherers; by 1,500 AD this had reduced
to about 1% because mankind had generally developed skills in the
cultivation of crops and domestication of animals. By 1960 only 0.001% of
the world's population were hunters and gatherers.
The fact that the Australian Aborigines did not cultivate land to grow crops
or domesticate animals, they have often been portrayed as being a
backward race.
However this can be disputed. After all, the Aborigines did harvest crops in
the sense that they made a form of flour from various types of flora.
Domestication of animals was not possible due to the type (or perhaps
kind) of animals that roamed the continent of Australia. For example
kangaroos, wombats, possums and snakes.
Sheep and cow were introduced by Europeans. But there is evidence to
suggest that the Aborigines of the Cowpastures district (Campbelltown
area) herded and killed cattle that had escaped from the Port Jackson area
circa 1788 and found there way to that area.
These cattle had been transported from Africa and before vandals
destroyed it, there was a cave in the Campbelltown area that was called
Bull Cave, because of the drawings of cattle on the walls.
Those Aborigines who lived in coastal regions or near waterways caught
fish and eels in a number of ways. Males often used a spear but are known
to have also built fish-traps by making rectangular areas with rocks, that
stood above the water at low tide. This meant that fish could swim into the
traps at high tide and were trapped as the tide receded.
In the Illawarra district the Aborigines were often observed barricading
(blocking) rivers with tree branches and logs. As fish swam down the river
towards the sea they were trapped behind the dam where they were
scooped up and thrown onto the shore. The Aborigines also fished from
rocks and beaches using hand lines made from plants and hooks made
from shells. Stones were used as sinkers.
Aboriginal people had to catch and collect their food, each and every day
of their life. They were successful at doing this because they had an
intimate knowledge of food-chain cycles, the migration patterns of birds
and of the habitat where they lived. No doubt there were times when there
were food shortages. But the essential point is that the Aboriginal people
had a complete understanding of the flora and fauna within their tribal
territory. They also engaged in land management practices - mainly
burning grass and weeds.
Their totemic practices protected species because a person could not eat
his own totem and others needed permission to catch another person's
totem on his land. For example, a man whose totem was a waterfowl
would not eat that bird (otherwise it would be a form of cannibalism).
Other members of the tribe could not hunt the bird in the territory that
belonged to another man. This provided a safe environment for different
species.

Society
Aboriginal Australians were social beings who lived in a number of social
groups sometimes called bands, clans, sub-tribes and tribes, but
essentially in a family or kinship group who were 1) of the same blood-line
and 2) were related to other people through totems.
The social groupings of ATSI people meant that their relationships were far
more extensive than our own method of identifying people as mother,
father, brother, sister and cousins (etc). Aboriginal relationships are
difficult to understand but the relationships of an Aboriginal male child are
detailed in following script (with western ones shown in brackets), to give
some idea of them: The family was usually comprised of father's father
(grandfather) and often his brother or brothers who was / were known also
known as father's father (no western equivalent); his wife or wives
(grandmother); a father (father) and perhaps his brothers (uncles) who
was also considered to be an Aboriginal male child's father.
Each family group had a headman or Elder who was the leader of the unit.
He decided when to move camp and settled disputes
Food such as oysters, mussels and pippies were enjoyed. Sometimes they
cooked them on the ashes of a fire and the Sydney Aborigines are known
to have taken a fire with them aboard their canoes when they went
fishing. This meant they could cook and eat their catch as they continued
catching fish. They also took some of their catch back to the camp to
share with others, but eating food while catching it gave them the energy
to collect sufficient quantity for others.
Animals, birds and reptiles were also caught and cooked on an open fire.
However they 'scorched' rather than cooked these foods. In other words,
they did not roast the joint of a kangaroo like Europeans do today. For
example by placing a leg of lamb in an oven for an hour or two. The
Aborigines simply singed the food to remove feathers, scales and fur and
ate partly cooked meat.
Other sources of food included yams (sweet potatoes), berries and
intestines such as liver (yuck). But they generally hunted and collected the
wide variety of food that was available in the places in which they lived.
One food that was cooked by the Aborigines was a type of bread which
was also popular among early European settlers who called it damper. This
is made by grinding seeds into flour, mixing this with water into a doughy
paste and cooking it in the ashes of a warm fire.
The Aborigines lived within a tribal territory where they obtained their
daily food needs. Some tribes lived in desert country, while others lived in
mountain, coastal or timbered areas. This meant that the members of
different tribes ate different foods. It also meant that some of them were
constantly on the move hunting and gathering. Others lived a semi-
nomadic life in areas where there were amply food supplies.
The Eora / Dharawal people who lived on the coastal area between the
Hawkesbury River and the Shoalhaven River were hunters and gatherers
of fish, shellfish, plants and animals. They caught fish such as bream,
groper, snapper and whiting; collected shellfish including oysters (rock and
mud), cockles and conniwink.
Plant foods included: native cherries, the cabbage palm, water lilies, five-
corners and pigface. Animals, birds and reptiles such as kangaroos, ducks
and snakes were also hunted for consumption purposes.

Marriage

Every tribe in Australia was divided into a number of small social groups,
but for marriage purposes, into two main groups sometimes called
marriage moieties. People didn't marry outside of their group. Marriage
arrangements were made when children were very young and sometimes
before they were born.

Homes
Aboriginal people were social beings as they lived and gathered together
in family groups . Their camps were comprised of a number of gunyas
(bark huts), but the people also lived in caves or in the open air. Some
camps were comprised of as few as 6 to 10 people while in others there
were up to 400 people. No doubt the availability of food was a factor in the
size of a camp. Each day, various members of the group would leave the
camp to hunt and gather food and return to the camp to share the catch
with others.
During the 1830s William Govett (surveyor), visited a camp and recorded
(in Sketches of New South Wales), that the people usually settled in their
camp as night fell and were engaged in a number of activities - normal
family life - sharing stories about the happenings of the day, repairing
weapons, singing songs and playing games etc. Govett described a young
man in one gunya using double sets of strings to make diamonds, squares,
circles and other shapes. He also told of an adult amusing a young child by
placing a leaf on the back of his left hand, striking it with his finger causing
the leaf to ascend perpendicularly to the squeals of delight from the child.
Aboriginal people lived in family groups. The Elder or Elders gunyah (hut)
were situated in the center of the camp and others spanned out in circles
around the central hut. However, the people often slept in the open and in
caves, so it is likely that the Elder decided where he wanted to sleep with
his wife or wives and everyone one else spread-out from the spot he had
chosen. No doubt some people were more important than others and the
most important ones camped near the Elders.

Land

The affinity of attachment to a particular area of land by the Aborigines

was based on their Dreamtime beliefs, that the land had been created for
them by ancestral heroes and heroines. Every rock, tree and waterhole;
every animal, bird and insect; the sky above and all it contained were
believed to have been created in the Dreamtime.
At some indefinite time the creators disappeared, however, many were
believed to have remained in secret places in the land - in rivers, caves
and other places. In other words, the Aborigines believed that their land
had been created by spirits who continued to live in the land.
This was a superstitious belief, but it was very important to the Aborigines.
For example, there were never any wars of conquest between Aboriginal
tribes. They were too superstitious to do this and living in the land of
another tribe would have involved them in living among strange and no
doubt hostile spirits.
Land was spiritual, but also an economic resource as it provided the
people with food, sources of wood, fiber and glue for making spears,
utensils and other implements. However the people respected these
aspects of their land and were environmentalists in the sense of 'taking
care' of the land through their practices of performing increase
ceremonies, singing 'Songlines' and relationships with flora and fauna
through a system of totemic relationships.
Traditional Aboriginal people (before their society was changed with the
arrival of the British into their lands), lived in relatively small groups which
have been called clans, bands, family groups, sub-tribes and by a variety
of other names.
The larger (well known term) social unit known as a tribe, was made up of
a number of smaller social units (clans and bands etc). Maybe we can
explain it this way: A clan was a family group made up of a grandfather
and his wife or wives, his sons and their wife or wives and their children. A
number of these groups formed a tribe. The exact number of clans which
comprised a tribe cannot be said precisely, as this varied. However in the
Sydney district it is known that in 1788 there were at least 30 clans of the
Eora / Dharawal tribe. Each clan had a name for themselves based on the
name in their language for the area they lived in. For example the men of
Cadi were known as the Cadigal (Cadjigal) females added the postfix eean
so the women from Cadi were the Cadieean and they lived around South
Head, Elizabeth Bay, Rushcutters Bay to present day Circular Quay. The
Gweagal / Gweaeean lived at Kurnell.
The clans which formed a tribe were those who believed in the same
Dreamtime creation stories, spoke the same language and celebrated the
same customs such as initiation rites.

Culture

Culture is a celebration of beliefs and usually (if not always) includes rites
of passage from one stage of life to another. Culture is stories and songs.
Particularly because their stories and songs informed them about creation,
the relationship between mankind and nature and were the source of their
tribal laws. The tradition of initiation was an expression of Aboriginal
culture and was carried out for thousands of years in exactly the way that
had been ordered by the ancestors in the Dreamtime. On another level the
stories and songs were believed to be important for the preservation and
conservation of their land and all it contained. This involved singing
Songlines that had been sung by the ancestors and the concept of taking
care.
Until 1788 the Aborigines of Australia lived and celebrated a culture that
was basically unchanged for thousands of years. Each tribe had their own
beliefs - their own songs and stories, but until colonization, they were the
oldest surviving race in the entire world. They existed as a race of people
well before the Egyptians were building the pyramids, while the Greeks
were constructing the Pantheon and while Britain was ruled by the Roman
Empire. However the first Europeans to arrive in the continent considered
the 'natives' to be primitives. This was largely due to a lack of
understanding about the culture of the Aborigines.
A cultural group was comprised of two or more tribes that associated with
each other for cultural purposes. For example to celebrate corroborees,
barter or exchange goods, conduct initiation ceremonies or intermarry.
On the Far South Coast of New South Wales early records show that
members of the Yuin tribe often associated with those from the Canberra
area. These tribes did not associate with the Dharawal tribe of the
Shoalhaven, Illawarra and Sydney districts, who gathered from time to
time with the Gundungurra of the Goulburn and Camden area.

Flag

The Australian Aboriginal flag was originally designed as a protest flag for
the land rights movement of Indigenous Australians but has since become
a symbol of the Aboriginal people of Australia. The flag is a yellow disc on
a horizontally divided field of black and red. It was designed in 1971 by
Harold Thomas, an Aboriginal artist descended from the Luritja of Central
Australia. On 14 July 1995, both the Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait
Islander Flag were officially proclaimed by the Australian government as
"Flags of Australia" under Section 5 of the Flags Act 1953.
The flag was first flown on National Aborigines' Day in Victoria Square in
Adelaide on 12 July 1971. It was also used in Canberra at the Aboriginal
Tent Embassy from late 1972. In the early months of the embassy�which
was established in February that year - other designs were used, including
a black, green and red flag made by supporters of the South Sydney
Rabbitohs rugby league club, and a flag with a red-black field containing a
spear and four crescents in yellow.
Cathy Freeman caused controversy at the 1994 Commonwealth Games by
waving both the Aboriginal flag and Australian national flag during her
victory lap of the arena, after winning the 200 metres sprint; only the
national flag is meant to be displayed. Despite strong criticism from both
Games officials and the Australian team president Arthur Tunstall,
Freeman flew both flags again after winning the 400 metres.
The decision (by Prime Minister Paul Keating) to make the Aboriginal flag a
national flag was opposed by the Liberal Opposition at the time, with John
Howard making a statement on 4 July 1995 that "any attempt to give the
flags official status under the Flags Act would rightly be seen by many in
the community not as an act of reconciliation but as a divisive gesture."
However since Howard took office in 1996, the flag has remained a
national flag. This decision was also criticised by Thomas himself, who said
the flag "doesn't need any more recognition"
In 1997 the Federal Court of Australia declared that Harold Thomas was
the owner of copyright in the design of the Australian Aboriginal flag, and
thus the flag has protection under Australian copyright law. Thomas had
sought legal recognition of his ownership and compensation following the
Federal Government's 1995 proclamation of the design. His claim was
contested by two others, Mr. Brown and Mr. Tennant. Since then, Thomas
has awarded rights solely to Carroll and Richardson Flags for the
manufacture and marketing of the flag.
The National Indigenous Advisory Committee campaigned for the
Aboriginal flag to be flown at Stadium Australia during the 2000 Summer
Olympics.[5] SOCOG announced that the Aboriginal flag would be flown at
Olympic venues. The flag was flown over the Sydney Harbour Bridge
during the march for reconciliation of 2000, and many other events.
On the 30th anniversary of the flag in 2001, thousands of people were
involved in a ceremony where the flag was carried from the Parliament of
South Australia to Victoria Square. Since 8 July 2002, after
recommendations of the Council's Reconciliation Committee, the
Aboriginal Flag has been permanently flown in Victoria Square and the
front of the Town Hall.

Government

In Aboriginal society every person (particular every initiated male) was

considered to be equal. No one had authority over anyone else in the
sense of ruling them, but this is not to say that there weren't leaders.
There are always leaders in any society - people who have personal
qualities that others admire. But there were no elected leaders in
Aboriginal society. There were also people who performed particular roles.
For example clever men also known as Koradjis and as Doctors by
Europeans, had or acquired special skills and were considered to be
authorities on certain matters.
There were leaders known as Elders. People whom others listened to,
asked for advice and generally obeyed when they issued orders. The
Elders were considered to be wise in knowledge of the Dreamtime the law
and the lore's of the tribe. An Elder was usually a male but gray hair and
old age were not the only criteria to be an Elders. In fact some elderly
people were not considered to be Elders.
To understand the role of the Elders it is necessary to understand that the
Aborigines lived in small family groups also known as clans, bands and
sub-tribes. Within the immediate family groups, the eldest males and
females were treated with respect and acknowledged as leaders in the
sense that they made decisions about the family. For example they settled
disputes and decided when the group would move camp to another area.
When a number of blood-line families lived together it is likely that the
Elder of the group was the person considered by the members to be the
wisest of the older people.
In large groups which may have been comprised of several hundred
people, a number of Elders met to make decisions on behalf of the group.
This has become known as an Elder's Council, but it wasn't a council in the
sense of being a form of government. Instead such councils met for the
purpose of conducting initiation, marriage and burial ceremonies
In traditional Aboriginal society females were not considered to be Elders.
However, older females often acted as midwives and as authorities on
other matters relevant to their gender. The role of female Elders today, as
spokespersons for groups, appears to be a phenomena of the 20th
century.

Law
The Aborigines had a number of laws that governed their society. They
ranged from family discipline (whereby children and others were expected
to conform and behave to a code of conduct) to laws about trespassing,
food taboos, marriage laws or regulations and breaches of acceptable
behavior such as rape, murder and stealing.
The source of the laws were Dreamtime stories that told of the behavior of
men, woman and children (sometimes in allegorical forms of animals, birds
or reptiles - etc. in which the perpetrators actions were punished by being
beaten, speared or by banishment.

Games

Aboriginal boys and girls played a number of games such as running,

wrestling, climbing, throwing and ball games. No doubt they were fun to
play but they all had a serious purpose. They were not simply for
amusement.
Kicking balls made from grass or fur bound with vines taught people
agility, but they also had to effect of forming individuals into teams which
taught them cooperation and working with others.
Throwing sticks was a form of preparation for spear throwing. Drawing
animal tracks in the earth trained children to observe their environment
and provided them with the skills necessary to catch food.
Digging games trained people to collect food such as yams; climbing
games enabled people to develop other survival skills - the main purpose
behind all the games that Aboriginal children played.

Dance
Aborigines held a corroboree in which there were elements of music, song
and movement that imitated or replicated animal movements, hunting
prowess, battles or ceremonies of initiation that had been conducted for
thousands of years. Corroborees are part of Aboriginal culture. They were
not simply dances, but were highly significant events and belong to the
Australian Aborigines.
A corroboree is a ceremonial meeting of Australian Aborigines. The word
was coined by the European settlers of Australia in imitation of the
Aboriginal word caribberie. At a corroboree Aborigines interact with the
Dreamtime through dance, music and costume. Many ceremonies act out
events from the Dreamtime. Many of the ceremonies are sacred and
people from outside a community are not permitted to participate or
watch.
In the northwest of Australia, corroboree is a generic word to define
theatrical practices as different from ceremony. Whether it be public or
private, ceremony is for invited guests. There are other generic words to
describe traditional public performances: juju and kobbakobba for
example. In the Pilbara, corroborees are yanda or jalarra. Across the
Kimberley the word junba is often used to refer to a range of traditional
performances and ceremonies.
Corroboree and ceremony are strongly connected but different. In the
1930s Adolphus Elkin wrote of a public pan-Aboriginal dancing "tradition of
individual gifts, skill, and ownership" as distinct from the customary
practices of appropriate elders guiding initiation and other ritual practices
(Elkin 1938:299). Corroborees are open performances in which everyone
may participate taking into consideration that the songs and dances are
highly structured requiring a great deal of knowledge and skill to perform.
Corroboree is a generic word to explain different genres of performance
which in the northwest of Australia include balga, wangga, lirrga, junba,
ilma and many more. Throughout Australia the word corroboree embraces
songs, dances, rallies and meetings of various kinds. In the past a
corroboree has been inclusive of sporting events and other forms of skill
display. It is an appropriated English word that has been reappropriated to
explain a practice that is different to ceremony and more widely inclusive
than theatre or opera.

Music
The Australian Aborigines used a limited variety of implements to make
musical sounds. The didgeridoo (see separate listing) is probably the best
known, but others included rattles, clapping sticks and two boomerangs
clapped together. However they do not appear to have used drums. The
exception may be the Torres Strait Islander people. Another instrument
that wasn't used, was a flute or whistle.
The melodies, tunes, harmonies and rhythms of Aboriginal music included
traditional ceremonial songs that were handed down from generation to
generation. It was very important in Aboriginal thinking, to replicate the
songs that had been first played and sung by the ancestors in the
Dreamtime. When the traditional music and songs were used, living men
considered themselves to be in the Dreamtime. Particularly during
initiation ceremonies.
However 'new songs' were created from time to time. They told of
important events in the history of the tribe. Events such as great battles or
hunting expeditions. Other songs and music were for general amusement
or entertainment and early European observations of the Aborigines
included camp life where the people played games and sang songs around
their camp fires.

Art and Design

Symbols of Creation
 Spirals of Sacred Geometry

Snake - DNA - Twins

Tattoo

The Aborigines 'decorated' their bodies with personal decorations that

included pipe-clay and other e symbols that conveyed messages designs
or patterns on their arms, legs and upper body - particularly at ceremonial
times. The patters were not random. In other words they were symbols
that conveyed messages e.g., they represented the totems of individuals
or denoted information about the tribe itself. The Aborigines often used
the fat of animals to cover their bodies to protect them from insects such
as mosquitoes.
Some of the early Europeans considered that this practice 'gave them a
most unpleasant odor'. No doubt it did, but it also provided effective
protection against insect stings. Throughout the country various tribes
used animal bones, fish bones and feathers in their hair and in the Sydney,
Illawarra and Shoalhaven district the men wore a bone or piece of wood
through their nose. A hole was cut through their nose during initiation and
distinguished the members of the tribe from other tribes.

Death
Death was always a time of sorrow and supernatural fear among
traditional ATSI people. Wailing or crying was a common occurrence
among the mourners who often painted their bodies with pipe clay, red
ochre, or charcoal when a relative or friend died. In some districts people
wore a head covering made of feathers. Others beat their bodies with
sticks or clubs, or cut themselves with shells or stone knives to cause
bleeding. In these instances the period of sorrow or mourning, was
considered to be at an end when their wounds were healed.
Relatives and close friends often sat beside a grave of a deceased person,
but this was related to their superstitious beliefs. Sitting beside a grave -
sometimes shaded with a hut or covering to provide shelter for the
mourner or mourners - involved ensuring that the deceased person's spirit
had gone to the 'sky camp' or to its spirit-place. Obviously it is impossible
to say 'how' they knew or considered when this happened. However after
the mourning period was completed, a deceased person's name was never
mentioned again. This often involved inventing new words for totems but
was based on their superstitious beliefs in a personal spirit and ghosts.
The belief in a personal spirit was based on the Dreamtime stories that
told the people that birth was the result of a spirit-child entering a
woman's body. Or in some parts of the country, birth had been an act of
the creators. For example in Arnham Land the Djanggau Sisters (who were
considered to be daughters of the Sun and arrived in the area in a bark
canoe with their brother Bralgu)created the land and gave birth to the
first-people to live there. In other words birth and death were great
mysteries involving supernatural beings.
The people also believed that a person's spirit could visit living people to
harm or warn them of danger. This usually resulted in a 'inquiry' about the
death of a person who was considered to have died prematurely or in
unusual circumstances. The inquiry - usually undertaken in consultation
with an Elder or a Clever Man - looked for actions undertaken by some
person that had caused the death of an individual. Any culprit was
severely punished. The belief in a person spirit also led the people to take
great precautions in the burial or cremation of the deceased.

Reincarnation

A number of difference 'races' of people believe or have believed that

when a person dies, their soul (or inner spirit) is born again - in the form of
an animal, bird, reptile, fish or as another human being. The Eora /
Dharawal Aborigines believed in transmigration also known as
transmutation or metephsychosis. For example during the 1830s Quaker
James Backhouse toured the Illawarra district and recorded that some
Aboriginal men were mortified when some Europeans shot and killed some
dolphins. The Aborigines of the area believed that after death, their
warriors became dolphins. This belief was bolstered by the habit of
dolphins to herd fish and to protect people from shark attacks.
Another example of the belief in reincarnation was given by David Collins
who noted that when a European was about to shoot a raven, an Aborigine
stepped into the firing line to stop him from doing this because 'him
brother'. In other words the bird was the man's totem and he was
compelled to do everything possible to make sure that the raven wasn't
killed.

Spiritual

Aborigial people are spiritual though they had no formal religion.

The word spirit has many different meanings. For example it can be used
to refer to the immaterial part of a human being often called his or her
soul or to the personality of people when they are said to have a
courageous or cowardly spirit. Or to describe qualities of people or (other)
animals when they are said to be high spirited. Spirit can also refer to
supernatural beings such as a deity (god) or to evil manifestation such as
ghosts.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians believed in a number of
spirits. In particular to ancestral spirits; a personal spirit; animal spirits,
deceased spirits or ghosts and evil spirits. Their beliefs were founded - like
every other aspect of their life - on Dreamtime myths which informed
them that their world had been created by was filled with the
supernatural. This was something to be taken notice of and was the basis
of them being very superstitious people.
Animal Spirits: During the Dreamtime the creators made spirits of every
living creature including that of every animal, bird, reptile, insect and form
of marine life (etc). Wherever they rested the creators left the spirits of
living creatures behind them. This was the origin of life. The Aborigines
believed they were intrinsically linked to every other 'species' because of
the actions of the creators. They also believed that it was their personal
responsibility to ensure the continuation of 'animal' life through the
concept of taking care. This involved the singing of songs and performing
of ceremonies which were believed to ensure the continuation of the birth
of each species.
During the Dreamtime the creators had metamorphosed into various
forms of animals, birds and other species. Individuals were linked to the
creators through totemic relationships and did not eat their personal
totem. To do so would be a form of cannibalism. The practice had the
effect of providing a safe sanctuary for different species.
ATSI people also believed that particular animal spirits could harm living
people. For example they believed that killing a willy-wagtail would result
in the spirit of this bird becoming angry and to the creation of storms of
violence which could destroy others.
Evil Spirits: A number of Dreamtime stories related stories of evil spirits.
One Queensland story recorded by A.W. Howitt told of a group who went
to hunt and fish leaving behind two boys in camp, with instructions not to
leave the camp: The boys played about for a time in the camp, and then
getting tired of it, went down to the beach where a Thugine came out of
the sea, and being always on the watch for unprotected children, caught
the two boys and turned them into rocks that now stand between Double
Island Point and Inskip Point and have deep water close to them. 'Here you
see', the old men used to say, 'the result of not paying attention to what
you are told by your elders'."
The Thugine mentioned in this story is one of hundreds of evil spirits
whose evil deeds were recorded in stories and songs. Along the south-east
coast of New South Wales evil spirits were and are known as Goonges.
Generally speaking contemporary Aboriginal people still believe in these
spirits. For example if they go to a particular area they believe they must
be invited to stay there; if they are not welcome they will feel this and to
remain there under these circumstances will result in being punished.
Punishment may mean death or injury and this may extend to other
members of a family. Some areas are forbidden to women because the
male spirits that are believed to live there will punish them if they disobey
the trespassing laws.
Beliefs in spirits and ghosts among Aboriginal Australians was common to
all tribes throughout the continent, although there were a number of
variations in the actual names that were used to describe them.
Contextually the beliefs were one aspect of Aboriginal culture and need to
be understood from their perspective. Modern day Western understanding
tends to 'see' body, mind and spirit as separate entities, which we
somehow or other manage to unite into concepts of person or oneness.
This understanding can lead to skepticism about spirit as this has largely
become associated with religious beliefs. Traditional Aborigines did not
think this way. They certainly understood the separate concepts of body
and spirit, but in such a way that they seen as being united with other
people and every other living creature, in a unique oneness. This applied
to the past, present and future in an ontology (philosophy) that humanism,
rationalism and science cannot understand.
The Australian Aborigines believed that the land they lived in (and owned)
along with all it contained (every rock, tree, waterhole and cave), was
created for them during the Dreamtime.
In some areas of the continent the creators were all-powerful figures such
as Biami. In other areas creation was the result of the actions of ancestral
heroes and heroines. In Central Australia the Tnatantja Pole was
responsible for forming mountain ranges and valleys.

Magic

Because Aboriginal society was very spiritual (in the sense that spirits
were thought to have made the land and were responsible for birth and
sometimes death),it is not surprising that Aboriginal people 'believed' in
magic.
It was practiced in a number of ways. For example through the pointing of
the bone (sometimes called singing someone) which was believed to
cause death. People who had been 'pointed' often died, not as a result of
the magic itself, but because of their belief that they would die ie., death
through superstition or imagination. In the same way, people were 'cured'
of sickness / illness through the use of magic stones and crystals.
Initiations

Boys began a period of initiation from when they were 7 or 8 years of age.
The first initiation ceremonies they attended were designed to make them
independent on their mothers and other females. At other ceremonies and
meetings with older males they were informed about the history and
customs of the tribe and were taught how to survive and to be dependent
on other males. Initiation continued over a number of years and boys
gradually acquired knowledge through learning stories, attending
ceremonies and through education by initiated males.
Pain endurance was an important part of initiation of males and was
considered to be manly. In theEora / Dharawal tribe teenage boys
attended a tooth evulsion ceremony when a front tooth was knocked out
during the ceremony. In some tribes boys were circumcised at puberty as
a pain endurance test.
Initiation was also a time of obedience as boys were expected to comply
with food and other taboos during this time. For example Louisa Atkinson
reported in her reminiscences of knowing the Aborigines of the south coast
of New South Wales (published as A Voice in the Country: Sydney Mail
19th September 1863), that two boys of the Picton area disobeyed a food
taboo and were punished by death.
'For some time the lads are not permitted to mingle with the tribe, or eat
particular food. The tooth is knocked out by the point of a
boomerang...should they disobey the regulations deadly consequences
ensue. This report goes on to report that two initiates killed and ate a
duck. Mullich (a Koradji or Clever Man of the area)discovered what they
had done: in consequence the lads were surprised when asleep, stunned
by a blow of a club, and an insidious poison, administered to them, under
which they sank in about three months.
Girls did not participate in initiation ceremonies. At puberty they were
married and went to live with their husband. However, their mothers and
other women prepared them in knowledge about their bodies and sexual
intercourse. Ceremonies included ritual bathing, separation from the main
tribal group for varying periods of time and food taboos.

Elders

Traditional Aboriginal people had great respect for older people such as
Grandfathers and Grandmothers. However old age, seniority or maturity
were not sufficient for a person to be considered an Elder.
Elders (who were usually males), were people who were considered to be
wise in tribal knowledge and worldly matters. They were leaders of family
or kinship groups who made decisions about moving camp, when boys
would be initiated, when girls would be married and settled disputes
among other members of the social unit.
Senior females were not considered to be Elders in traditional Aboriginal
society. However they did play important roles in tribal matters. For
example they decided when girls would undergo rituals in preparation for
marriage, conducted or organized ceremonies including those that males
and children participated in (but not initiation ceremonies). They also
acted as midwives and story-tellers.
Today some Aboriginal people call themselves Elders but are not
recognized by traditional people. Sometimes because they are too young
to be Elders or live in areas that is not their traditional land. There are also
a number of female Elders in society today, but this seems to be an
adaptation of the traditional leadership laws. However Aboriginal laws are
not and probably never have been static and there is a great need today,
for female Aborigines to be involved in achieving rights, recognition and
reforms for all ATSI people.
One important aspect of traditional Aboriginal life was the custom of being
led by Elders (see Elders). However, Governor Lachlan Macquarie set
about changing Aboriginal society by awarding some Aboriginal people
with a Brass plates and calling them Kings. This was a breach of traditional
tribal laws, but the people who accepted these titles were those 1) who
were considered by the authorities to have shown an inclination to accept
the new way of life under British Law or 2) to those who had led
exploration parties.
Britain was of course based on a monarchy and various Governors and
settlers such as Alexander Berry in the Shoalhaven district also rewarded
some Aborigines with the title of King. Females were not awarded brass
plates as Queens. But the men who accepted the title of King were eager
to have it known that their wives were Queens and their children Princes
and Princesses. Circa 1810 to 1820 (the period when Governor Macquarie
was in charge of the colony), there were many inter-tribal disputes over
the awarding of brass plates. In other words the traditional people of
various areas resented those Aborigines who did not belong to their tribe,
or who had not become Elders, accepting European titles and being styled
as Kings over their traditional lands.(also see Brass Plates on our Historical
Pages which includes a photograph).

Lore
Aboriginal lore was an important and vital aspect of community life. Lore
means 'the facts and stories about a particular subject or topic'. For
example Aboriginal people learned their 'laws' from those Dreamtime
stories that informed the listeners about acceptable and unacceptable
behavior together with the punishment offenders received.
The lore's / laws were serious as they were considered to have originated
from the ancestors and therefore were considered to be the law-givers or
law-makers and law was an important aspect of Aboriginal life. On the
other hand there were those early colonists who believed that the
Aborigines were a lawless race of people. They accused them (as some do
today), of having a genetic 'fault' as natural thieves and murderers.
It is certainly true that the Aborigines of the Sydney district stole axes and
other weapons from the colonists. But history records this as happening
after their own weapons and tools were stolen by the convicts (who sold
them to sailors who took them back to England to sell them). This is not a
justification. It is a simple fact that the Aborigines considered it quid pro
quo ie., good enough to steal from those who stole from them.
They also stole corn, potatoes and other food from the early settlers.
Perhaps they were starving. On the other hand the early colonists were
struggling to survive in the colony and the Aborigines may have stolen
their food as a strategy to drive them out of their land. Murder was also
exacted by the Aborigines. They believed that anyone who shot one of
them should be punished and exacted this on the Europeans.
Aboriginal lore (in songs and stories about a particular topic) also taught
and guided the people to survive. Some stories informed them about the
life cycle of birds, animals and insects. Others (often called Songlines)
were like oral road maps and identified tracks that the people followed
when moving around their tribal territory or when visiting other tribes.

Message Sticks

Aboriginal lore / law required a person who did not 'belong' to a particular
area, to be invited or granted permission, to enter into the territory of a
tribe. In other words, he or she could not simply wander into the land of
another tribe. To do so invited hostility that could result in the death of the
individual(for trespassing).
When someone wanted to visit another tribe, they carried a message stick
- a piece of bark or timber that was decorated with symbols. These
symbols have sometimes been said to have been a written form of
language. This is not correct. But they were a form of passport that
identified the intent or authority of the bearer and 'communication' took
place verbally (or by sign language), between the 'stranger' and those
whom s/he wanted to visit. "The passing of a boundary line by the blacks
of another territory was considered as an act of hostility against the
denizens of the invaded grounds, and wars were frequently the sequence
of such transgressions." (The Aborigines of Australia, Roderick J Flanagan,
1888, pp 46)
When the first European or white explorers entered the territory of a tribe,
they were considered by the people to be trespassing. This was an offense
to the Aborigines who bitterly resented the intrusion and particularly the
felling of trees, the shooting and scaring away of animals and birds and
the attitude of disrespect that was shown to the people who considered
that they owned their land

Caves
To protect themselves from the weather, the Aborigines of Australia often
used caves or overhanging rocks, as dwelling places and as burial sites.
They often decorated rock with paintings, drawings and etchings using
white, red and other colored earth, clay or charcoal.
In the Kurnell area (where James Cook and the First Fleet first landed at
Botany Bay) there is a cave that has become known as Skeleton Cave.
This was used during the smallpox outbreak in 1789 to house victims of
the disease. Many died there and the name given to the area is literally
true. There are also other cave in the Sutherland Shire that contain
skeletons. In the Royal National Park some of the caves are burial sites. In
other parts of the Shire, people were buried while sheltering in them from
heavy rain. Cave-ins trapped an unknown number of people. One of these
sites is Turriel Point.
Aboriginals, the keepers of this land which we know call Australia, were
living in Australia thousands of years before the first white settlers, so it is
natural to assume that this race of people would have recorded a history
as diverse as any other. The new sacred site which was discovered only a
short time ago, in an unrevealed location contains some of the oldest rock
art known to man. Carbon dating has now proven that this site is older
than the caves discovered, in France which were, the oldest known to
man.
One of the greatest gists mankind possesses is his ability to express
himself, by art. and some of this expression finds itself on "cave walls"
dotted around the globe. Take the time to look at this art and reflect back
to what the person, who made this was trying to describe. Cave art can be
found all around the world. visit back often to be kept up to date.

This particular figure was discovered in Victoria Australia and depicts a

"human" like figure. Notice the "helmet", "gloves", "boots", and body
attire.
Rock Art of Ancestral figures note: the "antennas" on the 2 figures behind.

These 2 figures represent the "spirit beings" called the Lightning Brothers
Tjabuinji and Jagtjadbulla
A picture of a spirit being, called a Quinkan a being which lured men to it,
a trickster being which as Aboriginal lore goes would dehumanise you.

These figures are named the Wandjina they are always represented by a
large band around the head as well as large eyes etc. They are the most
popular figures to be drawn by the Aboriginals.

Bora Ground

The Aborigines considered some places to be sacred. In some parts of

Australia the tribes called the places where initiation ceremonies were
held, bora grounds. They were called Buna grounds in other parts of the
country, but the sites were not randomly chosen and were used for
thousands of years by the tribe. The bora ground itself was identified by
two circles that were drawn on the ground or were formed by rocks or
pebbles. The circles were connected by a path and other symbols were
drawn into the earth or carved into trees near the grounds. These symbols
were highly significant in ceremonies and also warned people (women and
uninitiated youths and strangers), to stay away from the area.

Shaman

Almost all of the Koori (preferred name of Australian aboriginies) shaman

are initiated within one large group, called "The Dreamers". This is due to
the fact that Australia has some of the strongest, and chaotic magic,
around. All of the shaman are needed to put a check on that chaos. A
Koori shaman takes only a small penalty for some tasks when astrally
perceiving. As a trade off they are unable to mask. Any magician (full or
adept) will notice this, whether or not he can assence. Mundanes even can
tell when one of The Dreamers has entered the room. A Koori shaman will
rarely travel outside of Australia, the need is too great in the outback for
that.
White Australian shamans cannot join the dreamers, but some are
associated with the koori group.
The Australian aboriginal shamans - "clever men" or "men of high degree"
- described "celestial ascents" to meet with the "sky gods" such as
Baiame, Biral, Goin and Bundjil. Many of the accounts of ritualistic
initiation bare striking parallels to modern day UFO contactee and
abduction lore. The aboriginal shamanic "experience of death and rising
again" in the initiation of tribal "men of high degree" finds some
fascinating parallels with modern day UFO abduction lore. The "chosen
one" (either voluntarily or spontaneously) is set upon by "spirits",
ritualistically "killed", and then experiences a wondrous journey (generally
an aerial ascent to a strange realm) to met the "sky god." He is restored to
life -- a new life as the tribal shaman.
Ritual death and resurrection, abduction by powerful beings, ritual
removal or rearrangement of body parts, symbolic disembowelment,
implanting of artifacts, aerial ascents and journeys into strange realms,
alien tutelage and enlightenment, personal empowerment, and
transformation - these and many other phenomena are recurring elements
of the extraordinary shamanic tradition.
The Australian aboriginal shamans - "clever men" or "men of high degree"
-- described "celestial ascents" to meet with the "sky gods" such as
Baiame, Biral, Goin and Bundjil. Many of the accounts of ritualistic
initiation bare striking parallels to modern day UFO contactee and
abduction lore. The aboriginal shamanic "experience of death and rising
again" in the initiation of tribal "men of high degree" finds some
fascinating parallels with modern day UFO abduction lore. The "chosen
one" (either voluntarily or spontaneously) is set upon by "spirits",
ritualistically "killed", and then experiences a wondrous journey (generally
an aerial ascent to a strange realm) to met the "sky god." He is restored to
life - a new life as the tribal shaman.
Ritual death and resurrection, abduction by powerful beings, ritual
removal or rearrangement of body parts, symbolic disembowelment,
implanting of artifacts, aerial ascents and journeys into strange realms,
alien tutelage and enlightenment, personal empowerment, and
transformation - these and many other phenomena are recurring elements
of the extraordinary shamanic tradition.

Games

Aboriginal Dreamtime

www.crystalinks.com