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The Aborigines
History
A lot of people when they think of Australia, is that it is mostly inhabited by white people.
Today this would be true, however they were not the first people on the Australian continent. In fact
they are not even indigenous. The first people to arrive on the continent, arrived some 40.000 years
ago from south east Asia. They spread all over the huge continent. These people are known as
Indigenous Australians, we know them more commonly as Aborigines.

Living and Culture

The Aborigines usually lived in desert, inland areas, the coast and Tasmania. The Aborigines who lived
in the desert or inland ate insects, birds, reptiles and mammals. They also ate lot of fruits. The
Aborigines at the coast ate roots fruits, small animals, reptiles, fish and shellfish. Especially the
witchetty grub is a main food of the Aborigines because it contains much proteins. You can eat it raw or
grilled. Supposedly it should taste nutty.

Aborigines of Australia

Aborigines and Torres Strait Islander (Natives of the Torres Strait Islands) shall be combined as
Indigenous Australians. Both tribes believe in Dreamtime, although the history's are different.

Ayers Rock

Ayers Rock, or how they call it Uluru, is a huge chunk of sandstone and a very important symbol and a
big part of religion for the Aborigines. It is very holy for them. They don't talk about the history of the
Uluru, it's a secret of them.
It also is one of the most impressive landmarks in Australia. Today it stands 348 meters above the flat
desert, and 863 meters above the sea level. In the caves of Uluru there are many cave paintings of
ancestors of the Aborigines, which lived there one day. In the paintings you can see circles, animals
and much more. It's very nice and you can imagine how life was before thousands of years for the
Aboriginal people of Australia.

Didgeridoo
The Didgeridoo is an often used and holy musical instrument of the Aborigines. About their religious
beliefs symbolizes the sound of the Didgeridoos the sound of the Outback. With that, they are e.g.
mimicking the call of an Emu, a thunderbolt or the creaking of a tree.

Pale Ghosts
Aborigines believe, that sometimes, souls are reborn and appear as a pale ghost. In the beginning, the
Aborigines believed, that the first Europeans would be the reborn ghosts of their dead bodies. That's
why they call them Janga (Pale Ghosts). So the Europeans were received happily, and the Aborigines
showed them where to find water sources and good storage places.

Horrible Bunyips

Bunyips are big mystic creatures out of the mythology of the Australians. They say you can find them in
rivers, streams,moors and water holes. They're eating humans and animals, that are daring to go in to
the near of them. They're also letting horrible screams out in the middle of the night. Aborigines are
very afraid and scared of them, that's why they're not going to any water holes or wherever the Bunyips
could stay. Some scientists suspect, that it is a real animal called Diprotodon, which extincted
25.000 years ago.

Body Paint

Colors and symbols of the body paint are different to each Aborigine tribe. The motives and designs are
symbolizing the social status of each persons relationship to the family, specific ancestors, and
landscapes. The respective Person is not allowed to draw or change the motives by themselves. The

designs are by strict rules required.

Life expectancy
Almost 50% all over the male and more than 1/3 all over the female Aborigines are dying before they're
45 years old. Aborigines are living on average 10 years less than the rest of the Australian population.
Including reasons are:
-poverty
-low state of health and food
-high unemployment rate
-low level of education
-bad housing conditions

Eradication
200 years ago, as the first settlers landed in Australia, there were about 314.000 and 750.000
Aboriginals. The number reduced to about 93.000 because of the many diseases, boundary leakage
and killings by the new settlers. Today there are living about 700.000 Aboriginals in Australia, that
means it is just 3% of the total population.

Katja Laubenstein 9c