The first inhabitants of Australia were nomadic (wandering) people who reached the continent from Southeast Asia about 40,000 years ago. When Europeans settled in Australia at the end of the 18th century, they called these native inhabitants "aboriginals", meaning people who had lived there since the earliest times. Today there are about 160,000 aboriginals in Australia. Most live in cities, but a few thousand still try to follow a traditional way of life. They travel through the bush, hunting with spears and boomerangs (throwing sticks) and searching for food such as plants, grubs, and insects. They have few possessions and make everything they need from natural materials. This way of life does not change or harm the fragile environment of the Australian outback (the interior). The well-being of the land, and it's plants and animals are vital and sacred to the aboriginal peolpe.
Dreamtime: Aboriginal Australians believe that they have animal, plant, and human ancestors who created the world and everything in it. This process of creation is called Dreamtime. There are many songs and myths about Dreamtime, which generations of aboriginal people have passed down to their children.
Art: Aboriginal art is mostly about Dreamtime and is made as part of the ceremonies celebrating Dreamtime. Paintings of the people, spirits, and animals of Dreamtime cover sacred cliffs and rocks in tribal territories. The pictures are made in red and yellow ochre and white clay, and some are thousands of years old.
Urban Life: The majority of aboriginal Australians live in cities and towns. Some have benefitted from government education and aid programmes and have careers as teachers, doctors, and lawyers. Many, though, are poor and isolated from white society. They have lost touch with traditional aboriginal tribal ways, and because they do not fit neatly into white Australian society, they cannot share its benefits. However, there are now campaigns among urban aboriginal people to revive interest in the tribal culture of their ancestors.
Land Claims: When British settlers arrived in Australia, they seized sacred sites and other land which belonged to aboriginal people. With the help of aboriginal lawyers, aboriginal Australians campaigned to get the land back. In 1976, the Australian government agreed that aboriginal people have rights to their territories, and some land was returned.
Boomerangs: The curved returning boomerang is used only for sport. As well as the curved returning boomerang, aboriginal Australians use a straight, non-returning boomerang as a weapon for fighting and for hunting mammals such as kangaroos.
Find out more:
Australia
History of Australia
Australian Wildlife
Festivals and Feasts
Myths and Legends
Nomadic people
Urban Life: The majority of aboriginal Australians live in cities and towns. Some have benefitted from government education and aid programmes and have careers as teachers, doctors, and lawyers. Many, though, are poor and isolated from white society. They have lost touch with traditional aboriginal tribal ways, and because they do not fit neatly into white Australian society, they cannot share its benefits. However, there are now campaigns among urban aboriginal people to revive interest in the tribal culture of their ancestors.
Land Claims: When British settlers arrived in Australia, they seized sacred sites and other land which belonged to aboriginal people. With the help of aboriginal lawyers, aboriginal Australians campaigned to get the land back. In 1976, the Australian government agreed that aboriginal people have rights to their territories, and some land was returned.
Boomerangs: The curved returning boomerang is used only for sport. As well as the curved returning boomerang, aboriginal Australians use a straight, non-returning boomerang as a weapon for fighting and for hunting mammals such as kangaroos.
Find out more:
Australia
History of Australia
Australian Wildlife
Festivals and Feasts
Myths and Legends
Nomadic people
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