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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.
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.
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
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
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
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.
Symbols of Creation
Spirals of Sacred Geometry
Tattoo
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
Spiritual
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.
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
Shaman
Games
Aboriginal Dreamtime
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