Indigenous Australians
Australian Aborigines are the indigenous peoples of Australia. Their ancestors probably arrived in Australia just over 50,000 years ago, although the date remains uncertain.
History
Pre-colonisation
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people are the indigenous (native) people of Australia. At the time of first contact with the European colonists in the late 18th century, most Aborigines were hunter-gatherers with a complex oral culture and spiritual values based upon reverence for the land and a belief in the Dreamtime. The Dreamtime is at once the ancient time of creation and the present day reality of dreaming. (Also see Aboriginal mythology).
The exact timing of the arrival of the Aborigines' ancestors has been a matter of dispute among archaeologists. The most common view is that their ancestors came from southeast Asia more than 50,000 years ago. This means there have been more than 1250 generations in Australia. The 50,000 BP date is based on a few sites in northern Australia dated using thermoluminescence. A large number of sites have been radiocarbon dated to around 40,000 BP, leading some researchers to doubt the accuracy of the thermoluminescence technique. Thermoluminescence dating of the Jinmium site in the Northern Territory suggested a date of 120,000 BP. Although this result received wide press coverage, it has been seriously questioned by most archaeologists.
The Aboriginal people lived through many climatic changes and adapted successfully to the different environments. There is much debate about the degree to which Aboriginal people modified their environment. One controversy revolves around the role of Aborigines in the extinction of the marsupial megafauna. Some argue that natural climate change killed the megafauna. Others claim that, because the megafauna were large and slow, they were easy prey for Aboriginal hunters. A third possibility is that Aboriginal modification of the environment indirectly led to their extinction.
Aboriginal modification of the environment, particularly through the use of fire, is also controversial. It is well known that Aborigines used fire for a variety of purposes -- to encourage the growth of edible plants and fodder for prey, to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires, to make travel easier, to eliminate pests, for ceremonial purposes, and just to "clean up country." There is disagreement, however, about the extent to which Aboriginal burning led to large-scale changes in vegetation patterns.
Despite their reputation as stone-age relics, there is evidence of substantial change in Aboriginal culture over time. Rock painting at several locations in northern Australia has been shown to consist of a sequence of different styles linked to different historical periods. Harry Lourandos has been the leading proponent of the theory that a period of hunter-gatherer intensification occurred between 5000 and 3000 BP. Intensification involved an increase in human manipulation of the environment (for example, the construction of fish traps in Victoria), population growth, an increase in trade between groups, a more elaborate social structure, and other cultural changes. A shift in stone tool technology, involving the development of smaller and more intricate points and scrapers, occurred around this time.
There were a great many different Aboriginal groups, each with their own individual culture, belief structure, and language (approximately 200 different languages at the time of European contact). These cultures overlapped to a greater or lesser extent, and evolved over time. Lifestyles varied a great deal, and the stereotyped image of a proud and naked hunter standing one-legged in the red sand of the central Australian desert cannot be applied across the board. In present-day Victoria, for example, there were two separate communities with an economy based on fish-farming in complex and extensive irrigated pond systems; one on the Murray River in the state's north, the other in the south-west near Hamilton, which traded with other groups from as far away as the Melbourne area.
British colonisation
The Aboriginal population was decimated by British colonisation which began in 1788. A combination of disease, loss of land (and thus food resources) and outright murder reduced the Aboriginal population by an estimated 90% during the 19th century and early 20th century. A wave of massacres and resistance followed the frontier. The last massacre was at Coniston in the Northern Territory in 1928. Poisoning of food and water has been recorded on several different occasions.
The number of violent deaths at the hands of whites is still the subject of a vigorous and politically-loaded debate, with some figures—notably Prime Minister John Howard—rejecting what Howard terms "the black-armband" view of Australian history. Figures of around 10,000 deaths have been advanced by historians such as Henry Reynolds. Historian Keith Windschuttle claims such numbers are not backed up by documentary evidence, finding evidence existing only for a much smaller number. Reynolds attacks Windschuttle's interpretation of the existing evidence, points out that documented proof that Windschuttle requires is unlikely to be available, and questions Windschuttle's rejection of other forms of evidence such as oral history.
Despite the prominence of the direct violence debate, loss of land was probably more significant as a killer, and there is no doubt that by far the major factor in the decline of Australia's Aboriginal population was disease.
In particular, chickenpox, smallpox, influenza, venereal diseases, and measles spread in waves throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Aboriginal people had no understanding of European diseases, and very little of the genetic resistance that Europeans had evolved over the centuries. It is estimated that about 90% of the Aboriginal population decline was the result of disease spreading in advance of the European colonists. As always with infectious diseases, the worst-hit communities were the ones with the greatest population densities where disease could spread more readily. Entire communities in the moderately fertile southern part of the continent simply vanished without trace, often before European settlers arrived or recorded their existence. The large fish-farming economy in south-west Victoria, for example, was entirely unknown to science until the turn of the 21st century, when investigations by a team of archaeologists working with and guided by surviving members of a local Aboriginal community began to unearth the foundations of houses and rediscover the irrigation system.
In the arid centre of the continent, where small communities were spread over a vast area, the population decline was less marked, and Aboriginal communities were able to continue in an approximation of their traditional lifestyle for considerably longer—in many cases, until the late 19th century and in a few instances well into the 20th.
Nevertheless, European settlers gradually made their way into the interior, appropriating small but vital parts of the land for their own exclusive use (waterholes and soaks in particular), and introducing sheep, rabbits and cattle, all three of which ate out previously fertile areas and degraded the ability of the land to carry the native animals that were vital to Aboriginal economies.
In general, the first European colonisers were welcomed, or at least not opposed, but there were violent conflicts from time to time frequently culminating in murder. In the Northern Territory, both isolated Europeans (usually travellers) and visiting Japanese fishermen continued to be speared to death on a semi-regular basis until the start of the Second World War in 1941. It is known that some European settlers in the centre and north of the country shot Aboriginal people during this period. It is reasonable to presume that many more Aboriginal people died than Europeans, but such events were seldom recorded and the number of murders is a matter for speculation.
The 20th century
Australian independence from Britain changed little in the relationship between Whites and Aborigines. As the European pastoral industries developed, several economic changes came about. The appropriation of prime land and the spread of European livestock over vast areas made a traditional Aboriginal lifestyle less viable, but also provided a ready alternative supply of fresh meat for those prepared to risk taking advantage of it.
As large sheep and cattle stations came to dominate outback Australia, Aboriginal men, women and children became a significant source of labour, usually on a voluntary basis but sometimes under conditions that amounted to virtual slavery. For European workers, life in the outback was harsh, dangerous and ill-paid. For Aboriginal workers it was usually worse yet, wages often being restricted to food and other basic items, particularly in the early years. Typically, an Aboriginal stockman could expect to earn half as much as a European doing the same job. This system lasted until the introduction of equal pay legislation in 1965, which—paradoxically—brought about widespread unemployment and yet more hardship.
(Several other northern industries, notably pearling, also employed Aboriginal workers.)
During the first half of the 20th century, native welfare boards were established in the various states. These instituted a policy of separating children from their parents based upon racial stereotyping. Pale-skinned children were forcibly removed, and Aboriginal parents often darkened up their children to keep them. This aspect of Aboriginal history is also open to considerable debate. See Stolen Generation.
The Australian Constitution originally did not permit Aborigines to be counted in the census, thereby effectively denying their right to vote. In 1967, a referendum was held to allow Indigenous Australians to be counted in the census and to allow the Federal Government to make laws for the benefit of Indigenous Australians. This referendum was successful with a huge majority (90.77%, the largest majority ever obtained by a referendum on any question in Australian history[1]) favouring the constitutional amendments.
Recent history
Many Aborigines now live in towns and cities around Australia, but a substantial number live in settlements (often located on the site of former church missions) in what are often remote areas of rural Australia. The health and economic difficulties facing both groups are substantial (for instance, life expectancy of Aboriginal people is often 20 years shorter than the wider Australian population, and alcoholism is a serious issue) and the root causes and solutions have been, again, contentious political issues.
The Australian government has begun a process it calls "Reconciliation". Some notable former Prime Ministers, such as Bob Hawke and Malcolm Fraser have made many symbolic gestures and speeches in support of respect for Aborigine culture. Many Aborigine leaders such as Isabell Coe reject such moves, demanding actual sovereignty instead.
In 1972, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy was established on the steps of Parliament House in Canberra, the Australian capital. The continuous protest has remained in place for over thirty years to demand sovereignty for the Aboriginal peoples.
In 1992, the Australian High Court handed down its decision in the Mabo Case, declaring the previous legal concept of terra nullius to be invalid. This decision legally recognised the presence of Indigenous Australians in Australia prior to British Settlement. Legislation was subsequently enacted and later amended to recognise Native Title claims over land in Australia.
In 1999 a referendum was held to change the Australian Constitution to include a preamble that, amongst other topics, recognise the occupation of Australia by Indigenous Australians prior to British Settlement. This referendum was defeated by a huge majority, though the recognition of indigenous Australians in the preamble was not a major issue in the preamble referendum discussion, and the preamble question attracted secondary attention compared to the question of becoming a republic (see republicanism in Australia) for more details on the 1999 referendum).
Most recently, in 2004, the Federal Government of Australia is proceeding with plans to abolish The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission—ATSIC— which had been Australia’s peak Indigenous organisation. Indigeous specific programs are being reintegrated with mainstream services. For more information on Indigenous issues from Koori people, have a look at KooriWeb
Prominent Aborigines
Note: some Aboriginal cultures consider the mentioning of deceased persons, whether in name or in image, to be taboo. In such cases, their first names are often substituted with the word 'Kumantjyai' (pronounced KU-MENT-JAY'). It is common for Australian media to give warnings prior to mentioning deceased Aboriginal persons.
- Politics and Public Service
- Arts (see also List of Australian Aboriginal musicians)
- Bronwyn Bancroft
- Ernie Dingo
- Albert Namatjira
- Deborah Mailman
- Sally Morgan
- Oodgeroo Noonuccal (Kath Walker)
- David Ngoombujarra an actor
- Religion
- David Unaipon (preacher; also inventor and writer)
- Historical
- Truganini — the last surviving full-blooded Tasmanian Aborigine
- Yagan — Western Australian leader in 1830's
- Bennelong
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A note on nomenclature
Most Aboriginal people had no name for themselves as a people before their encounter with Europeans in the 18th century, as only a few on the northern coast had ever encountered outsiders. The word aboriginal, in use in English since the 17th century to mean "first or earliest known, indigenous", was used in Australia as early as 1789; it was soon capitalised and became the standard name for indigenous Australians.
Strictly speaking Aboriginal is an adjective and Aborigine is a noun. It is therefore correct to refer either to Aboriginal Australians or Australian Aborigines, but not to Australian Aboriginals. This is partly because Aboriginal people increasingly dislike being called Aborigines. (Note that the once-common abbreviation Abo is highly offensive.) Today the preferred usages are Aboriginal People (as in "This is what Aboriginal people want") or Indigenous Australians.
A generally acceptable indigenous name for most of the Aboriginal people in New South Wales and Victoria is Koori or (Koorie). Aboriginal groups in other parts of Australia have their own names, such as Murri in southern Queensland, Noongar in southern Western Australia, Nunga in South Australia and Palawah (or Pallawah) in Tasmania. These names are not "tribal" but refer to the languages spoken (or once spoken) by many groups over large areas.
Aboriginal people dislike being called nomadic, as to them, this makes them sound primitive and barbaric.
See also
- List of Australian Aboriginal tribes
- Music of Australia
- Torres Strait Islanders
- Australian Aboriginal art
- The Dreamtime (Australian Aboriginal mythology)