A LITTLE HISTORY
Originally, the Aborigine came from somewhere in Asia and have been in Australia for at least 60,000 years. Their first settlements probably occurred during an era of lowered sea levels, when there was an almost continuous land bridge between Asia and Australia with the use of some sort of watercrafts.

At the time of the first European settlement in 1788, the Aborigines occupied and utilized the entire continent and had adapted successfully to a large range of ecological and climatic conditions, from wet temperate and tropical rain forests to extremely arid deserts. Population densities ranged from about 1 to 8 square miles per person in fertile riverine and coastal areas to more than 35 square miles per person in the vast interior deserts. Estimates of the Aboriginal population at the time varied from 300,000 to more than 1,000,000. More than 200 different languages were spoken, and most Aborigines were bilingual or multilingual.

The Aborigines were hunters and gatherers. They grew no crops and did not domesticate animals (apart from the dingo), so they were directly dependent on their natural environment. Although nomadic, they had a very strong sense of attachment to sites and areas in territory where most of their hunting and gathering was done. Because of the need to try and balance their population with the available resources most of the time people were dispersed into small food-gathering groups. Several times a year, when food resources permitted, large gatherings would be organized, and much of the social and religious business of the society would be transacted over a 2-3 week period of intense social activity.

Before Aboriginal life was transformed, as a result of the European invasion, there were two basic patterns of movement. In fertile regions there were well-established camping areas, close to water and having important mythological associations, where people always camped at certain times of the year. The second pattern involved a much larger territory in arid or desert areas across which Aborigines moved from waterhole to waterhole along well-defined tracks in small family groups. The whole camp moved and rarely established bases. Only in good seasons and at sizeable permanent waters was it possible for a large number of people to remain for an extended period.

THE ABORIGINAL FLAG

Adopted on the 14 July 1995, but in use since 12 July 1971, the Aboriginal Flag was designed by Harold Thomas, an artist and an Aboriginal. The design and colours of the flag represents the following: Black represents the people. Yellow represents the sun and the giver of life. Red represents both the earth and the blood shed during the struggles between Aboriginal people and Europeans.

ABORIGINAL ART & EXPRESSION
Sacred rituals were a great way for the Aboriginals to express themselves especially in dramatic performances with stylized posturing and complicated dance movements. Less intense but sometimes almost as elaborate were the nonsacred ceremonies, the "Corroborees", designed for entertainment and relaxation. Songs ranged in style from the short verses of central Australia, which were made up of three, four, or more words repeated in sequence, to the more elaborate songs of northeastern Arnhem Land, which were long verses building up complex word pictures through symbolic allusion and imagery. There was no poetry in terms of spoken verse as such, but there were chants, some of them outstandingly beautiful.

Instrumental music in the north was provided by the "Didgeridoo" and "Clapping Sticks". In the southern and central regions "Boomerangs" or clubs were rhythmically beaten together or pounded on the ground.

Oral literature was rich. In addition to sacred mythology, there were ordinary stories and tales - "Dreamtime" - either historically true or presumed to be true. Some existed in several versions, depending on the situation in which they were told and on the individual background of the storyteller.

Each cultural area had its own distinctive style of art. "Tjurunga" art, consisting of incised patterns on flat stones or wooden boards, was representative of a large area of Australia.

In central Australia, body decoration and elaborate head dresses on ritual occasions, using feather down, blood, and ochres, were especially striking. Everywhere, sacred ritual provided the incentive for making a large variety of objects. In western Arnhem Land, "Maraiin" objects, realistic and stylized carved representations of various natural species, were made. The "Rangga", or ceremonial poles, of eastern Arnhem Land, many of durable hardwood, bore ochre designs and long pendants of feathered twine.

Paintings in ochre on sheets of bark were indigenous to Arnhem Land, although examples could be found in the Kimberleys and in South Eastern Australia. They were used mostly on the initiation ground for the instruction of novices.

In western Arnhem Land, naturalistic patterns showing figures against an open background were made and there was also a unique kind of art that depicted the internal organs of animals and human beings. Also widespread were cave and rock paintings or engravings, and sand paintings associated with desert rituals.

DID YOU KNOW........

© Readers Digest Publishing
that Aboriginal culture is the oldest continuing culture on Earth?
© Readers Digest Publishing

that Aborigines, like this man from the TanamiDesert in the Northern Territory, are keeping alive traditions that go back tens of thousands of years?

© Readers Digest Publishing
that in the late 18th Century there were more than 300,000 Australian Aborigines, by the early 20th century only an estimated 60,000 remained?

* that in the 1967 Australian government referendum, Indigenous Australians were allowed to become citizens of their own country?

* that there is no single Aboriginal culture because Aboriginal society is very diverse?

* that there are over 600 different Indigenous language groups in this country. Each tribe speaks their own language and there is over 600 dialects within each clan?

Some links on Aboriginal Australia
DoAustralia.com - Aboriginal Australia
All Australian website - Indigenous Australians