Aborigines

Who are they?

Aborigines•“First Australians”

•Aborigine: Latin meaning “from the beginning”

When did they

come?

When? Debated!• 20,000-60,000 years

ago• Maybe up to 100,000 years ago

Where did they come from?

How did they

come?

Disagreement…•Land bridge

• Island Hoppers

Aboriginal Clans• Clan – language group who

owned a section of land• 100 people• One or two extended

families (bands)• Bands hunted and gathered

together• Met with other clans • Totem poles – sign of

spiritual link to the land

Aboriginal Dreamtime

• Stories and customs relating and explaining creation

• Example: Wayambeh

This image from the archives of LIFE magazine first appeared on

December 12, 1955 Australian Aborigines Filled with the Spirit of

the Kangaroo, Dancing to Honor the Sacred Marsupial

 

“The Walkabout”

A “walkabout” is…

•A spiritual journey in which the Aborigines practice the traditional ways of their ancestors

•A term coined by Europeans

An end to Aboriginal

Culture

Europeans and Sovereignty

• Saw no permanent settlements

• Viewed Aborigines as “savages”

William Dampier• English explorer – 1688

• Wrote that the Aborigines were, “the miserablest people in the world.”

James Cook• English explorer –

1770• “…in reality they

are far more happier than we Europeans…In short they seemed to set no value upon anything we gave them, nor would they part with anything of their own for one article we could offer them.”

Laws and Ordinances

The Nanya tribe (lower Darling river, NSW), soon

after their capture in 1894

Aboriginal Protection Act - 1869

•Passed to “protect” the Aborigines

•Segregation law•Restricted housing, employment, property rights, and social and daily life

• Extension of Aborigines Protection Act

• Removed Aboriginals of mixed descent from Aboriginal stations

• Adult half-castes forced to assimilate

• Children “indentured”

The Half-Caste Act of 1886

Aboriginal Ordinance of 1918

• First Commonwealth law for governing Indigenous people

• Government control over Aboriginal lives

• Continued removal of half-castes

• Aboriginal stations became work stations

• “Lost Generation” or “Stolen Generation”

Aboriginal Land Rights Act of 1976

• 1st time Aborigines could legally claim rights to land based on traditional occupation

• Restricted• 20 year limit (1997)• Problem: lack of evidence

“City” Aborigines• Substandard housing• Low levels of education• Poor health• Low levels of employment

• Considerable poverty

How do “European” Australians feel about the “horrible injustice”

of the Aborigines?•Embarrassed•Resentful

“The Whites always mean well when they take human fish out of the ocean and try to make them dry and

warm and happy and comfortable in a chicken coop.”

Mark Twain once wrote after visiting Australia: