Australian Aborigines

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Transcript of Australian Aborigines

  • 1. Formation of Australia Sixty thousand years ago, there was an Ice Age on Earth. Much of the worlds water was frozen in glaciers. This made the sea level drop. The land that was under water eventually became exposed. Australia, New Guinea, and Tasmania all formed one huge land mass called Sahul.

2. The first people came to Australia at this time. They came from Southeast Asia. They traveled in boats from island to island. 3. Higher water cut off Australia from New Guinea and Tasmania. They became three different islands. Miles of ocean separated them. The residents had no contact with the rest of the world for thousands of years. 4. The Aborigines are the Australian natives that have been living there for thousands of years before the first Europeans came to Australia in the 1700s. 5. The Australian Aborigine The first people to live in Australia are called Australian Aborigines. The first Aborigines lived on the coast. 6. Inner Australia was a huge desert. On the coast, there were more plants growing. There were also more animals to hunt & fresh water. 7. Aborigines lived in small groups. They were larger in the coastal areas and smaller in the interior. 8. There were strict rules on how groups interacted. However, there was no specific leader in the group. All members were equal. 9. There may have been about 500 groups of Aborigines and more than 200 languages. Aborigines were hunter-gathers. 10. What they ate depended on where they lived. Different food was available on different parts of the island. 11. Aborigines never grew their own food. Instead, they survived on whatever grew naturally by understanding how to live in different natural environments. 12. Trade Australian Aborigines also traded with one another. Trade diversifies the type of goods available. 13. Trade also kept different groups of Aborigines connected to one another. This contact helped keep the culture of different groups similar. 14. CORE BELIEF SYSTEM Dreamtime is at the center of the Aborigines belief system and describes the mystical time when the Aboriginal people established their world. Dreamtime explains the origins of the people and of the land. Dreamtime includes a story of how things have happened, how the universe came to be, how humans were created, and how the Creator intended for humans to function in this world 15. Shelter Aboriginal people built simple shelters that changed season to season. Trees were chosen as a primary resource because they could provide natural windbreaks and shade. The trunks also provided sturdy material. Walls of the shelters were often decorated by finger painting. 16. History- European Settlement Captain James Cook discovered Australia in 1770. He was sent to discover the huge land that many people believed was south of the equator. He landed south of present day Sydney in New South Wales. He claimed this part of the land for the King of England. 17. European Settlement (contd) Europeans stole Aboriginal land and killed thousands of Aborigines. They also brought new diseases with them Which killed off a lot of the Aboriginal population. In 1770, there were about 300,000 Aborigines. Now, there are 120,000. It is becoming harder and harder for Aborigines to continue their traditional way to live. During the early 1900s the white Australian government enacted and enforced removal policies that continues to affect the Aborigines today