Australian Aborigines

          Aborigines, as referred to thefreedicitionary.com, is, “A member of the indigenous or earliest known population of a region: a native” in which this case means the natives that have been in Australia for 40 to 60 millenniums. They were the first people to set foot on this continent which came to be known as Australia now. Their arrival to this continent is described as the dreamtime which is known as the beginning of time when the spirits came to create the world as we know it. This “Dreaming” is somewhat similar to spirituality and according to Wikipedia (2013) it is like a space or world in which spirits dwell. Before and after life the spirit child exists in the dreaming and comes out in the form of a baby through a mother’s womb during her 5^th month of pregnancy. When the mother feels a kick or movement that is coming from the baby this was thought to be the work of the spirit of the land where the mother was standing on. When the child comes out of the womb it is considered to be a part of the country where the mother first felt the movement of the child in the womb. The child is then taught the stories and songlines of that specific place. As Wolf (1994: p. 14) states: "A black 'fella' may regard his totem or the place from which his spirit came as his Dreaming. He may also regard tribal law as his Dreaming."

          It is believed that all natural elements are transformations of the spirits that rose during dreamtime. The spirits are said to make up the land that we see such as rivers, lakes, mountains, hills and caves. The aborigines look at these spirits the same way as how Christians, Muslims view God and Allah respectively as their gods. The aborigines believe that these spirits are alive in and around Australia so that is why they treat the land as sacred.  This is similar to how Maori people view the land in the same way as the aborigines in which the land is sacred and is made up of Wairua which is Maori for spirits. The Maori people also believe that the land is made up of spirits and also that it is sacred in which in their own language translates to “Tapu”. 

Figure 1. This picture shows the areas covered in the Dreaming

          The stories by the aborigines are considered to be sacred and are kept secret from the outside world and only bound to them. These stories are told in series by elders, much like how we are watching tv series but this is from the aborigines themselves and it is called a dreaming trail in which they use symbols to tell the stories. Young men learn how to translate these symbols so that they can then transfer the stories later to their young ones. The scientific explanation as to how the aborigines came to Australia is simple: they walked to Australia. Studies within the last decade have shown that there is a possibility that all humans came from Africa in the last 200,000 years. Dr. Toomas Kisivild and his team believe that the aborigines walked from Africa to Eurasia and from there, they spread out from India along the coastlines of Southeast Asia where they then travelled over a land bridge connecting Australia to Asia. Over the years, the sea level rose and covered the land bridge that they used to travel and this made the aborigines isolated for thousands of years.

Gathering Food

          Australian aborigines in the early years of coming to Australia did not keep any domestic animals or farm fruits and vegetables but instead they head out into the wild with limited weapons which were made from wood and stone. They use these tools to hunt small and large animals like wallabies up until full sized emus. The women in the community were responsible for gathering vegetables, fruits, and roots. (Howstuffworks,2013). Aborigines living near the coastal area of Australia rely on the ocean for their food source. They headed out into the sea and dove down to grab shellfishes. These people are well known for being able to keep their breath for up to 4 minutes and also dive as deep as 60 meters under the sea to gather sea food.(pachamamatrust.org).  

Figure 2. This picture shows aboriginal people gathering water lilies

          They travel out to sea by building a boat that looked like a flattened canoe and were made up of brush and bark which, if left at the sea for too long would disintegrate as the boat became waterlogged. These boats, other than being used for fishing was also used to cross rivers and estuaries as well as visiting the offshore islands along the Queensland coast. There are actually 4 different types of canoes that Australian aborigines use which are :

Dugout Seafaring Canoe (Queensland) - This was thought to have been introduced to Australia by the fishermen that are in Indonesia. The aborigines made this canoe by cutting down a softwood tree which was roughly shaped and hollowed out after it is cut down. The final shaping of the canoe was done at the edge of the water. They perform caution when working the sides of the boat so as to achieve a uniform thickness.(espace.library,n.d)

Figure 3. This shows how artwork looks on the canoe

Figure 4. This picture shows the construction of the canoe

Stitched bark Seafaring Canoe (Central and Southern Queensland) -  This type of canoe is made up of a birch bark and is held up together with roots from plants that are strong and flexible enough to be able to hold the boat in one piece. The most common type of root to be used is the black spruce.(Bill Buxton, n.d)

Figure 5. This picture shows how stitches are on this type of canoe.

Folded-ends bark canoe (Southeast Australia) – This type of canoe is made up of bark that comes from mountain ash, a tree which is grown in east of Melbourne. Metal straps that were taken from a wooden barrel were used to shape the canoe and the ends of the canoe were tied with handmade rope or European twine (Museum Victoria, n.d).

Figure 6. This picture shows the folded end bark canoe

Bundle of bark and reed canoe (Tasmania) – They used three to five bundles of bark and reed which is tied together with fibre cord and tapered at the ends to make the tip and end of the boat rise from the water which prevents water from entering the canoe. They used poles to move the canoe in the same way we paddle on a kayak. Although they used the same technique to build boats, the building of the canoes with each region differs in the type of wood they used for example they use stringy-bark type in the south, the paper-bark in the north-west and reeds were used in the east. (shapingtasmania.tmag.tas.gov.au, 2013)

Figure 7. This figure shows the canoe made of bark and reed

 Music

Figure 8. This figure shows an aboriginal Australian blowing the "Didgeridoo"

          Other than hunting for food the other favourite pastime of Australian Aborigines would be to indulge themselves in music and dance. It was considered to be a large part of the culture along with storytelling.  All three of those aspects were covered in a story that would be given to the community about the dreaming and the storytelling was also used to say thanks to the spirits that are surrounding them. The people would also ask for things like to increase the rate of fertility or even rain in which they would have a “rain dance” that would be like asking the spirits for rain. One of the most interesting thing from  this culture would be the musical instruments. It is called the “Didgeridoo” and it is made by allowing termites to feast on the internals of a piece of wood. After this is done the aborigines would cut the instrument shorter which would make the sound coming out of the instrument produce low hums from the vibrations that are created from the user blowing through the hollow tube. Different tribes use the didgeridoo in formal ceremonies as well as major events. The telegraph, 2010 states that Australian scientists have found this musical instrument to be able to improve breathing and overall health from deep and circular breathing that is required when playing the instrument. Girls were not allowed to play this instrument because it is against the culture of the community.  

Aborigines in the 21^st century

Figure 9. This figure shows Aboriginal children in class

          Most of the aborigines in Australia have had their lives improved by moving into the city and leaving back their traditional way of life. It is said (Australian Bureau of Statistics, n.d) that 2 per cent from the whole population of Australia are an aborigine which is a very small number. They have very low standard of living and are at times very poor. Their way of life mostly consists of alcohol and violence which would be bad for the community of Australia. The elderly people try to prevent violence in the younger generation by bringing them to sacred sites and by teaching them how it was before their people headed into the city. There are still a small percentage of aborigines living in the rural areas of Australia, out of the busy city and they try to keep the tradition of their people as long as they are alive as the younger generations are slightly leaning towards the modern city life. The elderly people try to spread their tradition and history by means of hiring teachers to train students in the traditional aboriginal language. A few radio and tv stations offer programs that are fully spoken and shown in aboriginal language. A similar situation can be found here in New Zealand where there is a dedicated channel called “Maori Television” in which the programmes are in Maori and this would serve to keep the maori tradition alive among New Zealanders. This channel also teaches people about the traditions and language of the maori people which is good because it keeps the tradition alive and going. 

Art         

Figure 10. This figure shows how an aboriginal artwork looks like

          Other than keeping the tradition alive, aborigines are well known for their artwork and the artwork that they produce can be sold at a high price as it is a well demanded item.  Some aborigines make their living by painting this masterpiece and sell them to the general public of Australia and to the world. The art that are produced by the origins are considered to be like the dreaming where it is sacred and secret. People who have a greater knowledge of aboriginal history only are allowed to see the artwork but that has change recently as these people have to support their family by providing these paintings. These come in different shapes and sizes and vary from paintings, beadwork, woodwork, bark paintings to baskets. They also make the most famous thing that Australia is known for - the boomerang. Not all of the creations of the aborigines are available for sale though which can be found on the walls of caves. Ayers rock is one of those sacred places which the locals refer to as built by their ancestors. The drawings on the walls come from the dreamings of the aborigines and until now scientists have not been able to interpret the drawings and at the same time it is being kept secret by the people.

Figure 11. This picture shows how artwork looks like on a boomerang

 This next youtube video tells the history of the aborigines saying that they might be from asia an came 50-120,000 years. This video also showed how the people progressed from the coastal areas to inland areas like lakes and rivers. This video also tells us that the people who goes into another tribe’s territory should ask for permission to enter the territory. It is also said in this video that the colonization from the British brought in diseases such as chicken pox and many other diseases.

 References

-          - Wikipedia. (2013). Dreamtime. Retrieved from :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamtime

-          - Ryan Johnson (2013). How Aborigines Work. Retrieved from : http://people.howstuffworks.com/aborigine1.htm

-          - Pachamamatrust.org(n.d), Spearfishing. Retrieved from : http://pachamamatrust.org/f2/1_K/fish/Da_SPEAR_KFi.htm

-          - Shaping Tasmania (2013). Tuylini (Stringyback Canoe). Retrieved from : http://shapingtasmania.tmag.tas.gov.au/object.aspx?ID=35

-          - Espace.library(n.d., Archaeology Papers. Retrieved from : http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/eserv/UQ:272904/Archaeology_papers_No10_Paddle_your.pdf

-          - Bill Buston (n.d). Collecting and preparing roots for sewing and lashing. Retrieved from : http://www.billbuxton.com/canoe02.html

-          - Billy Kenber (2010). New treatment for asthma : the didgeridoo. Retrieved from : http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/6996124/New-treatment-for-asthma-the-didgeridoo.html

-          - Wikipedia (2013). Aboriginal Australians. Retrieved from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_Australians