Australian AboriginesIn the 20th Century

60,000 years ago

PopulationPre-contact population Australia: Upwards of 300,000

Victoria: 50,000

New South Whales: 40,000

Social StructureVictoria10 different language groups30 different dialects/sub-language groupsEach dialect group consisted of 6 -7 tribes

Kulin Federation Group of dialect group banded togetherWoiworungBunurangWathaurungDjadjawurungTaungurong

Kulin Federation Group of dialect group banded togetherWoiworungBunurangWathaurungDjadjawurungTaungurong

Banded together to:TradeMarryExchange rituals

LanguageDifferent from tribe to tribe why you will see things spelt differently

Place names still used today

MurrumbeenaNeerim RdHillLand of the Frog

Neerim Rd, MurrumbeenaThe Hill in the Land of the Frogs

Canberra = Meeting PlaceJerilderie = Reedy PlaceMildura = Sore EyesWagga Wagga = Many CrowsBong Bong = Mosquitoes BuzzingBeerburrum = Sound of the Wings of King ParrotCooloolabin = Place of Koalas

SocietySemi-nomadic hunter gatherersWomen: gathered nuts, berries, grubs etc.Men: hunted - fish and eel, ducks and birdsKangaroos and emus when in enough numbers

Religion and BeliefsLand, people and all living things as living in unityYou take from nature, you give back to natureSymbiotic relationship They did not see the land as theirsThey were protectors of the land No concept of ownership of land

The DreamingA period of creation storiesNo written language to pass on storiesTooth avulsion ScarificationMarked passage through life

Burial RightsSimple burialCremation Bones buried after body exposed to elementsPlaced in Hollow Trees

Avoid the names of the dead

MarngrookPossum skin and kangaroo sinew ball

William Thomas there is a general excitement who shall catch it. It is sent up with great force. they will play this game for hours and fine experience it is for adults and youths

First Contact Victoria In Victoria: felt their presence before they even knew they were there

Smallpox epidemics in 1789 and 1829Killed half the population

First Contact New South WhalesNo reason to fear them in the beginningAided themProvided for them

Didnt realise until too late what was going on

DefenseStarted to fight backGuerilla warfare on outlying isolated settlements

183430,000 European settlers in Victoria

Now outnumbered the Aborigines

Different ResponseSome tried to incorporate Europeans into their cultureTreated them as they would another tribeAlso meant that they were punished the same as their own peopleIf you hit a man with a spear, you have the right to spear him backIf you kill a man, your family has the right to kill them

Faithful Massacre, Benalla, 1838White men camping on aboriginal hunting groundsWhen asked to move off they resisted Aborigines lashed out killing 8 settlersReprisals led to over 100 aborigines being killed

New LifePopulation massively decreasedHunting grounds now used for grazing, no longer accessible Aborigines had to adapt to surviveBegan working on the farms Guided settlers through the bushBlack Trackers1840s less than 2000 aborigines in Victoria

Tasmanian AboriginesWhere are they now?

DifferencesTasmania cut of from Australia 15,000 years ago Population: 5,000 -6,000 Much the same as mainland Aborigines with a few differences

Same ProblemsGave flour poisoned with arsenic

Abducted children to use as forced labour (slaves)

1828 Governor ArthurDeclared Martial LawPermission to arrest/kill any indigenous person found in settled districts

The Black LineEvery able-bodied man formed a line across the state pushing them all out of the area

George Augustus RobertsonCollected what remained of the Tasmanian Aborigines and moved them to Flinders Island135 survivors Many died of disease

184747 survivors of Flinders Island were moved to Oyster Cove Deaths continued

Truganini believed to be the last Tasmanian Aborigine died in 1876

Bass Strait IslandsCommunities of Tasmanians that escaped the settlers set up communities on the other Bass Strait Islands

Not the end after all?