Aboriginal History
Aboriginal history is estimated to have originated some 30 to 45,000 years before the first Europeans settled in Australia, however, some sources have estimated that figure to be close to 65,000 years.
The Aboriginal Australians were hunter, gatherers relying heavily on the land and water for food. Dependant on where they settled each group developed skills relevant to where they lived.
Early in the 20th century it was believed the Indigenous Australians were nearing extinction as the population had decreased from 1,250,000 in 1788 to 50,000 in 1930. (Aboriginal History, 2017)
Arrival of Europeans
Sydney Cove saw the arrival of ships captained by Captain Arthur Phillip in 1788. The fleet of ships were transporting convicts from the UK mainland to Australia.
The British Authorities set up a permanent Gaol for the convicts as they assumed they were legally authorised to inhabit the land.
Immigrants believed they were lawful settlers in a new land.
As the colonisers made an attempt to impose new social, economic and religious orders lives were lost.
New animals, plants and diseases were introduced.
(Resisting Colonisation, 2017)
Impact of Europeans on Aboriginals
With colonisation came the introduction of diseases such as smallpox, measles and influenza. The spread of disease had a major impact on the Indigenous Australians with whole communities being destroyed.
Within fourteen months of the arrival of the first fleet, Governor Phillip reported that
Before the First Fleet arrived, all the Aboriginals would work really hard for their survival, men would hunt large animals such as emus and kangaroos and the women and children would kill small animals and collect berries and other fruits. They were living only on things from the natural world as they had never seen such technologies before (australianmuseum.net.au). Whilst this is good in some ways, the introduction of technologies would soon make the lives of all Aboriginal people easier and lengthen their life spans from the use of new medicines which the British introduced to the Aboriginals. This meant that the population would slowly increase and many deaths would be prevented. For example, whilst the Aboriginals used spears to hunt for animals and occasionally defend themselves, the English men used guns for the same purposes and created a stronger impact upon what they are using it for. ‘In clashes with Aboriginals, one of the main advantages of the Europeans was their firearms’ (Harding, 2001,
European settlement had a negative impact on the Indigenous Australians and it provided a catalyst for the destruction of Indigenous society. The impact of European settlement on the Indigenous people of Australia was disastrous due to many things such as taking land that belonged to the Aboriginal people. Though there were some attempts to understand each culture, it led to various massacres and conflicts around Australia which had caused a decline in the Aboriginal population. Apart from the violence, the Europeans had brought diseases to Australia which wiped out generations at a time and had a dramatic effect on the
After too many years, when the Australian government decided to grant Aboriginal people with fully rights of freedom again in their country, the number of indigenous people in Australia jumped an amazingly 33 per cent from the 1991 to 1996 census. final
To begin with, a clarification must be made. Although for the purposes of this assessment I will be using the term Indigenous Australians, it is not the most appropriate term to be using, as the technical definition of indigenous is ‘originating or occurring naturally in a particular place; native’ (‘Indigenous’, 1987). The more correct term would be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander.
Good day class and sir. On the 26th of January 1788 14 English ships carrying convicts and soldiers arrived in Australia. Upon arrival captain Arthur Phillip planned to live with the indigenous people in harmony. Soon that changed, when the indigenous were being killed by British convicts that disliked them. The Aboriginals were thought as backward, unproductive and an obstacle to development.
It has been estimated that between 1788 and 1900, the Indigenous population of Australia was reduced by 90%. The three overarching reasons for this dramatic population decline included, the introduction of new diseases, settler acquisition of Indigenous lands and direct and violent conflict with the British colonisers. The most immediate and critical consequence of the invasion was the wave of epidemic diseases which spread ahead of the settlement frontier and annihilated many Indigenous communities. These infectious diseases included smallpox, measles and influenza, all diseases that the indigenous people had never suffered from in epidemic proportions. Within only fourteen months of the arrival of the First Fleet, Governor Phillip reported that smallpox had killed half of the Indigenous people in the Sydney region.
The first fleet arrived at Botany Bay on the 18th of January 1788 which was later declared as an official prison. The Captain of the fleet, Captain Phillips however found out that the harbour was in lack of fresh water therefore was unsuitable for conviction. The fleet then redirected to Port Jackson which then marked the official first European landing on Sydney Harbour.
In the 18th century approximately 40,000 years before the European colonization, 750,000 to 1,000,000 indigenous people inhabited in Australia. The Indigenous Australians have a complex oral culture and an admiration for their land and their spiritual values were based upon their admirations to the dreamtime (Indigenous People
Compare the effects of colonisation of Australia’s two Indigenous groupings: Australian Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The deposition of their land, involvement in violent conflict and exposure to new diseases, resulted in the death of a vast number of Indigenous people. For the small population that did survive through this period of time, their lives were irreversibly changed, forever
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples inhabited the land of Australia for many thousands of years
The aboriginal people were exposed to diseases such as chickenpox, smallpox, measles and influenza. This exposure wasn’t what the aboriginal people had experienced before and a lot of them died bringing the population to a decline.
The Aborigines were traditionally a semi-nomadic hunter-gatherer society, travelling seasonally. Their intimate knowledge of the land and the seasons allowed them to predict where and when certain food items would be available. Men hunted larger game while women gathered fruits, nuts and caught small game. Theirs was a life well adapted to the harshness of Australia. The most important factor in Aboriginal life was (and is) the kinship system.
Aboriginals or indigenous Australians are the native people of Australia. Aboriginals were nomadic people who came to Australia about 40,000 – 60,000 years ago from Southeast Asia. Religion is a great part of Aboriginal culture. The essay answers these questions: What do Aboriginals belief? What is a Kinship system? What is Dreaming and Dreamtime? What rituals does Aboriginals have?
Archaeologists believe that aboriginals first came to Australia about 45, 000 years ago and were the only population of humans in Australia until the British invasion. There are about 500 different aboriginal groups each with their own language and territory and usually made up of several separate clans. The aboriginals of Australia are marginalised in today society. This marginalisation began right back during the British invasion where they were evicted from their own country, the stolen generation occurred and their health care, education, employment and housing was severely limited. Aboriginals generally live in poor conditions and choose unhealthy lifestyle choices