Question:
Write an essay about the “Aboriginal History and Archaeology”.
Aboriginal Australians are defined as the people who belong to “the Aboriginal race of Australia”. Research shows that these aboriginal people are staying in Australia for more than 50,000 years. According to other experts, they are 65,000 years old. In 2006, the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that 2.5% of the total Australian population is identified as Aboriginal Australians. There are some issues with these people, which are continued until date. They are land ownership, self-determination, and reconciliation. The Aboriginal population differs from the non- Aboriginal population in health, housing and education. These Aboriginal Australians have a great contribution to Australia. Such people are Noel Pearson, Albert Namatjira, Lowitja O’Donoghue, Mandawuy Yunupingu, Sir Douglas Nicholls, Linda Burney, Pat O’Shane, Pemulwuy, Barangaroo, Bennelong and so on (Read and Broome 2013). In this particular essay, the contribution of the Aboriginal Australians’ culture will be discussed.
Aboriginal Australian culture is the oldest living cultural history in the world. The major reason behind the survival of this culture for so many years is the ability of change over time and adaption of new things. This affinity along with the surroundings, explains the survival of the Aboriginal people for so many millennia. It is estimated that, before 1788, approximately 200-250 languages used to b spoken by Aboriginal Australians throughout the Australia (Keen and Beckett 2015). Each of some language groups has their traditional lads. Key boundaries and landmarks, including, rivers, lakes, mountains and other specific and natural boundaries define these lands.
Cultural heritage is defined as the existed built up by a group of people, which is passed from one generation to other generation. This culture heritage serves as the proof of the birth of the culture. These cultural heritages of Aboriginal communities are kept alive in Australia, by passing their performances, rituals, arts, knowledge from one generation to another, or by protecting significant and sacred sites, cultural materials or objects or by teaching and speaking languages (Richards 2015).
The land is used as the well-being of the Aboriginal community. The land is not just defined as minerals, rocks, or soil, but also it is a whole environment, which remains and is sustained by the culture and the people of that community. For these people, the land is the base for all spirituality. Now days, this spirit of ‘country’ and the relationship are the main issues among other issues, which are crucial to Aboriginal people today. All of these people were semi-nomadic gatherers or hunters (Cohen 2013). They have their territory, where they live in. These territories are also called as traditional lands. These traditional lands are defined by geographic boundaries like mountains, lakes, and rivers. They cared, understood the other environments, and adopted in their environments. According to these communities, they cultivate their land in such a way that it is different from the cultivation of white men. They tried hard to live in that land where people did not agree to live. They are taught to preserve, but they do not know to destroy. The knowledge of the land of these Aboriginal communities is connected to their exceptional tracking skills, which are based on their gather and hunter life. These skills include the ability to search the sources of fish and water, to locate and identify the edible plants, and to track down the animals (Davis 2013).
National parks serve as significant sites for Aboriginal communities, such as artwork and rock engravings. National parks also have certain significances due to the Dreaming stories along with those sites. The National Parks management recognizes the intrinsic relationship between Aboriginal people and their country. Often the lads are less distributed by European settlement. Often these land areas have been left intact or relatively become inaccessible. Sometimes they are not suitable for European agricultural practices. Wildlife Service programs and National Parks often run together with the association of Aboriginal communities and Traditional Owners (Taffe and Broome 2015). They make sure of the involvement of the state and national parks to be a part of processes. This helps in the contribution of enterprise and employment development, title training, and resolution of native, cultural, recognition, respect and reconciliation awareness. They also support in cooperative management and Aboriginal heritage of the wildlife and parks.
These Aborigines communities are identified by their land areas, their relationship to others and through their stories and language. They express their stories and languages through sports, religion, family, arts and ceremony. This cultural heritage is carried from one generation to the other generation. When European arrived, then there were approximately 600 different nations or clan groups surrounding the continent with distinctive beliefs and cultures (Holland and Paisley 2013). Their territory extends from harsh dessert surroundings to lush woodland areas. Various groups of those wide range territories developed various skills and built up a unique knowledge body based on their surroundings. Everybody in this kinship system is placed in a particular relationship to each one as well as the special relationships with the land depend on upon their kin or clan. These relationships have responsibilities and roles associated with them. Marriage decision is influenced by this kinship, and much of everyday’s behaviors are governed by the adult people. They know how and I what way to behave with all other surrounding people as well as respective to specific land areas. Kinship is based on meeting the obligations of one’s forms and clan, which is a part of Aboriginal Law, sometimes known as the Dreaming (Read and Reece 2015). Language is very crucial to understand the Aboriginal heritage as their maximum history is the oral history. Although many of those languages become extinct still, hundreds of dialects and languages are existed until now. The geographical location and the language meaning are utilized to recognize different groups.
Various implements and tools are the reflections of different groups in different geographical location. For example, the tribes of the deserts used stone tips, where as the coastal tribe utilized fishbone to target their weapons. Though the tools were ranged from location and group, still all Aboriginal people had spears, axe-heads, scrapers, knives and different vessels for drinking and eating and also had digging sticks. With the help of the stone technology, the Aboriginal people first achieved to world (Fox 2012). They first introduced ground edges to grind seed or to cut the tools. These stone tools were utilized in many ways, like in preparing of animal skins, in wood chopping, in preparing and getting food, and in making other tools. After English colonization and European discovery, the Aboriginal people quickly understood the advantages of incorporating ceramics, glass, and metal. They provided a very sharp edge and needed few resharpening. They were easy to work with.
In the most Dreaming stories, the ancestor spirits came to the earth in human form. They created different forms of the land, like rocks, plants, animals as they move through the lands. They also created the relationships between individuals and groups to the people, animals, and lands. After the creation of the world by the ancestor spirits, the world had changed into other objects, like watering holes, rocks, the stars, trees, etc (Dixon et al 2012). These places are recognized as sacred places of Aboriginal community, and these places are associated with specific properties. At the end of this Dreaming process, these ancestors did not vanish but stay remained in those sacred places. Dreaming is a never-ending process, as it links the present with the past and the land with the people. According to Aboriginal people, the sacred place is the land. Through the initiation process, the knowledge of those sacred places was learned. An understanding of the Aboriginal law was gained from this knowledge. It is not a public knowledge by definition. Due to this reason, the existence of many sites is not highlighted to the maximum world till they are threatened. The most famous sacred place in Australia is Uluru. It is located in the southwest of Alice Springs and at the center of Australia. The European explorers called it as Ayers Rock. Inside this rock, there are caves, which are covered with Aboriginal paintings (Furphy and Heartfield 2012). The Commonwealth Government of Australia In 1985, returned Uluru to Yankunytjatjara and Pitjantjatjara people, the traditional owners.
The cultural core of the life of these communities is many ceremonial performances. For example, in Tiwi Islanders, the performances are associated with all aspects of painting, sculpture, body decoration, dance, song, art, etc. like previous days, today also this dance, song, music play a crucial role in the life of the Aboriginal customs and community. They have songs for each occasion, where some of these were expressed through special programs. The exchange of dances and songs take place at a big ceremonial gathering, where many people gather. In these gatherings, exchanging of the trade goods takes place (Clendinnen 2012). These kinds of ceremonies occur at a place and time, where plenty of foods are available. In the ceremonies, dance is a unique aspect. The dance is learned and then carried from one generation to another. Unlike singing and painting, dancing should be learned at very early age. The people have to be knowledgeable about the historical stories of the ancestral heroes to know the dancing. Through dancing form, the large group of these people demonstrates their clan rights in front of an audience. Sometimes dancing is done for entertainment or fun in any gathering. The people express their love for kin and families through dancing. Due to this reason, in some communities dance is performed at the end of the day (Taylor 2013).
The variety and quality of Aboriginal community’s art reflect the diversity and richness of their culture today. The differences are observed between geographic landscapes, dialects, languages, and tribes. The dot paintings were emerged from the western deserts of Central Australia by the Aboriginal people in 1970s. This painting is known as the greatest art movement in the twentieth century. Before that, anthropologists gather various cultural materials of this community. Consequently, these collections were found in natural history museums or university departments worldwide (Hokari 2013). However, they are not found in art galleries. These all changes occurred at a place named Papunya. From this place, the Papunya Tula art movement of the Western Desert became famous. This art works vary with wide ranges, like from canvas to paper or glass and fiber. The story of these art works tells the experiences and history of those artists. It reflects the influence of churches and governments, a struggle for survival and customary trading patterns. According to the report of the Statistics Working Group of Cultural Ministers’ Council in 2007, more than a quarter of the Aboriginal population is involved in creative arts. This involvement is observed as both in females as males (Rubinstein 2015).
Recently, Aboriginal tourism has emerged as an industry. The diverse experiences and tours of this community promote Aboriginal lifestyle and culture. These experiences are available for the travelers throughout the Australia (Davis 2014). Travel experiences start from the dance performances to organized tour. It also ranges from the opportunity of staying in the Aboriginal land and experiencing the daily lives of those people to purchasing of the traditional art pieces. Business ranges from high commercial, professional tourism and operation projects to small enterprising individuals. Local land councils own and finance these big projects.
To conclude this essay, it can be told that, the Aboriginal community has great contribution in the Australian society through their customs and cultures. The interest for the Aboriginal culture is growing up in the overseas visitors or Australian retirees. Tourism in the Aboriginal community is appeared as an important and practical way to provide an economic base for the prosperity of this community and to support this traditional heritage.
References:
Clendinnen, I., 2012. Dancing with strangers: the true history of the meeting of the British first fleet and the Aboriginal Australians, 1788. Canongate Books.
Cohen, M.G., 2013. Indigenous women and work: From labor to activism [Book Review]. Aboriginal History, 37, p.161.
Davis, M., 2013. Encountering Aboriginal knowledge: Explorer narratives on north-east Queensland, 1770 to 1820. Aboriginal History, pp.29-50.
Davis, M., 2014. Dark Emu, black seeds: Agriculture or accident [Book Review].
Dixon, S., Leitner, G. and Malcolm, I.G., 2012. The Habitat of Australia’s Aboriginal Languages: Past, Present and Future.
Fox, K., 2012. Indifferent inclusion: Aboriginal people and the Australian nation [Book Review]. Aboriginal History, 36, p.219.
Furphy, S. and Heartfield, J., 2012. The Aborigines’ Protection Society: Humanitarian Imperialism in Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Canada, South Africa and the Congo 1836-1909.
Hokari, M., 2013. Globalising Aboriginal Reconciliation: Indigenous Australians and Asian (Japanese) Migrants. Cultural Studies Review, 9(2), pp.84-101.
Holland, A. and Paisley, F., 2013. The Lone Protestor: AM Fernando in Australia and Europe.
Keen, I. and Beckett, J., 2015. Encounters with Indigeneity: Writing about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Read, P. and Broome, R., 2013. Aboriginal Australians: A History since 1788.
Read, P. and Reece, B., 2015. The Invincibles. New Norcia’s Aboriginal cricketers 1879-1906.
Richards, J., 2015. Warrior: A legendary leader’s dramatic life and violent death on the Colonial Frontier [Book Review]. Aboriginal History, 39, p.305.
Rubinstein, M.A., 2015. Taiwan: A new history. Routledge.
Taffe, S. and Broome, R., 2015. Fighting Hard: The Victorian Aborigines Advancement League.
Taylor, R., 2013. Genocide, Extinction and Aboriginal Selfâ€Âdetermination in Tasmanian Historiography. History Compass, 11(6), pp.405-418.
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