The Culture and Lifestyle of Australian Aboriginal - Term Paper Example

Australian Aboriginal: The Culture and Lifestyles Table of Contents Introduction – Page Brief History – Page 2 Language – Page 2 Religion – Page 3-4 Recreation – Page 4-5 Architecture – Page 5 Social and Family Customs – Page 5-6 Dress – Page 6 Food – Page 6 Education – Page 7 Bibliography – Page 8 Table of Illustrations The Original Aborigines – Page 2 The Aboriginals during Dreamtime – Page 4 Common Aboriginal Dwelling – Page 5 Introduction Aboriginal Australians are the descendents of the first known human inhabitants of Australia and the islands that are nearby. Aboriginals, as well as Torres Strait Islanders, make up only 2.4% of Australia’s modern population. The Aboriginal people live in mainland Australia, while the Torres Strait Islanders live between Australia and New Guinea. Aboriginal Australians were said to have arrived between 40,000 and 70,000 years ago. The term “aboriginal” has been in use since 1789, though “indigenous” has been in use since the 1980s and is quickly taking over the general idea of aboriginal. Brief History The first humans to arrive in Australia did so between forty thousand and seventy thousand years ago. It has been estimated that the first original population reached over three hundred and fifteen thousand people, though this number could have gone as high as seventy hundred and fifty thousand. The beginning of British colonization of Australia began in 1788, in Sydney. Within the first few weeks of the arrival of the British, there was an outbreak of Old World epidemic diseases, such as smallpox. There was also a loss of land and water resources. Because of the colonization, the Aboriginal population was decreased by nearly 80%. The remaining Aboriginal communities had to move to land that was considered uninhabitable. By the time the 20th century came around, the Aboriginal population had dropped down to only one hundred and fifty thousand people. It was in 1962 that Commonwealth legislation gave Aborigines the right to vote in the Commonwealth elections. Then in 1967, laws were to be made to respect the Aboriginal people, and to have them be included when the country goes to determine electoral representation. In 1971, there was a lands right case, in which it was said that there was no concept of native title existing in the Australian law, meaning that the land did not belong to the Aborigines, as it should have. With 2004 came the abolishment of the major Aborigine organization, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. Language The languages of the Aboriginal people of Australia showed no relations to any of the languages outside of Australia. At one point in the 18th century, there were between three hundred and fifty and seven hundred and fifty different groupings, as well as languages and dialects. When the 21st century came around, only two hundred of these languages were still in use, and many of those are in fear of being endangered. The mainland Aboriginal Australian languages can be split up into two distinct groups: the Pama-Nyungan languages and the non-Pama-Nyungan. The Pama-Nyungan languages cover the majority of Australia, as well as numerous related languages. The non-Pama-Nyungan languages have no relation to the Pama-Nyungan languages, or to any of the other languages that are being used. It is from Western Kimberley to the Gulf of Carpentaria that the latter languages are found. It has long since been decided that the language of the Aboriginals plays a part in the language of the other inhabitants of Australia. They have many similar qualities, and the phoneme set of the Aboriginal language is said to have a suggestive common origin. Religion Though it is difficult to obtain information on the religions of the Aboriginal people, it was researched and estimated that nearly 72% practiced some form of Christianity; while 16% said that they either did not practice a religion or did not believe in any form of religion. However, it has been noted that an increasing rate of Australia’s inhabitants have joined the followers of Islam. Like many natives to any country, the Aboriginal people created different aspects to their beliefs and religions as they went along. One of these includes the Dreamtime, which is considered both “the ancient time of creation and the present day reality of Dreaming.” This is the Aborigines idea of how the Earth came to be. There are many different groups attached to Dreamtime, and each of those groups has their own individual culture, belief structure and language. One of the Dreamtime stories is as follows: The whole world was asleep. Everything was quiet, nothing moved, and nothing grew. The animals slept under the earth. One day the rainbow snake woke up and crawled to the surface of the earth. She pushed everything aside that was in her way. She wandered through the whole country and when she was tired she coiled up and slept. So she left her tracks. After she had been everywhere she went back and called the frogs. When they came out their tubby stomachs were full of water. The rainbow snake tickled them and the frogs laughed. The water poured out of their mouths and filled the tracks of the rainbow snake. That is how rivers and lakes were created. Then grass and trees began to grow and the earth filled with life. Recreation As with many cultures, the Aborigines developed their own styles of music, as well as musical instruments. The national instrument of the Aboriginal people is considered the yirdaki, and is said to be the world’s oldest wind instrument. Clapping sticks are also commonly used by the Aborigines. It has only been recently that the Aboriginal people have adapted to rock and roll, hip-hop, and reggae, while using a style of their own. This style of music has come to be known as Aboriginal rock. The most popular forms of art among the Aborigines are rock art and bark painting. The paints used for these forms of art are made from ochre, and are usually earth tones. The majority of the paintings remaining were done during their dreamtime. Very few Aborigine artists use modern materials in their artworks. However, Aboriginal art is the most famous form of Australian art that is internationally recognizable. Art is one of the largest sources of income for the people of Australia. Another form of art that is common among the Aborigines is poetry. The topics of these poems range from anything considered sacred to the typical, every day topics. Some of the famous poets from Australian Aboriginal are Ronald M. Berndt and M. Duwell. One of the most popular games amongst the Aborigines is Marn Grook, which is quite similar to football but is played with possum hide. It is said that this is the game that inspired Tom Wills to invent the code of Australian Rules football, which is a popular winter sport in those regions. Also Tom Wills introduced cricket to the Aborigines. Because of Tom Wills’s participation with Aborigines and sports, there have been a few Aboriginal people to play professional sports. Architecture The original architecture in Aboriginal Australia consisted of the most basic of materials: wood, leaves, branches, and other natural substances to produce semi-sufficient homes and buildings. Since then, while the buildings are still rather shabby, they have improved in their sufficiency. Instead of looking like bark-and-leaf huts, they resemble shabby, out-of-sorts sheds and dwellings. Social and Family Customs Due to the creation of Dreamtime, customs between societies and families differ from one another. Though, like most cultures, there was hardly a difference between society and family. Where one was concerned, so was the other. It was typical that both the society and family were close, relying, and depending fully on each other, especially during the time of British colonization. This still remains to be the case. As in numerous native cultures, the decisions of the people were based on a group decision. These resembled council meetings, in which voting and decision-making took place, with everybody’s opinion in mind. Behavior and interpersonal relations among Australian Aboriginals are defined by family roles. In many Aboriginal societies, certain kinfolk stand in what are called "avoidance relationships" with each other. For instance, in some groups a son-in-law must avoid his mother-in-law completely. Individuals will often change course entirely and go out of their way to avoid meeting a prohibited in-law. In other types of relationships, a son-in-law can only speak to his mother-in-law by way of a special language, called "mother-in-law language." The opposite of avoidance relationships are "joking relationships." These are relationships between potential spouses that typically involve joking about sexual topics. Marriage in traditional Aboriginal societies is complicated. Its customs have interested and puzzled anthropologists for centuries. In many societies, first marriages were arranged. Husbands were often much older than their wives. Dress Unlike many original cultures, the Aborigines were one of the only cultures where everybody went around without clothes on. Both men and women, children and adults, went around naked. Of course this has changed, and now they dress as do most of the other Australians. Food Aboriginal Australians were nomadic hunters and gatherers, so there was little to be done with food. It was caught, killed, and then served. It was a simple process, as they had little choice to make as to what should be done with the food. This is something else that has also improved since then. While, at times, the Aborigines still choose to hunt and gather their food, they have advanced in the ways that they can prepare and serve it. Education While education was at first not made available to the children of Aboriginal Australia, this has changed in time. Many of these students encounter discrimination in the classrooms, resulting in classes being created specifically for the Aboriginal children. In many of these classroom settings, the original languages and cultural aspects are taught, as to not shy away from native aspects of their land. Biography Berndt, R. M., and C. H. Berndt. The World of the First Australians. Sydney: Ure Smith, 1964. Contested Ground: Australian Aborigines Under the British Crown. St. Leonards, Australia: Allen & Unwin, 1995. Hiatt, Lester R. Arguments About Aborigines: Australia and the Evolution of Social Anthropology. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996. Read More