Indigenous Aboriginal And Aboriginal People

Australia’s aborigines are one of the oldest ongoing cultures in the world. Their traditions date back up tens of thousands of years. Before European settlement, there were around 600 different aboriginal nations, based on language groups. Southport was part of the territory of the Indigenous people of the Yugambeh language group. Their land stretched south from Beenleigh along the coast to the tweed and inland to the mountains. The language group was composed of a number of subgroups including the Kombumerri saltwater indigenous people of the Gold Coast.

The indigenous cultures of Australia are one of the oldest living cultures in the world. Indigenous groups across Australia have many oral stories about their past, which form part of a great tradition of knowledge. These stories explain the Aboriginal genesis in a different parts of the country and reveal the shaping of a formless land by great ancestors. Aboriginal people of Australia have suffered through many crises, when the British colonised Australia in 1788. Many Aboriginal people from different cultures died at hands of British colonial. There were not a lot of Aboriginal people in Australia in 19th century. Mostly, they inhabit in NSW, Queensland and Victoria. There are many cultures in NSW, one of the oldest culture in Sydney is the Darug, they are the traditional owners of Western and south Western areas of Sydney. The Darug nation is large in size and boasts many clans of Darug people. One of the clans called the Cabrogal. Cabramatta takes its name from the Cabrogal band of the Darug-speaking people that lived around Liverpool and Fairfield when the British first came to Australia.

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.

Aboriginal people often do not call their family members by name, but rather use relationship terms such as brother, mother, aunt or cousin2. According to the

Australians are usually referred to by their first name, although older people may prefer to be referred to by their full title (e.g. Mr or Mrs).

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

- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples inhabited the land of Australia for many thousands of years

Aborigines are believed to have lived in Australia for between 60,000 and 40,000 years, their early ancestors coming from South-East Asia. Precise population details for the period before European colonisation are unavailable, but it is estimated that there were between 300,000 and 1,000,000 Aborigines in Australia when European settlers first arrived in 1788.

The forceful removal of children from families, relocation of tribes from their native homelands, and the attempted assimilation by the Europeans resulted in the disruption of the hundreds of years of knowledge and heritage being passed down through generations. These issues have resulted in the destruction of most of their thousand year old languages and background. To the Indigenous people of Australia, language is the key to their cultural and spiritual identity, and their heritage. From over 250 languages being spoken all over Australia, there are now only 145. Only 20 of which are considered still going strong; this is a cause of great distress to the Indigenous people. “The loss of indigenous languages signifies not only the loss of traditional knowledge but also the loss of cultural diversity and spirituality as well as laws and customs” (Gugu Badhun Limited, 2012). Language is their identity, their connection to the community, it retains their cultural and spiritual identity throughout their daily lives now (Gugu Badhun Limited,

Throughout history to present day, Australian culture has become the product of a distinct blend of established traditions and new influences. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the country’s original inhabitants, created the foundation for the land’s cultural traditions over 40,000 years ago. In addition, the rest of Australia’s people are migrants or descendants of migrants from various other countries who transported their own customs, beliefs, and value systems to the land. As a result, Australia’s culture has significantly broadened its social and cultural profile over the years, and still continues to evolve today.

The Aborigines have a complex belief in creation, spirits and culture that gives a definite distinctiveness from any other religion in the world. Thousands of years ago, Australian Aboriginal people were living in accordance with their dreamtime beliefs- today, a majority of the Aboriginal community profess allegiance to Christianity,

Australian Aborigines are thought to have the longest continuous cultural history in the world. Yet, within a hundred years, the near extinction of the Aboriginal culture almost occurred. This single event, the invasion of the Australian continent by European settlers, changed the lifestyle, the culture, and the fate of Australian Aborigines. Their entire lives were essentially taken away and they were forced into a white, European world where the lifestyle change could not have been any different. Aborigines in Australia today are struggling to deal with a past in which they lost touch with their culture and now are trying to regain some of that cultural identity.

Australia is a very culturally diverse country, meaning that it consists of many cultures and ethnicities from around the world. This diversity is mostly due to immigration,

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

The Aborigines are an indigenous group from Australia. They were the first human inhabitants of this land. The word Aborigine is actually from Latin language, meaning "from the beginning". The Europeans gave this name to native Australians, but