The Aboriginal People

Australia was not discovered until the 1600s.

Captain James Cooke of England sailed along the east coast of Australia in 1770 and renamed it New South Wales.

Many ships began to arrive, full of convicts who were sent there to serve their sentences.

But they were not alone…There was already a race of people who had been living in peace and harmony until that time….

This race of people were called Aborigines.

Aborigine comes from the latin word meaning ‘from the beginning’.

The Aboriginal people have been living in Australia for over 40,000 years.

Aborigines are thought to be one of the oldest, if not the oldest race of people in the world.

Aboriginal people were hunters and gatherers.

Yams were a very important food.

They used their spears and boomerangs to wound and kill animals.

They all belonged to tribes and there were almost 500 different tribes, each with their own language when white people came to Australia.

There were no kings, only elders and religious leaders.

They did not fight over land – this would prove to be their downfall…

Dreamtime

Aboriginal people were very religious.They believed the world began a long time

ago in a time called the dreamtime.This was when their ancestors created

people and taught them how to live.Some of these ancestors were animals,

some were plants and some were people.

The Rainbow Serpent

The Battle of Kuniya and Liru

http://www.upfromaustralia.com/batoflirandk.html

Aboriginal Music

Would you like to hear some didgeridoo sounds?

http://www.didgeridoostore.com/didgeridoo_soundsrhythms.html

Aboriginal Art

Aboriginal People are famous for their unique designs. Here are some examples:

Aborigines and Europeans

The Aborigines had lived peacefully in Australia for 40,000 years

The first Europeans arrived to Australia with Captain Cook in the 1770

It wasn’t until 1780’s that the First Fleet arrived to Australia

To start out the two people’s were friendly The Aborigine’s traded food for things like

iron axes and hunting dogs .However as more and more Europeans

arrived the Aborigine’s realised they were here to stay

The Aborigines had been there for 40,000 years but Australia was said to be “Terra Nullis” meaning it belonged to no one .

Aborigine’s were put off their original land and in many places they were hunted like animals for sport e.g. Tasmania

At the end of the 18th century the Black Wars took placeThis was the largest Aboriginal resistance .

It was led by Pemulwuy who the settlers believed was invincible after he survived being shot on two different times and escaping from hail a few days after the second time

The Europeans were here to stay and continually pushed the Aborigines out of their native areas.

Over the years white people rounded up Aboriginals and massacred them at different times 18000 Aborigines are killed over 100 years

As well as this the Aborigines were dying from diseases that had been brought by Europeans

Eventually in the 19th century the Australian government began taking Aboriginal children from their parents and “civilising” them .

This continued until the 1970’s.These children would be taken from their parents and not allowed contact them. They would be split from siblings and often told that their parents had died . Parents would often be told the same .

This meant that many Aborigines today do not know why there parents are or where they came from .It is one of the reasons there way of life has broken down

The Aborigines still have many problems today with many not having education or jobs but this is slowly turning around .

Public Apology

Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd even apologised to the stolen generation.

We will now watch a video clip of this.