What do Aboriginal people do? The boomerang is a weapon invented by the Australian aborigines. Settlement of the inhabitants of Papua New Guinea

The first inhabitants of the Australian continent were the Aborigines. They are also called native Bushmen. The peoples of Australia form an independent Australoid race. They take mainland and nearby islands. Ethnographers distinguish two large groups. Representatives of one occupy continental lands. The descendants of another family live in an archipelago located in

aborigines

The peoples of Australia have a lot in common. Bushmen have dark skin, large features. With Europeans, they are related by growth. The islanders account for about two percent of the indigenous population. Not most of the inhabitants of the strait consider themselves Melanesians. The rest call themselves aborigines.

History reference

Ancestors modern aborigines appeared on the mainland about fifty thousand years ago. Scientists believe that the first Australians arrived on the continent by sailing from Asia. Bushmen settled near water bodies with fresh water. They were collecting edible mushrooms, berries and fruits and were skilled fishermen and hunters.

As soon as the tribe grew, it was divided into several families. Young Bushmen moved away from their relatives in search of new places rich in living creatures. So the peoples of Australia spread throughout the continent. Unusual landscape and other climatic conditions awaited them in new lands. The tribes had to adapt to the inevitable changes. Their way of life changed, and after it their appearance.

One Bushmen got open savannahs. Others have occupied the territory of the mangrove forests. The third went to the swamps. The tribes inhabited deserts and coral shallows, water meadows and lake shores, subalpine foothills and tropical jungles.

resettlement

At the end of the 17th century, colonies of Europeans began to appear on the continent, which began to push the indigenous peoples of Australia. It is believed that at that time about four hundred thousand natives lived on the mainland. But this figure raises a lot of doubts. According to unofficial data, the number of Bushmen exceeded one million people. Downsizing local population was due to the epidemics that the Europeans brought with them. Unfamiliar diseases at times increased the mortality of the natives.

According to the descriptions compiled by the colonists, the indigenous inhabitants of Australia occupied territories located in the north and in the region major rivers. They basically did not leave their territories, but during the days of trade exchange they met on neutral lands. In 1788 there were about five hundred large tribes. Each family spoke its own language.

Current position

At the moment, the number of aborigines is rapidly increasing. It is connected with high level fertility. In 1967, the indigenous people of Australia became full citizens, they were assigned all the rights listed in the constitution. Today, the state governments are introducing laws that secure the lands of the reservations to the Bushmen. They are self-governing.

A large number of natives speak the Yolngu Matha language. For them, local television broadcasts special channels that are aimed at representatives of national communities. In 2010, cycles of educational television programs were launched. The lessons are devoted to the study of the dialects of the peoples of Australia and Oceania. At the same time, the main broadcast is still carried out on English language.

Outstanding representatives of the indigenous population are the performer Jessica Mauboy and actor David Gulpilil, writer David Yunaipon and painter Albert Namatjira, professional football player David Wirrpanda and television presenter Ernie Dingo.

Ethnographers distinguish the following types national groups inhabiting the territory of the continent:

• barrinoid;
• Carpentarian;
• Murray.

barrinoid group

The tribes of this family live in the tropical thickets of the mainland and occupy the lion's share of the forests of Queensland. This type has many common features with the Melanesian group. The height of the natives is low, barely reaching 157 centimeters. Representatives of the barrinoid type are distinguished by very dark, swarthy skin. They have Brown eyes and black curly hair. Beard and mustache grow poorly. The nose of the natives has a concave shape. The teeth of representatives of this group are small and rare, but some natives suffer from macrodontia.

Natives of these tribes can be found today in major cities Australia and on reservations. Barrinoids have comparatively large heads with a minimum width of the frontal zone. The eyebrows are poorly developed, and the face itself is narrow and elongated. The cheekbones are not sufficiently pronounced.

Carpentarian group

Representatives of this type are common in the northern part of the mainland. Aborigines are distinguished by rich and almost black skin color. They are tall and lean in build. The descendants of this family are rare. They choose quiet and secluded places in the Arnhem Land area and on the lands of Cape York.

The forehead of the Carpentarians has a medium slope. But the eyebrows are strongly pronounced. They are powerful and sometimes merge into a single roller. Aborigines have large teeth. The hair is usually wavy. The hairline on the body and face of the Bushmen is medium. Ethnographers divide the Carpentarian group into two families. The Aboriginal people living in the Arnhem Land area are different from their relatives who have occupied Cape York. The first are tall and stately, the second are more like the Papuans. In the blood of the tribes occupying the Cape York Peninsula, there are admixtures of families belonging to the Murray and Barrinoid types.

Murray group

Scientists are still arguing which peoples inhabit Australia. This question raises many doubts. The life and history of the tribes have not been sufficiently studied. This is due to the disunity of families, many of which are still isolated from civilized society. As for the Murray type, people belonging to this group occupy lands in the south of the continent.

They are distinguished by a relatively light skin tone. There are natives with straight hair. Curly curls are observed in those groups that live in the vicinity. This is explained by the admixture of Tasmanian blood. They actively grow mustaches and beards. Them appearance closest to the appearance of a European.

The Bushmen have a broad forehead and a large head. The bridge of the nose is characterized by a straight profile. Aborigines have very large teeth. All Murrays are carriers of macrodontia. The slope of the forehead is maximum for Australian Aborigines.

The lower jaw is wide, the development of the brow is not as expressive as in the Carpentarians. The face is high and oblong. The height of the average Murray is 160 centimeters. Since anthropological information is not enough, the description ethnic composition Australia is by no means exhaustive.

central region

At present, in this part of the continent, Australians English origin- rare guests. This is the least explored area. It is still inhabited by Aboriginal tribes, which have not yet been assigned to any type. bushman skull middle length. The forehead is narrow and high. The face cannot be called round or wide. But the nose is massive. Distinctive feature representatives of these tribes - the birth of blond children.

Over time, their curls become more dark color, but among women there are blondes. Men have high growth, developed chest, strong physique.

West

The appearance of the natives living in the west of the continent is somewhat different from the appearance of their neighbors. They have an elongated skull, a narrow face with a strong superciliary relief. The nose is set low, which visually makes the shape of the face appear wider.

Oceania

The peoples inhabiting the Australian part of the island archipelago are represented by Melanesians and Papuans. The former are distinguished by dark skin color. The tribes use different language dialects and are highly divided. Most Melanesians are engaged in agriculture. But there are those who travel the sea. They plow the ocean, moving away from their native shores for vast distances.

The vast majority of the inhabitants are converted to the Catholic and Protestant faith. This is the result of the long work of Christian priests who arrived in Oceania along with the colonists.

Papuans sailed to the shores of Australia from Asia. The migration took place about forty-five thousand years ago. This ethnic group consists of several hundred tribes. The Papuans are engaged in gardening, sometimes they are engaged in fishing. Their clothing tells about the belonging of aborigines to a certain type.

As such, there are no leaders among the Papuan tribes. All issues are resolved by adult men who have a high position in the group.

Australian aborigines

Australian Aborigines belong to the Australoid race, whose representatives are characterized by a massive protrusion of the front of the skull, dark skin, hair growth on the face and body, a wide nose, wavy hair. The number of the indigenous population of Australia is (in 2001) 437 thousand people. Aboriginal people live in regions of Northern, Northwestern, Northeastern and Central Australia, remote from cities, some of them live in cities.

Aboriginal languages

Back to top European colonization the number of Australians was about 700 thousand people, united in about 500 tribes, speaking more than 260 languages.

Australian languages ​​have a large number of dialects that are very different from each other, mutual understanding between the speakers of some of them is impossible. The autochthonous languages ​​(that is, the languages ​​of the indigenous population) of the Australian mainland do not have clear genetic links with other languages. They can be divided into two main groups: the Pama Nyunga languages ​​(typical of the southern part of Australia), and the non-Pama Nyunga languages ​​(the languages ​​of the north and northwest).

Presumably, all the languages ​​of Australia are related and descended from a single proto-Australian language, but this hypothesis has not yet been proven in detail. Information about the languages ​​of Tasmania is even more fragmentary. There were approximately nine communities, each of which spoke its own language.

native with didjiridoo

Indigenous Australians were multilingual, the adult population knew at least three languages. Since the beginning of the colonization of the mainland by Europeans, new languages ​​\u200b\u200bhave been developed - the so-called "pidgins".

Aborigines of Australia were characterized by polygynous marriage (polygamy), the husband was most often older than his wife.

Aboriginal life and culture

traditional Aboriginal painting

Traditional Australian Aboriginal activities hunting, fishing and gathering were, among the population of the Torres Strait Islands - manual farming. The Australians hunted animals and birds, fished, dug up the roots and bulbs of plants, collected berries, leaves, insect larvae, bird eggs, honey from bees and wasps, caught shellfish and crustaceans. The Australians had no pets, with the exception of the dingo dog.

All tools were made of stone, shells, bones and wood. used hunting weapon(spears), digging sticks and troughs for carrying plant food, bags, bags, ropes. The Aboriginal costume included braided belts, bracelets, and feather headdresses. The natives did not use bows and arrows for hunting, they did not use poison for spears.

At the same time, they knew poisonous plants, poured them into reservoirs to poison fish, emus and other birds. Fire was made by rubbing two sticks together. Grain graters were used, on which hard roots and grains were ground, nuts were cracked, and animal bones were crushed. Roots, tubers, seeds were soaked in water or baked in a fire. The snakes were coiled and baked in ashes. Small animals, birds, caterpillars and snails were roasted on coals. Big game was cut into pieces and fried on hot stones.

The natives led a semi-nomadic lifestyle. During long stops, huts were built from poles, branches, stones, and earth. Women were engaged in gathering, men hunted big game. Women shared the food they collected only within their families. A large animal brought by a man was divided among all members of the production group from several families, thus, a wide circle of relatives received meat food. When food resources within a radius of 10-13 km from the camp were depleted, the group moved to a new place.

Australian Aboriginal Beliefs

Australian Aboriginal Flag

Australian Aboriginal Religion associated with the ritual life of the tribes and reflects totemic cults, initiation rites, intichium (magical reproduction of animals of their totem) and calendar rites. Ideas about space are poorly developed. The most common myths explain the origin of natural objects - lakes, hills, trees, etc. In mythology, the "time of dreams" stands out, when the mythical heroes made their life cycle brought to life people, animals, plants. Then they turned into sacred objects - rocks, trees.

Mythical heroes are totemic ancestors, progenitors of a certain breed of animals or plants and, at the same time, a certain human group; in totemic myths there are kangaroos, dogs, snakes, crabs, emus, opossums. In myths, totemic ancestors introduce various customs and rituals, teach people to use a stone axe, and make fire. The northern tribes have the image of a matriarchal progenitress, symbolizing the fertile land, the tribes of the southeast have a patriarchal universal father living in heaven.

Government policy towards Aboriginal people -

Colonization, accompanied by the extermination of Australians, their displacement into ecologically unfavorable areas, epidemics, led to a decrease in their numbers - up to 60 thousand in 1921. Since the 19th century Until the 1960s, the Australian government took half-breed children from Aboriginal families and sent them to assimilation camps. There they had to learn to live in a white society. During this state campaign, approximately 50,000 children were sent to assimilation camps. The position of the natives began to improve in the second half of the 20th century.

In 1967, the civil rights previously granted to the natives were legally secured. Since the late 1960s a movement is developing for the revival of cultural identity, the acquisition of rights to traditional lands. Laws have been passed in many states granting the lands of the reservations to the collective possession of the Australians under conditions of self-government, protecting them cultural heritage.

photograph 1906

In 2010, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd issued a formal apology to the indigenous people of Australia for the actions that the white colonizers committed towards the Aborigines.

Official apology from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

Currently, the growth rate of the Aboriginal population exceeds the Australian average. Aborigines live in remote areas and often make up the majority of the population there. Thus, over 27% of the population of the Northern Territory are aborigines. However, their standard of living is below the Australian average. Few natives retain the way of life of their ancestors. Traditional hunting, fishing and gathering have been lost.

Australian Aboriginal stamp

Watch the video Australian Aborigines:

“The liberals were and remain the ideologists of the bourgeoisie, which cannot put up with serfdom, but which is afraid of the revolution, afraid of the movement of the masses, capable of overthrowing the monarchy and destroying the power of the landowners. The liberals therefore confine themselves to the "struggle for reforms", the "struggle for rights", i.e. the division of power between the serf-owners and the bourgeoisie" Lenin, 1911.

There is an amazing country in the world that is entirely located on one mainland - this is the mysterious and so distant Australia. Many are interested in when the first people appeared there and what nationalities live there today? The population of Australia is very heterogeneous, and representatives of different nationalities from all continents of the Earth live there in peace and harmony.

East is the most favorable place

The population of Australia, according to modern standards, is very small. As shown by the last census, which was conducted three years ago, 23 million 100 thousand people live on this hot continent today. In fact, this is a little more than in one and only Moscow.

At the same time, people were distributed unevenly across the mainland. After all, the climate in this area is very harsh. More than half of all land is occupied sultry deserts and semi-deserts where it is almost impossible to live. In these places, the population density of Australia is extremely low - there is only one person per square kilometer.

And here East Coast The continent is very favorable for human habitation - the climate there is milder and more even. There, the population density of Australia is already ten times higher. There are ten people per square kilometer.

metropolitan cities

Despite the small population of Australia, there are million-plus cities in this country. This is Sydney, where more than three and a half million people live, Melbourne - three million and one and a half million Brisbane.

The rest of the people live in small towns and rural-type settlements. The main population of Australia lives in metropolitan areas. Rural residents here are only 10 percent. However, farming in this country is very developed. Australia not only fully provides itself with agricultural products, but also exports them.

local natives

Indigenous people Australia is aboriginal people who still live somewhat apart in the northwest of the mainland. Interestingly, the Aboriginal tribes live in the 21st century according to the laws of the Stone Age. Their children do not receive education, people do not know what the modern calendar is, what the days of the week and months are called. In their everyday life they do not use metal and iron objects. According to scientists, the indigenous population of this country is perhaps the most ancient on our planet.

Aboriginal tribes live apart. Representatives of each tribe have their own dialect and clear rules of life. They preserve their traditions, which are rooted in the depths of centuries. Only in 1967, the indigenous people were given equal rights with the alien white population of Australia. But many tribes prefer to stay on reservations that are not very suitable for full life person.

Interestingly, before the arrival of white people to the mainland, the indigenous population did not know what cattle breeding was. After all, all livestock - sheep, cows, bulls - was imported from other countries. Before that, the natives knew only one large mammal- Kangaroo, which is a symbol of this distant country. The natives did not engage in agriculture either because of the harsh climate. They lived mainly by hunting and fishing.

Inevitable assimilation

The authorities of the country are very concerned about the preservation of the culture and traditions of the natives. However, assimilation inevitably occurs. After all, natives are not required to live in places that were strictly assigned to them until 1967. Many have changed from a nomadic lifestyle to an urban one and are quite happy with it. Due to the fact that living conditions have improved significantly, there has been a surge in the birth rate among the indigenous population.

Aborigines began to gradually merge into modern life. In 2007, the country's authorities even created a special TV channel for indigenous peoples. True, it broadcasts in English. Because it is impossible to broadcast for all tribes, there are too many dialects and dialects.

Currently, the number of indigenous people in Australia is small - only 10 thousand people. But on the other hand, they are very fond of demonstrating their traditions, their way of life, their way of life. Many tribes willingly host numerous tourists. They show their ritual rites, demonstrate dances, perform sacrificial dances.

Instead of prison - link

Australia is often referred to as a prison paradise. This unflattering definition has its own historical justification. In the 19th-20th centuries, prisoners in Great Britain were fabulously lucky - many of them were replaced by prison terms with exile to the most distant continent on the planet. The very first settlement of this territory was forced. And it was the thieves, murderers, swindlers and embezzlers of Great Britain who began to develop these deserted lands. Gradually, sheep breeding began to develop here, which began to make a profit. The living conditions of the people improved from year to year. And then already Australia became a tempting country for many poor people of Great Britain. They were sure that on the hot mainland they would be able to live richer and more satisfying. And already in 1820 the first volunteers went to Australia.

Gold lured thousands of emigrants

And then there was a sensation at all - gold deposits were discovered on the mainland, and people began to massively move there in search of wealth. In 10 years, the population of Australia has increased to one million people.

The Germans also showed up. The first emigrants from Germany were participants in the 1848 revolution. They were persecuted in their homeland, but here they could live in peace.

Already in the middle of the 20th century, the composition of the population of Australia was very heterogeneous, and the number of people living on the mainland increased 6 times. Today, the British, Germans, Irish, New Zealanders, Greeks, Chinese, Dutch, Italians, Vietnamese live here.

They are still going

Since the century before last, the inhabitants of the entire planet have known that they are expected in distant Australia and that it is good to live there. Interestingly, emigration to this sultry, but very hospitable country continues to this day. According to statistics, it is Australia today that holds the palm for receiving emigrants. More than 150 thousand people annually change their place of residence for permanent registration on the Green Continent. They have every chance to quickly get a job and join such a heterogeneous Australian society that in a few generations their grandchildren will say: "I am an Australian!"

The Australian Aborigines are considered perhaps the most ancient of civilizations living on Earth. And at the same time, one of the least explored and understood. Arrived in "Australia" (then it was called " New Holland") in 1788, the English colonists called its native inhabitants "Aborigines", borrowing this term from Latin: "ab origine" - "from the beginning".

Until now, it has not been precisely established, and it is unlikely that it will ever be established exactly when and how the ancestors of modern aborigines got to this mainland. But it is generally accepted that the indigenous people of Australia came here through the sea about 50,000 years ago from what is now Indonesia.

Before the arrival of Europeans in Australia, the Aborigines lived throughout Australia and numbered about 250 peoples from own languages(which do not belong to any other language group), most of which are currently extinct. Aborigines led a primitive way of life (gathering fruits, hunting birds and animals, fishing, burning fires and living in forests, deserts, savannahs) for thousands of years until recently. At the same time, it cannot be unequivocally said that the Australian Aborigines were primitive people, because they had a kind of religion (beliefs, mythology of the "Time of Dreams", ceremonies, traditions, initiations) and maintained their own cultural heritage (aboriginal music, dances, rock paintings, petroglyphs). The natives of Australia had certain ideas about astronomy, although the interpretation and name of the stars and constellations did not at all coincide with European astronomy.

The most striking thing, perhaps, is how far behind the "progress" of the aboriginal civilization from the European one, being at a considerable distance from Europe and in special climatic conditions. This difference is perhaps several tens of thousands of years old. Some tribes maintained this way of life until the early 20th century on the remote islands of northern Australia, continuing to live in solitude with nature.

With the advent of Europeans, the life and future of the Australian Aborigines have changed radically and irrevocably. Beginning in 1788 black line in the history of the original inhabitants of Australia. Most of the indigenous people of Australia initially peacefully and with interest met newcomers from Europe, although some tribes met the colonists "with hostility". During the first 2-3 years, about half (and in some cases more) of all Australian Aborigines who had contact with European newcomers died from diseases and viruses unknown to them (introduced by Europeans), from which the indigenous people of Australia had no immunity. The most common diseases from which the natives died were smallpox and measles.

In addition, the colonists killed the natives, drove them from their ancestral lands, mocked them, raped their women, poisoned them, forcibly relocated and forcibly took their children from them. The state policy of forcibly removing children from Aboriginal families under the title "Assimilation of Indigenous Australians" continued until the 1970s (and in some places even longer). These Aboriginal children, deprived of their own parents, are now called the "Stolen Generation". For a large portion of the 20th century, Aboriginal Australians did not even have citizenship until 1967.

Nowadays, the situation has begun to change in better side. Since 1998, May 26 is celebrated in Australia as "Regret Day" (or "Day of Asking Forgiveness") in front of the Australian Aborigines for all that they had to endure and endure, starting from January 26, 1788, when the English captain Arthur Philip founded first British colony in Australia. Long time The Australian government has refused to publicly apologize to the Aboriginal people for the injustices, genocide and deliberate policies to eradicate the Aboriginal race that were carried out during the 19th and 20th centuries. However, on February 13, 2008, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made the first public apology to all Australian Aboriginal people on behalf of the Australian Parliament. This was an important step in the "reconciliation" of the Aboriginal people with another part of the Australian population. Although this apology was made in English and was not translated into any of the Aboriginal languages, which a priori can be considered injustice and humiliation of the Aboriginal people. Now the aborigines do not like to remember and talk about the "Stolen Generation", which is "sick" for them.

Today, Aboriginal people live throughout Australia, although they are rarely found in large cities. Most Aboriginal people now speak English and live in the central and northern territories of Australia. Among the Aboriginal people, alcohol and drug abuse is common, among them there is a higher mortality and crime rate and a very high unemployment rate, which again is partly "stimulated" by the state.

At the same time, among the Aborigines of Australia there are prominent figures: famous athletes, talented musicians, scientists, businessmen and politicians. Unfortunately, there are few of them. Usually, the natives themselves prefer not to be called "aboriginal", since they all belong to different nationalities (tribes) and do not like to be generalized by this term.

Where to see Aboriginal people in Australia? How to see Australian Aborigines? Where do Aboriginal people live in Australia?

Most Aboriginal Australians today live in the eastern and northern territories of Australia (New South Wales and Queensland), although they can be found in almost any city. The approximate number of Aboriginal people is about 520,000 people, i.e. 2.5% of the Australian population. In almost every city in Australia there is a "center of Aboriginal culture" where you can get in touch with this culture, and sometimes even meet an Aboriginal.

In order not just to "look" at the natives, but to learn more about them, to understand them, and at least get to know their culture and knowledge and history a little, I suggest you come to Australia and visit one (or maybe not one) of our individual excursions.

On our excursions, a Russian-speaking guide will tell you in detail about the former and current life of the Aborigines in Australia, about their mythology and knowledge, about their problems and culture. We know different places where we can show you the real Australian Aborigines. On some of our excursions you will be able to see Aboriginal dances, hear Aboriginal music performed on traditional Aboriginal instruments (see Didjiridu), watch them throw boomerangs and spears while hunting, and just chat with real Australian Aboriginal people. Our Russian guides in Australia also know places where you can see authentic ancient Aboriginal rock paintings and petroglyphs (from 2000 to 20,000 years old), grindstones and fire stones (not in a museum!), Aboriginal caves and ceremonial sites used by Aboriginal people for thousands of years.

You can see all this with your own eyes with me or our Russian-speaking guides in Australia and learn more about the natives of Australia.

Our tours in Australia, where you can see real natives, talk to them or see traces of their life (drawings, footprints, petroglyphs, native places, caves):

Sydney:

• Excursion with a Russian guide to the North from Sydney to the Couring Chase National Park - S5
• Sightseeing tour of Sydney with a private Russian guide in an individual car - S2 (full day)
• Blue Mountains and Australian Animal Park - Russian Guided Tour - S4
• Travel to the capital of Australia - Canberra - tour with a Russian guide - S9

Melbourne:

• Sightseeing tour with a Russian guide to the sights of Melbourne for a full day - M2
• Tour package of excursions from Melbourne with a Russian-speaking guide for 4 days -TPM4-5-8-2012

cairns:

• Excursion to Kuranda by funicular with an English speaking guide - CR07
• Full Day Australian Wildlife & Tropical Tablelands Tour from Cairns - 10 Hours - CR08
• Multi-day tour package 3 days/2 nights with excursions and accommodation from Cairns with Russian speaking guide - TPCR01

Australian Aboriginal culture

Music

Australian aborigines have known how to make musical instruments. The most famous of them is Didjiridu - a pipe from 1 to 2 meters long from a bough or eucalyptus trunk, eaten by termites in the center. It is very difficult to learn to play it: it requires a lot of practice and strong lungs. Good Aboriginal players on the Didgiridoo can play it continuously for an hour (without stopping or pausing). When playing the Didjirudu, the performer often diversifies the game with guttural sounds or tongue for added effect and imitates the sounds of animals and birds, because. kookaburra (laughing kookaburra).

Dancing

Aboriginal people often imitate different indigenous animals of Australia in their dances, because. kangaroo, wallaby, emu, snake, imitating their gait and movements.

Many dances are similar to each other and are accompanied by playing the didjiridoo and percussion sticks. Some dances are used by the natives only for certain purposes or seasons, there are ritual dances.

Aboriginal rock paintings and petroglyphs

Throughout Australia, there are about 50,000 places where traces of Aboriginal painting have been found (drawings on stones or petroglyphs carved in stone, or hand and finger prints made using ocher, a dried, pounded clay with sandstone). However, in order to avoid vandalism, most of these places are kept secret and are not accessible to non-specialists. There are some places where you can still see Aboriginal rock paintings.

In order to see these drawings or petroglyphs and get acquainted with the aboriginal culture, we invite you to our Russian-speaking excursions with Russian guides in Australia. We know these places and are ready to show them to you on our tours in Sydney, Melbourne and Cairns.

Boomerangs, shields and spears

Australian aborigines invented a unique type of weapon - the boomerang. The word boomerang comes from the Aboriginal word "Vomurrang" or "Boumarrang", which means "returning throwing stick" in the language of the Aboriginal tribe Turuwal (Turuwal). Boomerangs were mainly used for hunting birds, but were also used as weapons in conflicts with other tribes or for hunting large animals. In order for the boomerang to return, you need to have skills: be able to throw it at a certain angle, hold it correctly, release it in time and take into account the wind. Also, a proper boomerang should have some cuts on the limbs, without which it will not be able to return.

Aboriginal people also used a variety of javelins in hunting and conflict, and some of them can throw spears up to 100 meters with an accurate hit on a target the size of a coconut.

Shields were mostly narrow and were used for ceremonial purposes and dances, but could also be used to protect against attacks from other tribes too.

If you want to see how to throw a boomerang or a spear, try to throw a boomerang yourself and get to know the Aboriginal culture, we invite you to our Russian-speaking excursions with Russian guides in Sydney, Melbourne and Cairns.

Copyright 2012 Samoorai International

australian aborigines

australian aborigines
David Yunipon, Noel Pearson, Ernie Dingo, David Gulpilil, Jessica Mauboy, Cathy Freeman
Modern area of ​​​​settlement and population
Religion
Racial type
Related peoples

Aboriginal Handicrafts

The number is 437 thousand (2001, census), including 26.9 thousand people. in the Torres Strait Islands. Torres Strait Islanders are culturally distinct from other Aboriginal Australians, sharing many similarities with Melanesians and Papuans.

Today, most Aboriginal people rely on state and other charity. Traditional ways livelihoods (hunting, fishing and gathering, among the islanders of the Torres Strait - manual agriculture) are almost completely lost.

Before the advent of Europeans

The settlement of Australia took place from 70-50 to 30 thousand years ago. The ancestors of the Australians came from South-East Asia(mainly along the Pleistocene continental shelf, but also overcoming at least 90 km water barriers). With an additional influx of migrants who arrived by sea about 5 thousand years ago, the appearance of the dingo dog and a new stone industry on the continent is probably associated. Before the start of European colonization, the culture and racial type of Australians underwent a significant evolution.

colonial period

By the time of the appearance of Europeans (XVIII century), the number of natives was about 2 million, united in more than 500 tribes that had a complex social organization, various myths and rituals and spoke more than 200 languages.

Colonization, accompanied by the deliberate extermination of Australians, dispossession of land and displacement to ecologically unfavorable areas, epidemics, led to sharp decline their numbers - up to 60 thousand in 1921. but public policy protectionism (with late XIX century), including the creation of reservations protected by the authorities, as well as material and health care(especially after the 2nd World War) contributed to the growth in the number of Australians.

By the mid-1990s, the number of Aboriginal people reached approximately 257 thousand people, which is 1.5% of the total population of Australia.

Astronomical and cosmological representations in Aboriginal mythology

Australian aborigines believed that there is not only our physical reality, but also another reality inhabited by the spirits of ancestors. Our world and this reality intersect and mutually influence each other

One of the places where the world of "dreams" and real world, is the sky: the actions of the ancestors are manifested in the appearance and movement of the Sun, Moon, planets and stars, however, the actions of people can affect what is happening in the sky.

Despite the fact that the natives have certain information about the sky and objects in it, as well as individual attempts to use celestial objects for calendar purposes, there is no evidence that any of the Aboriginal tribes used a calendar associated with the phases of the moon; celestial objects were not used for navigation either.

Current position

Currently, the growth rate of the Aboriginal population (due to high birth rates) is significantly higher than the average Australian, although the standard of living is significantly lower than the average Australian. In 1967, the civil rights previously granted to the natives were legally enshrined. Since the late 1960s a movement is developing for the revival of cultural identity, for the acquisition of legal rights to traditional lands. Many states have enacted laws granting Australians collective ownership of reserve lands under self-government conditions, as well as protecting their cultural heritage.

Famous representatives of the Australian aborigines are the artist, writer David Yunaipon, football player David Wirrpanda, TV presenter Ernie Dingo, actor and storyteller David Gulpilil (Gulpilil), singer Jessica Mauboy (of mixed Australian-Timorian origin).

Since 2007, there has been in Australia, working along with other broadcasts for the national communities of the country SBS (broadcasts in 68 languages, including Russian). These programs, which began as domestic broadcasts, are now available worldwide with the development of the Internet. Although Australia's Aboriginal National Television operates in English due to the underdevelopment of Aboriginal dialects, it provides an opportunity for domestic and international audiences to learn Aboriginal languages ​​through TV lessons launched since 2010.

Aboriginal culture in cinema

• - "The Last Wave", a film by the famous Australian director Peter Weir
• - "Cage for rabbits" (eng. Rabbit proof fence), talks about attempts to "re-educate" the children of Australian aborigines.
• - "Ten Boats", from the life of Australian aborigines, which was a success in the world film distribution and even awarded a special prize at the Cannes Film Festival. All the actors in the film were natives and spoke their native language, Yolngu Math.

see also

Notes

Literature

• Artyomova O. Yu. Personality and social norms in an early primitive community according to Australian ethnographic data. M., 1987
• Artyomova O. Yu. Past and present of indigenous Australians // Races and peoples, vol. 10. M., 1980
• Berndt R. M., Berndt K. H. The World of the First Australians, trans. from English. M., 1981
• Kabo V.R. Origin and early history of Australia. M., 1969
• Lockwood D. I am a native, trans. from English. M., 1969
• McConnell W. Munkan myths, trans. from English. M., 1981
• Rose F. Aborigines of Australia, trans. with him. M., 1981
• Elkin A.P. Indigenous people of Australia, trans. from English. M., 1952
• The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Hunters and Gatherers. Cambridge, 1999 (I.VII, Australia, p.317-371)
• The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia. Vol.I-II. Canberra, 1994

Links

• //
• // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg. , 1890-1907.

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