Australian Aboriginal History
Image: New Acropolis Spain
Australia is a very particular continent due, above all, to the fact that it has been isolated over time, being discovered during the Modern Age and colonized in the middle of this time, so it has a very particular ecosystem to the rest of the world. In this lesson from a TEACHER we bring you a summary with the history of the Australian aborigines, populations that have brought to light a lot of information about human evolution.
Index
- The origin of the aborigines
- When was Australia populated?
- How many Australian Aboriginal populations are there?
- Aborigines after British colonization
- The languages
- Australian Aboriginal culture
The origin of the aborigines.
Without a doubt, this summary with the history of the Australian aborigines we have to start by talking on the genetic load of the different populations that inhabit the continent and the islands surrounding.
In 2016, the Simons Genomic Diversity Project was carried out in which 142 world populations were studied. During the course of the investigations a fundamental discovery was made, since the Australian aborigines
did not share much of the human genome of European, Asian or American populations.But nevertheless, they related these populations to a branch that disintegrated around 20,000-10,000 (before the hominids that would populate Asia and Europe) along with another percentage from the Homo deisova. Therefore, at first glance, we will find the first differences, which further confirm the wealth that this continent contains, far from the rest of the world.
When was Australia populated?
We turn now to colonization by the earliest hominid populations on the Australian continent. Studies have brought to light that, during the Pleistocene, that is, between 50,000-40,000, the first populations from southeast Asia using portions of land that at that time would exist between Asia and Australia, as well as using small boats to to cross some parts where there was sea, crossing therefore in his trip the Lesser islands of the Sunda, New Guinea and finally Australia.
The first population to arrive on the continent was the Mungo Man (50,000 a. C.), finding the oldest remains in New South Wales. Some time later, other waves of hominid populations would arrive, settling on the continent, forming the Australian cultural wealth.
Therefore, we must know that we are before the oldest men in the world since they have not lasted to this day, relating only to the surrounding tribes, which also belong to their race.
Image: Alan Rickman blog - blogger
How many Australian Aboriginal populations are there?
Within the summary with the history of the Australian aborigines we will say that there are more than 400 aboriginal peoples with cultural differences since each one inhabits a part of the continent. Sometimes these are very extensive giving rise to subgroups within these, giving us samples of the complexity that exists. The most important ones are:
- Noongar: they are located to the south.
- Koori: located in New South Wales and Victoria (where the first settlements are believed to have been.
- Anangu: to the north.
- Arrente: located in the McDonnell mountain range.
The aborigines after the British colonization.
One of the saddest points that we will find about the indigenous populations will be from the 17th century, at which time the British Empire began to colonize these islands. From that moment on, we will find the first confrontations with the populations, which began to be pushed out of their natural habitats, due to the colonists craving for wealth.
In addition, and as happened in America, after the beginning of relations there were a series of epidemics due to the diseases that the Europeans carried and against which the aborigines had no defenses.
On the other hand, the beginning of commercial relations with these populations introduced the alcohol and drugs in a world where there was no awareness of their existence, causing many to fall into their hands.
Undoubtedly, some of the figures that historians have ventured to bring to light speak of the 10,000-20,000 Aboriginal deaths during the struggle to increase borders, without being able to give figures for deaths from epidemics and venereal diseases.
Image: Slideshare
The languages.
If there are so many populations, and each of them has different cultural traits, it is not difficult to imagine that there will be more than one language on the continent. Before colonization by the British Empire there were some 250 languages or more and from that moment to the present day there have been many that have disappeared, leaving at the moment a few 20 languages (of which some are in a period of extinction).
According to philologists, it could be said that part of the languages would be related to each other and could be divided into two groups:
- Non-pama-ñunganas languages: languages spoken in the north of the country.
- Pama-ñunganas languages: they are the most common and are spoken in most of the continent.
In the same way, some of the languages are considered isolated, since they are only spoken in very specific places.
Australian Aboriginal culture.
We cannot finish this summary without mentioning the culture of these populations. We must know that culture has passed through the centuries of oral form, since these populations did not have a writing system, since they were hunter-gatherer societies and therefore were semi-nomadic.
Within the culture, religion has a fundamental aspect and is known as the Sleep time, are legends that narrate the relationships of the aboriginal people with nature, since their religion deals with nature and astronomy. Being the sacred place of these populations, the Uluru, a rock formation.
Within religion, as has been said, astronomy played an important role since the movement of the constellations was closely watched by these populations.
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