1. Johanna Dietz Kristine Hergert
Aborigines
Johanna Dietz
Kristine Hergert

2. Structure In general Culture & Society Way of life Religion
Music & Art
History
Before the white settlement
After the white settlement
Situation today
Sources

3. In general Aborigines are the native Australians
The name was first used in 1770 by James Cook and the white settlers
Aborigines aren’t a uniform nation, they consist of many tribes and clans
The Aborigines name themselves different concerning the territory they live in

4. Flag of the Aborigines

5. Culture & Society Difference to the native Americans
No recognizable political structures
They have no chiefs
They do not distinguish between related or not related
In their sense everybody is related to everyone else

6. Way of life They see themselves as a part of their natural surrounding
For Aborigines land does not belong to individuals, the people belong to the land
They live in simple huts or shelters made out of twigs and bark
For hunting and fishing they use spears and boomerangs
They use boomerangs as a weapon, but also for competitions

7. They live in bands consisting of 20-30 members
Every band has the right of an area where they live in and find everything they need to survive
The tribe and the area are named by the language
The men take the dominating role, the women are just workers

8. The aborigines get their food out of hunting and gathering, the women gather and the men hunt
They eat whenever the food appears, not regularly
They are nomads inside their area
Members of other tribes aren’t allowed to step on the areas of others

9. It’s not totally clear how many different languages they have
There are between 200 and 300
Today only 20 languages are still taught to the children
Many Aborigines speak also the languages of other tribes

10. Religion In all tribes there is the religion about the “Dreaming”
That’s a time in the past, the time of the creation, it exists a land of the dead people
They believe in the “kangaroo-man”
They think the “Dreaming” isn’t only past, it’s also present and future
The most important figure is the Yurlunggur (rainbow-snake)
It’s a ghost of fertility, male and female

11. They believe that everything exists on the planet for a reason, everything has a purpose
There are no freaks, misfits or accidents, there are only misunderstandings and mysteries
They believe the world is a place of abundance
They have a lot of rituals

12. Music & Art The Aborigines play a lot of instruments
The most popular one is the Didgeridoo (Yidaki)
It’s a wind-instrument that they made out of Eukalyptusholz and bamboo
Their most important instrument is the human voice
The music is entertainment, but also communication

13. The Aborigines don’t know a writing
Art is their mean of communication and expression
The traditions and the history of them are recorded in paintings
Visual art in Aboriginal culture takes a number of different forms
Aborigines express their intellectual and religious attitudes to the land and the meaning of life through art and ceremony

14. Basis = the strong relationship with ancestral heroes and the landscape
Representational art showing human and animal forms exists beside abstract symbols
They can be used for a number of purposes, members of different groups understand each other’s symbols
The meaning of the symbols varies in every painting

15. History It isn’t sure how and when the Aborigines came to Australia
Between 40,000 and 50,000 before Christ
Archeologists think that they came from South Africa and first settled in north-west Australia

16. Before the white settlement
They lived in the east and the outback of Australia
They lived in a community with 500 people divided into smaller groups
By the time of the first white settlement 300,000 Aborigines were living in Australia
Most of them lived in the area around Murray River
They adapted their way of life to the surrounding

17. All of them were hunters, fishers and gatherers
They lived over large areas of land
Their weapons varied from region to region (spears, boomerangs)
They got their food in different ways, but only a few did farming
They ate animals (e.g. kangaroos), nuts and fruits

18. They lived as nomads and half-nomads
They survived in all climates
They used fire for different ends
Drawing pictures was very important for them and they renewed them regularly

19. After the white settlement
They were killed in large numbers by settlers and by diseases introduced by the Europeans
They were forced to give up and leave their land
It was taken without compensation
Their place in Australia’s history has been played down or ignored completely

20. Their children were taken away and placed in institutions or white families
They should lose their Aboriginality and assimilate into white society
Aborigines were denied many rights
1967 right to vote, access to social benefits
1972 Aboriginal or Tent Embassy in Canberra

21. 1976 Northern Territory Act/Aboriginal Land Rights Act
1980s End of racial segregation at school
1992 Mabo Case
1993 Native Title Act
1996 Wik Case

22. Situation today 2000 Olympic games in Sydney
Cultural program drew attention to Aboriginal issues
Aboriginal myths at the opening and closing ceremony
Cathy Freeman won a gold medal and enlightened the fire
Created a positive image of one of the world’s oldest culture

23. Interest in traditional Aboriginal culture has grown immensely
Tourists are interested in the Aboriginal life in the outback
Aboriginal activists have done much to improve their rights
Social situation is extremely bad, on every social scale they suffer the greatest disadvantage
Thousands know little about their original families and tribes

24. Great success in areas such as sport, music, film, theatre and dance
The market for Aboriginal culture goes well beyond national borders
Aboriginal art has also become an important international aspect
It has attracted the interest of art collectors and is now represented in all Australian galleries

25. Modern Aboriginal art: painting, print-making, ceramics and fabric printing
Traditional art: baskets, string bags, weapons
Traditional art is religious and is considered the exclusive copyright
They live in a compromise between traditional and modern way of life

26.
Aborigines got the rights for the rainforests at the Australian east-coast
They are allowed to use them for hunting, fishing and national parks
They hope to get more jobs out of this

27. Sources
Australian Encounters 1
Wikipedia
Thanks for your attention!