Arguably the first Australians, the Aborigines occupied ancient Australia for over 1000 years. Archaeology estimates that they inhabited Australia around 45, 000 years ago thus are described as one of the indigenous people of Australia (Finkel, 2016). Their origin is said to have been somewhere around Asia. The Aborigines lives were well known because of their strong spiritual beliefs, storytelling, and art plus the most prevalent colonialism that was experienced by a wide number of the indigenous groups that were in existence all through that time. This paper looks at the lives of the ancient Aborigines, their current state, and future predictions.
It is rumoured that the Aborigines came to Australia at a time when there were low sea levels. Coextensive land bridges between Asia and Australia are said to be the reason why they found an easy way to Australia. Moreover, it is also said that some of them must have used water travel to get to Australia because there were vast areas of sea water separating the two dry lands. For instance, areas of Bali and Lombok were covered by large areas of water which amounted to more than 120 miles. This water travel made up one of the earliest sea travel activities of the world. Later on, sea levels rose, and some of the areas became islands. This separated some the Aborigines from others because areas that became islands were surrounded by large volumes of water. However, the rising of the sea levels increased seafaring activities as more crafts were made to ensure people could travel to and from the islands.
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Further, the Aborigines occupied Australia at a time when harsh climatic conditions were characteristic of the lands (Tonkinson & Berndt, 2015). It was at the time of the last glacial maximum which was highly dynamic. Arid landscapes were later occupied at a time dated 10, 000 years ago. The harsh climate hindered them from partaking any form of agricultural activities at the time, and this explains why the Aborigines do not have a strong agricultural background as compared to most indigenous occupants of the world.
Well known as spiritual people, the Aborigines spirituality told of an associative relationship between humans and the land (Siasoco, 2016). They, however, do not believe in the existence of a god purely. Aboriginals believe that it was their ancestors who created the universe and everything in it. Their spiritual life was strongly founded on ancestral beliefs. This made their value for nature different from most of the other religions. They did not value themselves as being above nature. In their way of believing, they presumed that nature was more valuable than all humans. This was because they had a belief that once their ancestors died, they metamorphosed into nature (Siasoco, 2016). This implies that on dying, these people became certain objects of nature like rivers and springs, and thus became spiritually alive.
The Aboriginals also had a history of storytelling and art (Siasoco, 2016). Many tales of the land were told especially to the young by the old. They told of stories about the ‘dreamtime,’ which was the time when it was said they had come to existence. Many tales from within the land were also told to the young. The purpose of storytelling was to ensure that they carried on their cultures from one generation to the next.
In art, the Aborigines created fine pieces of art which were: baskets, sculptures, rock paintings, and beadworks (Siasoco, 2016). Art is one of the elements of ancient Aboriginal history which they still carry along up to date. Large numbers of modern day Aboriginals make a living from the selling of this artworks. Musically, the Aboriginals invented the didgeridoo instrument which was a wind instrument made from bamboo. The didgeridoo was a tool of great significance to the community and was mostly used during formal ceremonies like sunsets (which were much valued), funerals, and circumcisions.
Additionally, the Aborigines were hunter-gatherers (Siasoco, 2016). They did not grow crops, as earlier indicated, and neither did they domesticate animals apart from the dingo. The dingo was a type of wild dog whose predated time of existence is said to be around 3000-5000 years ago. As a result of their non-involvement in agriculture, the Aborigines solely depended on the provisions of nature. They were also nomadic by nature in that they kept moving from one place to another in search of greener pastures. However, this did not take them away from their home territories which they had developed a very strong attachment to. It was in these home territories where a majority of their gathering and hunting was held.
Given the poor climatic conditions at the time, there was an impending need for the Aborigines to balance between population and resources (Tonkinson & Berndt, 2015). They had to make sure that the little available resources were well utilized and not manipulated by any individuals. As a result, they had reduced food gathering groups that helped maintain the resources. These groups were, however, enlarged at certain times of the year when there was food in plenty. Aggregation and dispersion were thus the way of feeding with dispersion taking a predominant position due to the climatic conditions experienced in the mostly dry ancient Australia.
Socially, the Aborigines had put in place what was called an ‘estate group’ which was a group through which religious responsibilities could be carried out. The ‘estate group’ was the main social unit, and it shared the proprietorship of particular places and territory stretches. Most of the estate groups were primarily composed of people who were closely related. However, the connection that was used in this case was patrilineal. This means that an estate group comprised of individuals who traced their connections through males (Tonkinson & Berndt, 2015). Adult males in every estate group were the overall leaders. They could put in place certain rules to be followed, and they were also the ones in charge of performing rituals. Women were required to join the estate groups of the husbands immediately after marriage.
A land was owned collectively by each particular estate group (Tonkinson & Berndt, 2015). There was an unwritten agreement that saw to it that all land that was placed in the hands of a particular group was equally owned by everyone. However, the members of a certain estate group would have bands where they would occupy. These bands were like their lands only that they did not have full ownership over them. In cases where depletion of resources was reported in certain bands, a merging of bands was performed. Affected bands were allowed to share their resources with bands that neighboured them.
A single band was composed of two families. It was characterized by high mobility, flexibility, and its quick responsiveness to changes in ecological and social aspects. The consistent families of a band, however, carried on their activities independent of the other. They cooked separately and so did they camp. On its own, a single family could have made the basic social unit, but the Aborigines valued sociality more.
In leadership, the Aborigines did not have a centralized type of political control or governance. They even did not have chiefs like other indigenous groups. The societies of the Aborigines were also classless. There were no high class, middle class, and low-class divisions amongst them. However, they were characterized by hierarchical and egalitarian organizations amongst them (Tonkinson & Berndt, 2015). Exceptionally, there were also some few areas which had single leaders like the Melanesian ‘Big man’ who was such a prominent figure in those ancient times and even in modern history. Roles and status in the society were determined by two main key things: age and sex. Men played the greater part in leadership and influence over the women. Again, the elderly were also the ones who were most considered and held high in value and respect. Their opinions were much respected, and they almost had the final say on most matters.
There were also a set of rules which were set aside so as to ensure the smooth running of the community (Tonkinson & Berndt, 2015). They advocated for intense self-regulation at all times. Violators of any of the rules that were set aside were undertaken through a process of embarrassment and shame. The said set of rules were not scripted anywhere for reference but were known to each and every person. This rules were controlled on kinship grounds where it was the duty of the kinship to decide the truth in a claim of an offense committed and decided on what action to take. This way, the Aborigines were able to maintain law and order with the lack of a centralized leadership.
The Aborigines have, however, reduced in number by such a great margin. The one community that was once predominant in the country has now been reduced to at most 2% of Australians population today. Most of this is attributed to their slow transition to the modern changes in the world which include climatic, political, ecological, social, and now technological developments. Soon, there could be no single Aborigines existing in Australia or even anywhere in the world for that matter. There is a great need for the remaining population to see to it that the world does not see the extinction of a once largely populated society.
References
Finkel, M. (2016). Australia’s Aboriginals: First Australians. National Geographic . Retrieved http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2013/06/aboriginal-australians/finkel-text.
Siasoco, R. V. (2016). Aboriginal Australia: History and culture of Australia’s indigenous people. Info Please . Retrieved http://www.infoplease.com/spot/aboriginal1.html.
Tonkinson, R., & Berndt, R. M. (2015). Australian Aborigine. Britannica . Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Australian-Aborigine.
