Aboriginal Australians are groups that descended from cohorts that inhabited Australia and the surrounding islands prior to the British colonization. The group constitute the indigenous people who include two distinct groups that is, Torres Strait Islanders and the aboriginal people from other parts of Australia. Archeological evidence show that the aboriginal Australian culture dates back over 65,000 years ( Malaspinas, Westaway, Muller, Sousa, Lao, Alves & Heupink, 2016) . The groups were among the first populations to migrate out of Africa and are believed to have followed the coastlines of India until they arrived and settled at the shores of Australia. The aboriginal Australian’s culture revolved around living in permanent villages which was the norm for Torres Island communities ( Travelfilmarchive , 2015). Majority of the aboriginals were semi-nomadic characterized by regular cyclic movement, following seasonal food sources and re-occupying the same regions at the same times every year ( Malaspinas et al., 2016) .
One of the things that have changed the aboriginal Australian is the British colonization and European settlement in Australia. The British invasion led to expropriation of the inhabitants land and water resources without consultation with the first Australians. They were driven out of their land, an action that affected their spiritual, cultural connection and well-being which could no longer be maintained. Secondly, decimation of the aboriginal Australians has affected their population significantly. The group number has declined due to massacres, forced removal of children, racial dilution, assimilation and imprisonment. Majority of the aboriginal population live in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland which constitute mainland and islands. The regions are situated on mountains, rainforests, coastline and surfing beaches. The region’s landscape also consists agricultural plains, deserts, market gardens, vineyards and Wheat lands’.
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One component associated with the aboriginal Australian is food. The population has a deep connection with bush foods which included wild plants, animals and insects such as moths, ants, beetles and grubs. The group also consumes fish and eels as well as birds such as scrub fowl, waterfowl and jabiru. Land is also a cultural component that defines the aboriginal populations. The group regard land as everything to them since it holds their ancestors, religion and customs. The aboriginal population highly regards land as a vital asset for the continued cultural survival of the first Australian inhabitants. The two verbal codes I noted in the aboriginal Australian communication are Syntactics and morphology. According to Eades (2013), the group language has prefixes but with no gender distinction. The prefixes may be used to indicate possession for example showing that something belongs to someone. They also use suffixes to mark possession. The aboriginal Australians language lack voiced and voiceless contrast. In their communication the group lacks fricatives but apply palatal and retroflex consonants with only three to five cardinals which make the population’s vowel system. As Eades (2013) explain, the group has no formal morphological marker which may indicate noun gender affiliation. Upon watching one of the documentaries about Aboriginal Australians, the two nonverbal codes that manifested were kinesics and proxemics ( Eades, 2013) . The aboriginal population avoid eye contact as a gesture of respect. They are uncomfortable with direct eye contact as they deem doing so as a show of rudeness, aggression and disrespect. On proxemics, the aboriginal group establish rapport and seek permission prior to touching someone. They are usually conscious about the proximity when standing near a person. They consider standing too close to an unfamiliar person as threatening.
GLOBE Project Cultural Dimensions
The Global Leadership and Organizational Behaviour model also known as GLOBE project is a framework that provides an additional lens on how people can develop a better understanding of a population’s culture and perform well in an international environment. The GLOBE project has nine cultural dimensions. However, four components of the GLOBE taxonomy will be used to analyze the Aboriginal Australian culture.
Uncertainty Avoidance
First, the watched documentaries and the analyzed history anthropological books reveal that the Aboriginal Australians are high on uncertainty avoidance. The population strongly relies on rules, social norms and procedures to create orderliness and control their daily lives. They have a set of rules and standards of behaviour that govern the population. One strict rule is a strong kinship avoidance rule where the Aboriginal customs ban a person from seeing their mother in law or from talking to her directly ( Hamacher, 2013) . The mother in law is supposed to eat apart from the daughter or son in law and should not be on the same table with any of their spouses. If for example the mother in law and the son or daughter are in the same ceremony, they are supposed to sit with their backs facing each other. Communication should be through the wife or husband who ought to be the conduit of relaying messages in the relationship. The women who are of the same skin group as the mother in law should be avoided. Girls marry at puberty while men may not wed until they are 26 to avoid cases of illicit relationships. The custom rule was developed to avoid cases of friction among families. Second, the aboriginal Australians have strict rules that guide sexual relationships. Hamacher (2013) posits that once children have matured, their sexual behaviour becomes a strict avoidance as relationships are prescribed by traditional law and arranged prior to a child’s birth. Relationship with the wrong partner is viewed in the same light as same sex behaviour. They apply the same punishment as domestic crime orchestrated against the community. Intimate bodily touch such as nipple tweaking and groin touching among aboriginal women is however considered an indication of friendship which does not apply among men.
Gender Egalitarianism
On gender egalitarianism, Aboriginal Australians are low since there are responsibilities unique to men, women and children. First, the man is usually in charge of the family and should lead in solving problems facing the household. Men are regarded as community leaders, teachers and hunters. Men are expected to take leadership responsibilities, be land owners, decision makers, educators and act as father figures ( Hamacher, 2013) . Men are expected to be strong, handworkers and providers to the aboriginal family set-up.
Secondly, women undertake the responsibility of domestic duties, giving emotional support and child rearing within the family. Females are supposed to take the traditional roles of caring for the children and the entire family. The women were supposed to nurture and protect children until they reach adulthood stage. The mother also has the responsibility of providing early sex education. Women also have the role of performing in cultural ceremonies. For example, the Inma which is a cultural function of Anagu women who belong to the aboriginal population perform songs and dances to make the ceremony lively ( Hamacher, 2013) . They were also expected to take part in decorating objects for instance the totem poles to make the festival colorful. The aboriginal Australian culture has a gender policy that views women as influential figures to the group’s culture.
In-group collectivism
The aboriginal Australian are high on in-group collectivism as indicated by the cohesion, pride and unity that binds the community together. As Dobia, Bodkin-Andrews, Parada, O'Rourke, Gilbert, Daley and Roffey (2013) explain, the togetherness contribute to effective family functioning and serve as a protective force for families and communities. The kinship system and spirituality are evidence of the high in-group collectivism among Aboriginal Australian communities. The Kinship system has established a strong relationship between the indigenous nations in Australia. The kinship levels such as the Moiety and Totem link the generations as people who share the same Moiety and regard themselves as siblings who are supposed to be strongly attached to each other. The Kinship underscore values of interdependence and community loyalty where responsibilities such as child rearing are shared among community members. The Kinship is the heart of the Aboriginal Australian society which brings pride and act as a cohesive force binding the communities together. Additionally, the Kinship system provide a sense of belonging and brings pride of the community’s rituals, art, land, plants, animals, stories and songs.
Secondly, the aboriginal Australia spirituality bring about in group collectivism by giving meaning to the various aspects of life such as the environment and the relationship with one another ( Horton, 1994) . The spirituality facet brings the inter-connectedness among people, animals, people and animals ( Dobia et al., 2013) . Spirituality fosters solidarity among communities as they regard themselves responsible towards each other. Spirituality instills positive values such as caring and sharing for one another ultimately fostering cohesion. The spirituality is linked to land which ‘owns’ the aboriginal Australian communities. The population regard themselves as a group that is sharing the same soul thus inculcate the feeling of oneness which underpins the aboriginal life. Spirituality teaches the aboriginal Australian population to develop a sense of oursness and restricts mineness.
Assertiveness
The Aboriginal Australians are low on assertiveness cultural dimension. The communities are not confrontational or aggressive towards each other. The community as previously mentioned has strong positive relations and are friendly towards each other. Land and shared responsibilities are two components which are evidence that the Aboriginal Australian are low on assertiveness ( Stewart & Allan, 2013) . The communities are united by the land where they live on which they gladly share with each other to promote close relationships with each other. Secondly, the communities share responsibilities such as raising of children, a characteristic that fosters positive effects among the aboriginal inhabitants ( Horton, 1994) . The aboriginal communities in Australia have a collective focus on child rearing indicating that they are not aggressive but rather show hospitality towards each other. Bringing up of children collectively bring interdependence, community loyalty and indicate that the communities value tenderness and express concern for each other’s well-being ( Horton, 1994) . The aboriginal Australians protect each other from potential external aggression and co-operate in tasks such as child rearing and safeguarding of community belongings such as land.
References
Dobia, B., Bodkin-Andrews, G., Parada, R. H., O'Rourke, V., Gilbert, S., Daley, A., & Roffey, S. (2013). Aboriginal Girls Circle: Enhancing Connectedness and Promoting Resilience for Aboriginal Girls: Final Pilot Report.
Eades, D. (2013). Aboriginal English. Aboriginal ways of using English , 76.
Malaspinas, A. S., Westaway, M. C., Muller, C., Sousa, V. C., Lao, O., Alves, I., ... & Heupink, T. H. (2016). A genomic history of Aboriginal Australia. Nature , 538 (7624), 207-214.
Hamacher, D. W. (2013). Aurorae in Australian Aboriginal traditions. arXiv preprint arXiv:1309.3367 .
Horton, D. (1994). Unity and Diversity: The History and Culture of Aboriginal Australia, 1301.0-Year Book Australia, 1994. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics .
Stewart, J., & Allan, J. (2013). Building relationships with Aboriginal people: A cultural mapping toolbox. Australian Social Work , 66 (1), 118-129.
Travelfilmarchive (2015). Primitive People - Australian Aborigines (1950s), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNIPXa5USZE
