Demonstrates high rates of economic growth. However, it is in this country that numerous tribes still live, whose way of life and level of development have not changed since the Stone Age. The indigenous population of the continent does not know how to mine iron, does not know writing, aboriginal australia no calendar. These people do not use the achievements familiar to modern man. At the same time, it is the Australians who are the most ancient civilization on the planet.

Their culture is unique and original, it has nothing to do with the heritage of other countries, since the continent has been in complete isolation for a long time. At the moment, the indigenous population of the mainland stands out as an independent race - the Australoid. Each of the numerous local tribes of the Australian Aboriginals has its own language, which in terms of melody is not similar to any of the European, African or Asian dialects. There are more than two hundred dialects, and the vast majority of them exist only in oral form, because only a few tribes developed writing.

The period of the conquest of Australia

According to the 2001 census, Aboriginal Australians make up only 2.7%. This is about half a million people, while in the XVIII century, at the time of the landing of the British, there were more than five million natives. The colonial period is one of the most difficult for the Australian Aborigines in history, because at this time the tribes were mercilessly exterminated and persecuted. From the favorable conditions of the southern coast with a comfortable climate, the natives had to move to arid desert regions in the north of the continent and in its central part.

Modern Australian Aboriginal Lifestyle

Since 1967, when representatives of the Aborigines of Australia achieved equal rights with the white population of the country, the position of the indigenous population began to improve. Many tribes, with state support, assimilated and moved to live in cities. Programs to increase the birth rate and preserve cultural heritage aborigines. In 2007, a television channel for the indigenous population even began to operate, however, due to the wide variety of Australian languages, broadcasting is conducted in English.

A fairly large percentage of Australian Aborigines are currently involved in tourism. So, excursions to reservations are very popular among travelers - places where the indigenous population has retained their usual way of life. The natives also act as guides.

In addition, colorful performances with songs, dances and performance of ritual ceremonies are organized for tourists. Many Australians are engaged in the manufacture and sale of souvenirs - tools and hunting, knitted and wicker clothing, utensils. About ten thousand aborigines living in the northwest and in the center are still at the level of development in the Stone Age. Thanks to them, the unique culture of the local population of Australia is preserved.

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 of subsistence (hunting, fishing and gathering, among the islanders of the Torres Strait - manual farming) 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 Southeast Asia (mainly along the Pleistocene continental shelf, but also overcoming at least 90 km of 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 beginning European colonization the culture and racial type of Australians have undergone 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, which had a complex social organization, various myths and rituals, and spoke more than 200 languages.

Colonization, accompanied by the targeted extermination of Australians, dispossession of land and displacement to ecologically unfavorable areas, epidemics, led to a sharp decrease in their numbers - up to 60 thousand in 1921. However, the state policy of protectionism (with late XIX century), including the creation of reserves protected by the authorities, as well as material and medical assistance (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 started as domestic broadcasts, are now available worldwide with the development of the Internet. Although Australian Aboriginal National Television operates on English language 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 own language. mother tongue yolngu matha.

see also

Notes

Literature

• Artyomova O. Yu. Personality and social norms in the 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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See what "Australian Aborigines" is in other dictionaries:

Indigenous people of any locality, country (for example, Australian Aborigines in Australia, Maori in New Zealand). According to ancient Roman legends, this was the name of an ancient tribe that lived at the foot of the Apennine mountains ... Historical dictionary

Torres Strait Islanders ... Wikipedia

The Australian Border Wars are a series of military conflicts between Indigenous Australians and European settlers. The first battle took place in May 1788; Australia was largely conquered by the British colonialists by 1830 ... ... Wikipedia

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Indigenous peoples, aborigines, autochthonous, natives are the original population of the territory, who have preserved traditional life support systems, special forms of economic activity, for example, hunting (land, sea), cattle breeding (nomadic cattle breeding ... ... Wikipedia

The indigenous population of Australia looks very, very colorful. Firstly, they have their own unique features in appearance, and secondly, they constantly wear national clothes, and cosmetics are replaced by natural colors and tribal patterns applied to the face and body. We have prepared for you a special selection of Aboriginal photos so that you can touch their unusual world.

Four natives are sitting with national musical instruments - the didgeridoo. By the way, the didgeridoo is one of the oldest wind instruments musical instruments preserved on earth.

Joy and good mood among Aboriginal men at the holiday.

One of the tribal customs that have survived to this day.

And this is a photograph of a ritual dance at one of the many holidays organized, including for tourists.

There are also more brightly dressed, colorful characters.

Photos of Australian Aboriginal women

Most Aboriginal women can hardly be called beautiful by European standards. Like men, they have very large facial features, among which large and massive noses and no less large chins and cheeks immediately catch the eye.

The modern tribes of Northern and Central Australia are becoming less isolated and increasingly adopting habits and lifestyles from urban residents. For example, in this photo, you can see fashionable sunglasses worn along with national costumes and applied body coloring. In everyday life, many women use clothes familiar to Europeans - T-shirts, sweaters, pants, jackets.

A young girl of one of the national tribes in the generic color.

Children and teenagers

A young boy performing the dance of his tribe. In the future, he will become a hunter and will be accepted as equals in adult men.

In general, the natives live quite well in their homeland.

Would you like to visit Australia and see these cool guys with your own eyes, and not in the photo?

Australian Aborigines, that is, the indigenous inhabitants of Australia, whose number now stands at about half a million people, live mostly in areas of the northern half of the mainland remote from cities. Until recently, the existence of the First Nations who inhabited Australia was under threat. With the beginning of European colonization, epidemics came to their lands, displacement from their native lands and uncontrolled physical destruction. The British, having come to new lands and considering the tribes living there for the most primitive people, not far from the monkey, without ceremony slaughtered them with whole villages. By 1921, their number had fallen to 60 thousand people, while by the time the Europeans discovered Australia, there were about 1 million of them.

But in the 20th century, the Australian government became concerned about the problems of the indigenous population, reservations began to be created, public finances were allocated and donations were collected, so that, given the high birth rate, now their numbers have increased dramatically.

Scientists single out the Australian Aborigines as a separate Australian branch of the Australoid race. Outwardly it tall people with black wavy hair, large protruding brow ridges, a large nose with wide nostrils and deep-set eyes. They are distinguished by very large teeth, an elongated skull with very thick skull bones, and extremely dark pigmentation of the skin and eyes. Among the natives there are natural blondes, this is a mutation that has been fixed as a result of isolation. Initially, they were attributed to the Negroid race, but later genetic studies proved their proximity to the Mongoloid race and the maximum remoteness of kinship with the Negroids.

In their best times, the Australian Aborigines were engaged in gathering, hunting and fishing. They were not engaged in agriculture or other productive economy, they did not have a written language, laws, social hierarchy. They did not build cities and large settlements, did not engage in handicrafts. Australians lived in groups, based on a common language and family ties. Only the related Tasmanians had a more primitive cultural and material environment. The spiritual and religious side of the life of the indigenous population was more developed. Hundreds of scattered tribes spoke their own languages ​​or dialects, had rich oral traditions and an extensive mythology.

Indigenous Australians united in about 400 ethnic groups, spoke several hundred dialects, grouped into 26 language groups. The aboriginal tribes of southern Australia developed a special sign language as an alternative form of communication with speakers of other languages. Also, sign language was used in special cases of taboo speech. The richness of myths and legends among different tribes have much in common, common lines of plots and heroes stand out. They developed their own system of representation of the world, in which, in addition to the real world around us, there is also a world of dreams, where the spirits of ancestors live. In the sky these worlds meet, and the movements of the Sun, Moon and stars may depend on the actions of ancestors or living people. Special attention the aborigines paid attention to the starry sky and the movements taking place on it, but at the same time they did not use celestial objects either for navigation or for calendar readings. Structurally, the society consisted of communities, led by elders and hereditary leaders. There were initiations - special rites that preceded the entry of young men and women into adulthood. Severe restrictions on marriage were based on a complex system of kinship. Funeral rites included cremation, which was invented in Australia earlier than anywhere else.

Unfortunately, the new Australians, white settlers, paid little attention to the indigenous population. Even when the era of hard labor development of the mainland passed and scientists from Europe began to gather in the cities, there was no special attitude to the collection and analysis of materials on the aspects of the life of indigenous peoples. Therefore, much knowledge about the culture and heritage of the Australian Aborigines is now irretrievably lost. Modern descendants of the aborigines have almost completely lost their traditional ways of life support, are focused on state and charitable assistance and keep religious traditions. Aboriginal people were recognized as citizens of the state of Australia with the corresponding rights and obligations only in 1967. At present, movements for the preservation of cultural identity are developing in modern Australia, lands are allocated in collective ownership for the protection of cultural heritage, the National Aboriginal Television is operating, and lessons are being taught in Aboriginal languages. You can see with your own eyes how the natives live and get to know their culture better by visiting