Indigenous People of Australia

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Recommended: Introduction paragraph aboriginal cultures

1 History 1.1 Origin 1.1.1 Indigenous people of Australia Aborigines have been in Australia for at least 40 000 years, with a possible range of up to even 125 000 years, but the oldest human remains found so far, were only 40 000 years old. In general, it is believed that all Aborigines are related to one migration into Australia. A minority of scholars however, suggests that there were three waves of migration into the continent. Their curly black hair, blue-black skins, thick lips and wide noses remind of southern India and Papua New Guinea, so it is generally believed that this is where Aboriginal people originally came from. Most likely, the Aborigines lived in the same surroundings as the Australian megafauna. These megafauna are several large animal species that used to live in Australia 100.000 to 50.000 years ago, but are now extinct. The animals are characterized as species with an approximate body mass bigger than 30 kilograms. Aborigines originally lived as hunter-gatherers. They mainly hunted for animals on their land to feed them. The Aboriginal groups were quite mobile, similar to nomads. They only moved due to the need of variety of food, available in different regions as the seasons changed. The population was scattered around the continent but the highest population density was to be found in the South and East of the country, for example in the River Murray Valley in the South. It is not known how long it precisely took for the Aborigines to spread out over the entire continent. It actually might have taken as long as 10 000 years. In the beginning, Aborigines chose the regions as close to the coast as possible, because it was the most familiar terrain. There is no evidence found of Aborigines living far i... ... middle of paper ... ...on: secret and sacred pathways of the Ngarinyin aboriginal people of Australia, Könemann, Keulen, 2000, 335p. Krant: s.n., “Aboriginals under 25 in two Saskatchewan reserves losing native tongue”, Paherald Online, 03.12.2010. Internet: Aboriginal people in the news, Media awareness, internet, 2010, (http://www.media-awareness.ca). Australië: Aboriginal cultuur, Australië.nl, internet, (03.12.2010), (http://www.australie.nl). Aboriginal Australia, Australia, internet, 2010, (http://www.australia.com). Traditional Aboriginal Music, Aboriginal Australia, internet, (11.12.2010), (http://www.aboriginalaustralia.com). Struggling to Escape a Legacy of Oppression, Centre for social justice, internet, 2011, (http://www.socialjustice.org). Impact of European settlement on Indigenous people, Skwirk interactive schooling, internet, 2011, (http://www.skwirk.com.au).

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