Australian aborigines: names of peoples and their customs

The australian aborigines They are the descendants of what were the first people to live in Australia. Their societies have remained in existence in Australia over time in defiance of technological advances, European colonization and any other challenges towards modernization.

Aboriginal Australians are classified, along with Torres Strait Islanders, as the indigenous from the territories of Australia, Tasmania and nearby islands. In total, its population reaches about 2.4% of the total population of Australia today.

The aboriginal culture It is one of the oldest still alive on Earth. This developed in an autonomous way, which gave rise to a wide range of languages ​​and cultures with common aspects.

Within the Aboriginal culture we can differentiate more than 400 Australian Aboriginal peoples. Each of them located in a different geographical area and with its own cultural features. Next, we present to you the Australian Aboriginal tribes or peoples main:

• Koori and Guringai: They are located in the southwest of the country, New Wales and Victoria, and like most of the peoples that will appear below, the Koori and Guringai tribes base their economy on hunting, cultivation and the subsequent collection of fruits.
• Noongar: Originally divided into 13 different tribes, today, most of the culture of the Noongar people, located in the south of Western Australia, has been lost.
• Anangu: This town is located in the northern part of South Australia and in the adjacent parts of Northern Australia and Western Australia. It is a purely oral culture that is still practiced by some 4,000 Anangus who live in small communities.
• Palawah– Located in Tasmania, this group has subdivisions. Unfortunately, most of Tasmania’s indigenous languages ​​were lost. However, efforts are currently underway to reconstruct one of the languages.
• Arunta: The Arunta, Arrente, Arrernte or Aranda are a tribe from the central-north of the country that lives around the MacDonnell mountain range. The Arunta are divided into 6 subgroups, which in turn are divided into small clans supervised by an authoritarian system focused on marriages between families or clans. Polygamy and widespread homosexuality also stand out in this group.
• Yolngu: The Yolngu people live in Arnhem Land, in northeastern Australia. Some communities of this tribe have converted their previously land-based economies to the exploitation of the sea with the acceptance and use of specialized technology, such as canoes, which have allowed them to improve their hunting activity at sea.

Other Aboriginal tribes of Australia

• Murri: Australian aboriginal town located in the state of Queensland.
• Yapa: located in the central northwest territory.
• Yamatji: located in central Western Australia.
• Nunga: located in South Australia.
• Wangkai: located in the Golden Fields of Western Australia.

Contrary to what the first Europeans who studied them assumed, Australian aborigines have spiritual beliefs. In fact, these beliefs, based on dream timing and various forms of Christianity, are essential in your daily life and social relationships.

There is a huge diversity of rituals and cults and all groups share a common vision of the world. Instead of focusing on what lies beyond death, Aboriginal people focus on the “before,” which they call the time of sleep or Altjeringa.

The aborigines consider that it was during El Sueño when the landscape that they can see today was formed. The trees, the stars, the lakes, the mountains, etc.; all training nature was created by ancient spiritual totemic beings like kangaroos-men or bird-women who lived in the age of sleep.

The aborigines consider that the same spirits that reside in them do so in animals, plants, lakes, rocks, etc., so man is not considered above any other being. When they die, the spirits leave their earthly bodies and return to their spiritual existence. Thus, for Aboriginal people, everything is related to the natural environment and to past and future generations.

These beliefs help these people to face the circumstances of life and maintain a strong connection with naturewhich forms the basis of his vision of the world and his work in it. Finally, it is important to highlight the sacred place of the Australian aborigines: the rock formation of Ulurualso called Ayers Rock. This place has been declared a natural World Heritage site since 1989 by UNESCO, and a cultural site since 1994.

He aboriginal art It is normally associated with dream time, totemic representations and storytelling. Female forms and X-ray art are widely used, for example, where the bones and organs of the beings represented can be seen.

It is carried out through a wide possibility of means and techniques:

• rock engravings
• Fixed line technique
• Colored tip painting
• Bark painting
• aerial landscape painting
• painting on leaves
• sand painting
• wood carving
• stone carving
• Sculpture
• ceremonial clothing

This art has evolved over the years to become contemporary Aboriginal art. The Australian Aboriginal symbols used today have, in general and depending on the context, the same meaning in all Australian territories, although symbols similar in their monochrome may have a different meaning depending on the tribe where they are made.

In order to understand the meaning of the symbols of the Australian Aboriginal peoples It is very important to pay attention to the context of the painting, its history, its style, the region of origin of the artist and the use of colors, such as water, usually represented in blue circles.

If you want to know more about this country in Oceania, we recommend reading this other post about The 10 rarest animals in Australia.

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