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Australian Aborigines in the 20th Century: Social Structure, Beliefs, and Survival Strategies

Explore the social structure, language, and beliefs of Australian Aborigines, including the Kulin Federation, Dreaming, burial rights, and contact with Europeans in the 20th century. Discover how Tasmanian Aborigines faced similar challenges, including forced labor and massacre responses. Learn about the survival strategies adopted by indigenous communities to adapt to changing circumstances.

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Australian Aborigines in the 20th Century: Social Structure, Beliefs, and Survival Strategies

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  1. Australian Aborigines In the 20th Century

  2. 60,000 years ago

  3. Population • Pre-contact population Australia: Upwards of 300,000 • Victoria: 50,000 • New South Whales: 40,000

  4. Social Structure • Victoria • 10 different language groups • 30 different dialects/sub-language groups • Each dialect group consisted of 6 -7 tribes

  5. Kulin Federation • Group of dialect group banded together • Woiworung • Bunurang • Wathaurung • Djadjawurung • Taungurong

  6. Kulin Federation • Group of dialect group banded together • Woiworung • Bunurang • Wathaurung • Djadjawurung • Taungurong • Banded together to: • Trade • Marry • Exchange rituals

  7. Language • Different from tribe to tribe – why you will see things spelt differently • Place names still used today

  8. Neerim Rd Murrumbeena ñ ñ Hill Land of the Frog

  9. Neerim Rd, Murrumbeena ê The Hill in the Land of the Frogs

  10. Canberra = Meeting Place Jerilderie = Reedy Place Mildura = Sore Eyes Wagga Wagga = Many Crows Bong Bong = Mosquitoes Buzzing Beerburrum = Sound of the Wings of King Parrot Cooloolabin = Place of Koalas

  11. Society • Semi-nomadic hunter gatherers • Women: gathered nuts, berries, grubs etc. • Men: hunted - fish and eel, ducks and birds • Kangaroos and emus when in enough numbers

  12. Religion and Beliefs • Land, people and all living things as living in unity • You take from nature, you give back to nature • Symbiotic relationship • They did not see the land as theirs • They were protectors of the land • No concept of ownership of land

  13. The Dreaming • A period of creation stories • No written language to pass on stories • Tooth avulsion • Scarification • Marked passage through life

  14. Burial Rights • Simple burial • Cremation • Bones buried after body exposed to elements • Placed in Hollow Trees • Avoid the names of the dead

  15. Marngrook • Possum skin and kangaroo sinew ball • William Thomas – “there is a general excitement who shall catch it. It is sent up with great force…. they will play this game for hours and fine experience it is for adults and youths”

  16. First Contact – Victoria • In Victoria: felt their presence before they even knew they were there • Smallpox epidemics in 1789 and 1829 • Killed half the population

  17. First Contact – New South Whales • No reason to fear them in the beginning • Aided them • Provided for them • Didn’t realise until too late what was going on

  18. Defense • Started to fight back • Guerilla warfare on outlying isolated settlements

  19. 1834 • 30,000 European settlers in Victoria • Now outnumbered the Aborigines

  20. Different Response • Some tried to incorporate Europeans into their culture • Treated them as they would another tribe • Also meant that they were punished the same as their own people • If you hit a man with a spear, you have the right to spear him back • If you kill a man, your family has the right to kill them

  21. Faithful Massacre, Benalla, 1838 • White men camping on aboriginal hunting grounds • When asked to move off they resisted • Aborigines lashed out killing 8 settlers • Reprisals led to over 100 aborigines being killed

  22. New Life • Population massively decreased • Hunting grounds now used for grazing, no longer accessible • Aborigines had to adapt to survive • Began working on the farms • Guided settlers through the bush • Black Trackers • 1840’s less than 2000 aborigines in Victoria

  23. Tasmanian Aborigines Where are they now?

  24. Differences • Tasmania cut of from Australia 15,000 years ago • Population: 5,000 -6,000 • Much the same as mainland Aborigines with a few differences

  25. Same Problems • Gave flour poisoned with arsenic • Abducted children to use as forced labour (slaves)

  26. 1828 – Governor Arthur • Declared Martial Law • Permission to arrest/kill any indigenous person found in settled districts • The Black Line • Every able-bodied man formed a line across the state pushing them all out of the area

  27. George Augustus Robertson • Collected what remained of the Tasmanian Aborigines and moved them to Flinders Island • 135 survivors • Many died of disease

  28. 1847 • 47 survivors of Flinders Island were moved to Oyster Cove • Deaths continued • Truganini – believed to be the last Tasmanian Aborigine died in 1876

  29. Bass Strait Islands • Communities of Tasmanians that escaped the settlers set up communities on the other Bass Strait Islands • Not the end after all?

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