Indigenous Australian culture

Many travellers to Australia are interested in the culture of Indigenous Australians (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people).

Indigenous Australians practise the oldest continuing human culture in the world.

Before the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, more than 250 Indigenous language groups existed in Australia, with some of the languages still being spoken today. Unfortunately many have been lost, though they are being revived.

Understand
Australia had been home to many indigenous ethnic groups prior to the arrival of the British. Much like their counterparts in the Americas, their numbers have been greatly reduced today, with many having been wiped out by European settlers either through diseases brought to Australia by the settlers, military conquests, genocides or other reasons.

The indigenous Australian people are officially known by the Australian government as Indigenous Australians, and have also been officially divided into two groupings; the Aboriginal people of mainland Australia and Tasmania, and the Torres Strait Islanders from the Torres Strait Islands located between Far North Queensland and Papua New Guinea.

The term "Aborigines" was common from the start of colonisation to the late 20th century, but is now deprecated in favour of the terms above. It is now considered to be a racist slur and should be avoided.

Each state and territory of Australia has important indigenous heritage museums, events, activities, as well as shops with indigenous arts and crafts.

Each state has organisations that coordinate promotion of Aboriginal/Indigenous tourism.


 * In New South Wales, it is the NSW Aboriginal Tourism Operators Council
 * In Western Australia, it is the Western Australian Indigenous Tourism Operators Council.

Australian Aboriginal people are related to the Melanesians who are a majority in New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Torres Strait Islands and Maluku in Indonesia, and a minority in some other regions. The two groups are thought to have arrived as parts of one migration around 50 to 60 thousand years BCE.

The last group of Indigenous Australians living in their traditional lifestyle was the Pintupi Nine in the Gibson Desert in Western Australia in 1984. However, there have been reports of one in the Great Victoria Desert in 1986, which is fairly recent.

Read

 * Dancing With Strangers, Inga Clendinnen, 2003. Australian historian Clendinnen presents her reading of a wide range of primary sources from the 18th century describing early interactions between indigenous Australians and invading British colonisers. She illustrates very early days of genuine curiosity and attempts at cultural understanding eventually soured and thwarted.
 * The Battle of Parramatta: 21 to 22 March 1797, Johnathan Lim, 2016. Based on a true story, it shown the perseverance of Pemulwuy in the 1790s, having escaped 3 times, with all being successful and dared to rebel against white European settlers, haunts the story of the early European colonisation of Sydney.

Destinations
There are a large range of places all around Australia that have sites that reflect the full array of the indigenous experience of the last two hundred years. In each state there are museums, galleries and places where the richness of the culture can be found.

There are also sites of ancient rock art and stories that go back thousands of years, there are places where you can see living expressions of indigenous art and culture, and everything between. The time of the British presence in Australia is very short in comparison to the time of the indigenous population’s presence on the continent. It is well worth looking at the places that have records of the presence.

New South Wales




Sydney

 * Rock Carvings, can be seen in - catch the train and ferry to Cronulla and Bundeena. There are extensive carvings in, near West Head that are accessible only by car. Closer to the city, there are examples at Balls Head and Berry Island, near to Wollstonecraft station. There is an interpretive walk at Berry Island.
 * Rock Carvings, can be seen in - catch the train and ferry to Cronulla and Bundeena. There are extensive carvings in, near West Head that are accessible only by car. Closer to the city, there are examples at Balls Head and Berry Island, near to Wollstonecraft station. There is an interpretive walk at Berry Island.
 * Rock Carvings, can be seen in - catch the train and ferry to Cronulla and Bundeena. There are extensive carvings in, near West Head that are accessible only by car. Closer to the city, there are examples at Balls Head and Berry Island, near to Wollstonecraft station. There is an interpretive walk at Berry Island.
 * Rock Carvings, can be seen in - catch the train and ferry to Cronulla and Bundeena. There are extensive carvings in, near West Head that are accessible only by car. Closer to the city, there are examples at Balls Head and Berry Island, near to Wollstonecraft station. There is an interpretive walk at Berry Island.

Talk
Like other Australians, the vast majority of Indigenous Australians are fluent in English. However, in remote communities, the majority of them speak an Indigenous language as their first language and then English as a second language.

Some older Indigenous people in certain remote communities can also speak German, as some of the missionaries in Australia were from Germany. For example, in the town of Hermannsburg near Alice Springs, the Western Arrarnta language is the local Indigenous language, but since the town was once a Lutheran mission, both English and German are widely understood by adults.

In some communities, a Creole language known as Kriol is widely spoken. It's an English-based creole language with influences from Indigenous languages. Kriol is mostly spoken in the Top End of the Northern Territory (excluding Darwin and Arnhem Land but including in around Katherine) and in the western portion of the Kimberley region of Western Some older Indigenous Australians in remote communities may speak very little English.

Learning a few words in the local language is always a good idea, as it shows understanding and appreciation of Indigenous culture. Even a simple word such as "hello" can be useful.

Indigenous people often use some of their own words in their languages as slang. These slang terms are often different in each region.

Events

 * 26 January, the anniversary of the invasion of the First Fleet, and commemorated officially as Australia Day, is marked by indigenous Australians as Invasion Day, a day of political action, or Survival Day, marked with concerts and community events celebrating the survival of the indigenous peoples. In more recent times, the term "Invasion Day" is being marked by more and more non-indigenous Australians.
 * The National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee has a week of events in the Australian winter each year.

Learn
In all of the capital cities and towns with significant Aboriginal populations (such as Cairns or Alice Springs), there are plenty of workshops and lessons where you can immerse yourself in indigenous culture.
 * Boomerang throwing is a popular skill that many tourists want to acquire. If you want to learn throwing a boomerang that comes back to your hand, make sure you have a suitable boomerang for returning. Most boomerangs available in Australia are in fact non-returning. It is best for beginners to not try throwing in windy weather. It will be hard to make progress and build confidence. You can also learn how to throw hunting boomerangs that move in a straight line. Similarly, spear throwing lessons are available across the country.
 * Didgeridoo lessons are as common throughout the country. Learning how to play the didgeridoo is not easy and it can take a long time to truly master the instrument. You will need to have strong lungs and learn the art of circular breathing. Despite that, there are many lessons suitable for novices that teach the fundamentals, which are more than useful. Note that it is disrespectful for women to even touch a didgeridoo due to its long and sacred history. However, most places don't allow women to have didgeridoo lessons due to many cultural reasons.
 * The practice of fire-stick farming, used by Indigenous groups to change the composition of flora and fauna, control weeds, reduce hazards and increase biodiversity, is taught in interactive cultural tours, particularly in the Top End.

Buy
Aboriginal arts and crafts are among the most sought-after souvenirs when overseas tourists visit Australia.

There has been a rise in fake or inauthentic Aboriginal artwork, that is, products that claim to be made by Aboriginal Australians but were not, or where the design of a particular product was not licensed to be reproduced. One way to make sure what you are buying is genuine is to look for the Indigenous Art Code logo. Not only does the logo signify that the product is authentic but that the artists have been fairly paid too.

Eat
The food and cuisine of Aboriginal Australians, and for that matter any dish made from native Australian ingredients is known as bush tucker. Unlike the foods eaten by many of the pre-Columbian peoples of the Americas, the European colonisers were not too keen on the foods encountered in Australia and did not attempt to grow most of them on a commercial scale. The one exception is the macadamia nut which spread to Hawaii in the 1880s and is now famous the world over.

Meats include kangaroo, crocodile, emu, goanna and witchetty grubs. The seafood Indigenous Australians particularly on the coast ate was diverse and comprised barramundi fish, catfish, mud crabs, angasi oysters along with many other fish and crustaceans. Plant foods range from the quandong and riberry fruits to the warrigal greens leafy vegetable. Lemon myrtle is a spice that has become popularly used in teas and bakery items. The traditional diets of some Aboriginal ethnic groups may include endangered species, the consumption of which is strictly limited to those specific groups using only traditional hunting methods, and unlikely to be available to you.

The Indigenous Australian bread making tradition is among the oldest in the world. Breads are made by grinding seeds, roots and corms. The precise ingredients and methods used vary by group and location. Certain seeds had to be leached of their toxins before it was made into dough and cooked over an open fire.

In many fine dining restaurants, many chefs are incorporating more indigenous ingredients into their dishes in what is known as "Modern Australian" cuisine.

Respect
The best way for a traveller to contribute to the well being and dignity of the people is to support indigenous-run tourism and cultural ventures and to treat individual indigenous people with respect.

Indigenous Australia is a complex group of living, continuing cultures: it is important to understand many Aboriginal sites are not museum pieces arranged for the benefit of curious travellers. When visiting sacred sites or fragile ecosystems of cultural significance, many indigenous communities prefer that visitors arrange their trips through formal community programmes or indigenous organisations.

Some communities, townships and protest sites can also be places where issues are fragile and current and can be problematic with a range of issues occurring. Understanding that some locations might best not be part of a travel itinerary is well worth researching before travelling to them.



There are two flags representing Indigenous Australians; one representing the Aboriginal People, and the other representing the Torres Strait Islanders. Aboriginal athlete Cathy Freeman famously did her lap of honour carrying both the Australian and Aboriginal flags after winning the gold medal in the women's 400m event at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Some sites may not look sacred, but they are sacred for many Indigenous Australians – do not take photos of sacred sites. In particular, don't take photos of sites that are depicting rock art of a human.

Until January 2022, the Aboriginal flag was under a strict copyright, and it was unavailable for most uses. However, in January 2022, the federal government bought the flag at a cost of $20 million, making it free for public use.

Names
Indigenous Australians is the official blanket term used to cover all people indigenous to Australia. Aboriginal people is generally used to refer only to those indigenous to mainland Australia and Tasmania, while those indigenous to the Torres Strait Islands are regarded as a separate group called the Torres Strait Islanders, and do not identify as "Aboriginal" as they are more ethnically Melanesian. The term First Nations is increasing in use.

The term "Aborigine" is now considered a racist slur and should not be used. "Aboriginal" is the more acceptable term.

Never use the terms "abo", "noonga" or any other similar term as these words are considered racist and highly offensive.

Variation
It is important to understand the diversity of the indigenous communities. There are over 400 Aboriginal nations in Australia, with over two hundred different Aboriginal languages still spoken among them. Aboriginal people in Sydney are not the same nations as those in Dubbo.

In Tasmania, there are descendants of Aboriginal people who are serious about their indigenous roots. It is not correct to say the Tasmanian Aboriginal community no longer exists.

Each state has variation as to how the governments have related to the indigenous population; it is not just the peoples responses. States have differing levels of involvement in indigenous rights and heritage.

Disadvantage
Due to a long history of oppression, indigenous Australians, as a whole, are disadvantaged relative to other Australians in many ways. Although they have been granted full citizenship rights on paper since 1971, many indigenous Australians are impacted by many problems arising from higher poverty rates, including higher rates of imprisonment, unemployment, alcoholism and drug abuse, as well as lower education levels, life expectancy and access to adequate sanitation and healthcare.

When travelling, you may encounter Aboriginal people asking for money or other items. This is called 'Humbug', and should be refused. If humbug is entertained, you only encourage the problem. However, this is becoming less of a problem now.

Rather than giving money to beggars, consider visiting an Aboriginal art centre (there are many around) and support those who are making a living, or if you can't access an art centre, consider giving to an Aboriginal charity, such as Conways Kids, a charity in Central Australia set up to ensure that cultural Aboriginal Children from remote communities have the same opportunities as youth from the rest of Australia.