Sjur+-+History

We do not know for sure when the Australian Aborigines came to [|Australia], or exactly where they originate from, but it’s estimated that the first Aborigines sat foot on Australia around 40- 50 000 years ago. Evidence indicates that they came from [|Southeast Asia] and travelled across the [|Indian Ocean] to Australia.

Before Modern Times
The Aborigines were [|nomads] primarily subsisting by hunting and fishing, but they also gathered fruits and berries. They were so-called “semi-nomadic” – moving as the availability of food changed during the seasons. When it came to gathering food, the aboriginals were experts. They knew exactly how, when and where to get their meals.

The Australian Aboriginal [|population] was divided into 200 separated nations, and many of these nations were in [|alliance] with one another. Inside a nation there were numerous [|clans]. The number of clans in a nation ranged from 5 to as many as 30 or 40. Every single nation had its own [|language], and some nations had even more. Over 250 different languages were spoken by the Aborigines.

The White Man Comes To Australia
In 1787, 11 ships left the [|English] coast to sail all the way “down under” to Australia. The ships contained mostly [|convicts], since it had been decided by the [|United Kingdom] that Australia would be a “storage” of [|prisoners]. When the ships arrived early in 1788, the [|colonization] of Australia had begun.

The first [|consequence] of the British settlement was epidemics spreading and killing the aborigines. They had never been exposed to diseases like [|chickenpox], [|smallpox], [|influenza] and [|measles], and didn’t have any resistance towards them. Also, the British men looked at the aborigines as they were animals, because they didn’t wear any clothes and lived so [|primitive]. Therefore, they thought that it wouldn’t matter if they drove the aborigines away from their lands in order to utilize the recourses in the area. But the truth was that the lost of the lands were fatal to many aboriginal tribes, because they also lost their water and food. In addition, the aborigines were deeply attached to their lands, both [|spiritual] and [|cultural], and therefore it was a big tragedy to them.

90 % of the Aborigines are estimated to be extinguished by the settlers between [|1788] and [|1900] by the combination of disease, loss of land and violence. By the [|1920’s], the number of Aborigines had reached so low many started to think they would be totally extinguished, but as the Aboriginals adopted more and more to the changed circumstances in the [|30’s], the birth-rates began to rise again.

The Stolen Generation
Between [|1890] and [|1970], 100 000 aboriginal children were taken away from their parents in order to grow up in a white home so that there still would be “hope” for them. This is often referred to as “[|the stolen generation]”. In some way or another, it affected almost every single Indigenous Australian. It destroyed the aboriginal structure, and the Aboriginal society is still affected by it.

A Better Future?
In [|1965], all aborigines were allowed to vote in Commonwealth elections in Australia. Now the 200 000 Indigenous Australians have regained their freedom, self-determination and rights to live according to their [|traditions]

Sources:
"[|The Aborigines]" by Maria Skar Knutsen 2008. "[|Indigenous Australians]" by Wikipedia. Last edited 31 May 2010. "[|First Fleet]" by Wikipedia. Last edited 29 May 2010. "[|Stolen generasjon]" by Wikipedia. Last edited 19 March 2010. "[|Aboriginal Australia]" by Ricco Villanuela Siasoco 2010. "[|Aboriginer]" by Wikipedia. Last edited 18 May 2010. "[|History of Indigenous Australians]" by Wikipedia. Last edited: 19 May 2010. "[|Culture of Indigenous Australians]" by Wikipedia. Last edited: 25 May 2010.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Indig1.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/Indig2.jpg