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Aborigines are believed to have lived in Australia for between 60,000 and 40,000 years, their early ancestors coming from South-East Asia. Precise population details for the period before European colonisation are unavailable, but it is estimated that there were between 300,000 and 1,000,000 Aborigines in Australia when European settlers first arrived in 1788.
These natives formed approximately 500 tribes, each associated with its own language and stretch of territory. Although the sizes of the tribes varied, they had much in common. The Aborigines were not natural cultivators of the land - fertile land was obviously scarce - and Australia (before the European colonisation) had no animals suitable for herding, so the Aborigines lived by hunting and gathering food. The size of the tribe and the extent to which they could hunt and gather were limited by the proximity and quantity of fresh water, necessitating a semi-nomadic lifestyle. As the numbers of the tribe swelled and/or supplies of water dwindled, subgroups set out to discover new waters and set up new territories.
Each tribe was led by religious leaders, with no political chief or formal government, and was broken down into bands (hunting groups) and also local descent groups (family units). These family units were vitally important, as all members of a tribe were related. The territory of the tribe was centred on the place where its ancestors had originally settled, and it was believed that the spirits of these ancestors remained at the watering place at the centre of the territory, awaiting reincarnation.
It is clear from these beliefs that spirituality and religion played a major role in the Aboriginal culture. There were many myths and rituals connected to both the tribe's ancestors and the creators of the world, none of whom ever died but merged with the natural world and thus remained a part of the present. These myths and rituals, signifying communion with nature and the past, were known as the Dreaming or the Dreamtime, and reflected a belief in the continuity of existence and harmony with the world.
These myths and rituals were also a source of inspiration for much aboriginal art, including paintings, carved objects, symbolic weapons and poetic chants. The forms of art varied according to region, with differences in the decoration of objects and weapons depending on local myths and traditions.
The process of colonisation by European powers, as might be expected, has had a radical effect on Aboriginal culture. The settlers viewed the natives as barbarians, seizing tribal land and, in many cases, following a policy of pacification by force. Many others died of disease, starvation, cultural dislocation and neglect. Today, there are fewer than 230,000 Aborigines in Australia, less than 2% of the population.
Attempts have been made by the Australian government to protect Aboriginal culture, beginning in the late 1920s with the creation of special reserves. Aborigines are now officially recognised as Australian citizens, and since 1948 a policy of assimilation has been pursued. Some Aborigines, however, fear that assimilation will result in a total loss of Aboriginal cultural identity, and opt instead for integration, insisting on maintaining their native identity as distinct from becoming 'Australians'.
Aborigines today face many problems as a result of the colonial project. Their numbers have been decimated, they face a great deal of unofficial discrimination and remain underprivileged socially, economically (the unemployment rate for Aborigines is more than six times the national average, and their average wage is less than half the national average) and politically (the militant movement started in the1970s, which aimed to bring about the creation of a separate Aboriginal state, has so far been unsuccessful).
It is unsurprising, given the devastating effect of the colonial process on the indigenous people of Australia, that a sense of great colonial guilt pervades much of the art to emerge from Australia in the post-colonial era. It is worth noting however that there are very few examples of artistic Aboriginal responses to the coloniser, and this means that we find it difficult to determine the Aborigines' feelings towards the people who dispossessed them. Instead, we are left to study works by the descendants of those people; and since they are rightfully reluctant to appropriate the voice of the colonised, the response of the Aborigine to the European coloniser seems likely to remain shrouded in mystery.
This project was completed under the direction of Dr Leon Litvack as a requirement for the MA degree in Modern Literary Studies in the School of English at the Queen's University of Belfast. The site is evolving and will include contributions from future generations of MA students on other writers and themes.
This page was written by Nicholas Dunlop. E-mail me with your comments.
The Imperial Archive Project is
supervised by Leon Litvack. E-mail
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