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no uniform folk - tribes or clans with different customs and languages - lived mainly as hunter-gatherers Aborigines - populated Australia about 40,000 to 60,000 years ago - settled Australia beginning from the north THE ABORIGINAL CULTURE - one of the oldest cultures that is still maintained today - their faith was a central aspect in everyday life - cover their bodies with traditional patterns for ceremonies & dances - preparation can take many hours the best artists are selected FOOD OF THE ABORIGINES - they were independent hunters and gatherers - did not practice agriculture - typical "bush food" consisted of a variety of foods: - patterns & motifs show the relationship to relatives or clan members - include cross-hatching and lines of dots that belong to the clan RELIGIOUS BELIEFS - spiritual thoughts expressed in murals - conviction that the "rainbow snake" and the "big kangaroo" created the human life ULURU, the AYERS ROCK - holy mountain of the Aborigines - one of the most famous natural phenomena of Australia - for example the home of the rainbow snake kangaroo, emu and its eggs, wombat, goanna, snakes, birds many insects like honey ants or witchetty maggots → on the coasts: shells and crustaceans → many variations of vegetable food: nuts, fruit and berries - the Uluru is the geographical center of the Aboriginal creation history - rock paintings, carvings and dances show the figures in the imagination of most tribes - most important creation figure of the Aborigines - formed mountains & valleys, is the guardian of water HOLY ABORIGINAL INSTRUMENT The didgeridoo: - direct contact with the snake sounds are intended to echo the vibrations that the rainbow snake caused when it formed the landscape of Australia on its way out of the sea - made of hollow eucalyptus trunks - tones are produced and varied by a special breathing technique and lip movements POPULATION DECLINE OF THE ABORIGINES - before the arrival of the British (1770): about 400 - 700 different tribes - from 1788 onwards (arrival of the Europeans): 300,000 inhabitants 1920: 60,000 Aborigines reasons for population decline - imported diseases Aborigines were not immune → many inhabitants died · violent conflicts between the Europeans and the settlers about land rights ABORIGINES TODAY - about ¾ of today's 450,000+ Aborigines live in cities - follow the modern lifestyle - Aboriginal traditions are best preserved in the Northern Territory - Europeans settled late there - Aborigines live among themselves in most places - almost 60% of them still speak an indigenous language