Aboriginal history (Noémie brosset)

Aboriginals are Australian indigenous. At the beginning their ancestors came from South-East Asia. Before the Europeans' arrival in Australia, they inhabited the whole Australian continent. There were between 300,000 and 1,000,000 Aboriginals in this country. There were a lot of tribes ( 500 tribes ). They spoke different languages or dialects from region to region. There were more than hundred languages and dialects.

In each tribe there is a religious leader but no political leader. The tribe's territory was where their ancestors had lived. They thought that their spirits were still there. Religion is very important in the Aboriginal culture. Aboriginal people are very religious and spiritual. They usually believe in different gods. These gods were represented with specific pictures.

For example this picture represents Wandjina who is the cloud and rain spirits. We can see this god mainly in the Kimberley art.

Aboriginals think that all natural objects have a soul. However they do not believe that rocks have a soul except the special rock created by deity in the Creation Period.

The Creation Period or "The Dreamtime" is very crucial in their culture. They think that at the beginning of the world, the earth was a wasteland in the darkness: all the world slept. They believe that the Rainbow Serpent woke up the frogs and when they laughed water covered the earth. With water, trees and grass sprang up. And all animals woke up. Now the Rainbow Serpent represents fertility and abundance.

When the Europeans arrived in Australia, they destroyed the Aboriginal culture and a lot of them died. Now Aboriginals are fewer than 230,000, that is to say 2% of the Australian population.