Aboriginal Australians

Aboriginal Australians are the Indigenous peoples of mainland Australia and many of its islands, whose ancestors arrived at least 50,000 to 65,000 years ago. Their cultures are among the oldest continuous cultures in the world, made up of hundreds of distinct peoples, each with its own language, land, laws and traditions. The Torres Strait Islanders, of the islands between Australia and New Guinea, are a separate Indigenous people.

The ancestors of Aboriginal Australians arrived from South-East Asia by sea, during the last ice age, when sea levels were lower but voyages across open water were still necessary. Australia and New Guinea were then joined in a single continent, Sahul. Archaeological sites, such as Madjedbebe, in Arnhem Land, may be about 65,000 years old, though this date is debated. At Lake Mungo, in New South Wales, remains of a woman cremated around 40,000 years ago and a man buried with red ochre are among the oldest known ritual burials in the world. Genetic studies show that Aboriginal Australians descend from one of the earliest migrations out of Africa.

At the time of British colonisation in 1788, there were perhaps 250 language groups and many more dialects, and the population is estimated at between 300,000 and over a million. Peoples lived in every environment, from tropical north to deserts and temperate south, and their ways of life varied accordingly.

Aboriginal peoples have deep spiritual connections to their land, called "Country", which includes land, waters, sky, plants, animals and people. Each group is responsible for caring for its Country. Kinship systems define relationships and obligations between people, and in many groups, people belong to moieties and "skin names" that guide marriage and responsibilities.

The Dreaming, or Dreamtime, an English term for Aboriginal concepts, such as the Arrernte word altyerre, refers to the time of creation, when ancestral beings, such as the Rainbow Serpent, shaped the land, created people, animals and laws, and to the ongoing spiritual reality that connects people and Country. Stories, songs, dances and ceremonies pass on knowledge of the Dreaming, along with practical knowledge, such as the location of water. Songlines, paths across the land marked by songs, recorded routes and knowledge across long distances.

Aboriginal peoples lived by hunting, fishing and gathering, with detailed knowledge of plants and animals. They used fire to manage the land, burning vegetation to encourage new growth and attract animals, a practice now studied for fire management. Some built permanent structures, such as the stone eel traps and channels at Budj Bim, in Victoria, over 6,600 years old, a World Heritage Site. They used boomerangs, spears, spear-throwers and stone tools, and traded widely.

Aboriginal rock art, at sites such as Kakadu, Murujuga and the Kimberley, is among the oldest in the world, including depictions of extinct animals. Art includes bark painting, body painting, sand drawing and, since the 1970s, the acrylic dot paintings of the Western Desert, which became internationally famous.

British colonisation from 1788 brought disease, especially smallpox, violence, including massacres, and dispossession of land. The population fell dramatically. Governments restricted Aboriginal people's lives and removed many children from their families, the Stolen Generations, from the late nineteenth century to the 1970s; in 2008 the Australian government formally apologised. A 1967 referendum allowed Aboriginal people to be counted in the census. The Mabo decision of 1992 recognised native title. In 2023 a referendum to create an Indigenous Voice to Parliament was rejected.

Our maps show Australia from 1914, after federation.