Australian Aboriginal Culture before the arrival of the europeans.

Essay by eddie27Junior High, 9th gradeB+, October 2003

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Aboriginals lived in Australia for about 40,000 years before European settlement began in 1788. During that time they developed an amazing culture all based on survival. They found all of their food from the land. They developed an amazing religion that is based on the fact that everything was created in the Dreamtime, the time before time began. The Aboriginals connect their origins with the Dreamtime. There were hundreds of different tribes around Australia, all with unique languages. Artwork was traded between tribes and people had to learn many languages to be able to communicate with important tribes.

The aboriginals found all of their food from the land. The dreamtime laws affected which foods were eaten and which were left alone. As the dreamtime stories differed from tribe to tribe, the food eaten differed. Some animals and plants were only eaten in ceremonies because these animals and plants were significant in the spiritual part of the people's lives, these animals and plants were called totems.

When there was not enough food, the elders got the first choice of food. Many animal organs were saved fro the elders. For sacred reasons pregnant women, girls close to puberty and boys about to go through an initiation were denied foods. Across Australia many primitive ovens and other creations were used to help cook meat. A lot of the food eaten by the Aboriginals was unsafe when raw and untreated. To make foods safe fire was used for meats and fish, nuts and seeds were ground or roasted on coals. Some other foods were also steamed and boiled.

The Dreamtime was the time before anything physical existed, the Aboriginals have many dreamtime stories (stories differed in every tribe) which explain how the physical world was created by a number of spiritual beings.