Australia

Map of Australia

Australia or can be called Commonwealth of Australia, is located in the Southern part of the earth comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, Tasmania island, and smaller islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Australia is the sixth largest country in the world by total area. There are six states namely, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia, and Tasmania, and two territories, Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory. In addition, Australia is surrounded by the Indian and Pacific oceans and it is on the Indo-Australian plate and it has a lot of animals such as, kangaroo, and koala, and bird such as the emu. Actually, before European arrived in the 18^th century, Australia was occupied by indigenous Australians.

Kangaroo

Koala

Aboriginal People

Aboriginal People

In early 1789, the term aboriginal refers to all Indigenous Australians. Actually, the aboriginal has a lot of groups which widespread in Australia. There are 14 groups which are located in eight places, namely Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, Arnhem Land, and Tasmania. 

Life of Aborigine

Torres Strait Islanders

Torres Strait Islanders are the native people of the Torres Strait Islands, part of Queensland, Australia. They also have genetic and culture which connect them to Melanesian peoples and those of Papua New Guinea. Moreover, Torres Strait Islanders are different with Aboriginal peoples of the rest of Australia in heritage and cultural history because they live in the islands part of Queensland, while the aboriginal people live widespread in Australia.

Population

Government counted in 1996 for first time, the indigenous people was at 283.000. In 2001, Australian Bureau of Statistics showed the increasing of the indigenous people in Australia is around 458,520. Five years later, in June 2006, 407,700 were Aboriginal, 29,512 were Torres Strait Islander, and a further 17,811 declared they were both Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders. Moreover, based on data at 30 June 2006, the aboriginal population of Australia was 517,200, broken down as follows:
    

                                                

New South Wales – 148,200 Queensland – 146,400 Western Australia – 77,900 Northern Territory – 66,600 Victoria – 30,800 South Australia – 26,000 Tasmania – 16,900 Australian Capital Territory – 4,000

Aboriginal’s Music

didgeridoo

The didgeridoo or didjeridu or didge is a wind instrument made by Indigenous Australians of northern Australia around 1,500 years ago and still in widespread usage today both in Australia and around the world. It can be called as a natural wooden trumpet or "drone pipe". Moreover, musicologists define it as a brass aero phone.
Cylindrical or conical is a kind of modern didgeridoo. The length1 to 3 m long and the width is 1.2 m. In addition, the lower or the higher of the pitch or key of the instrument depends on the longer or the shorter the instrument.

Music of 

Aborigine plays didgeridoo

Aboriginal’s Art

The aboriginal art is the oldest tradition of art in the world because the age of the art is thousands of years old and the forms are rock art and bark painting. Moreover, the ancient Aboriginal rock artworks have been put in national parks in the Northern Territory, Western Australia and Sydney. In addition, there are three major regional styles: in Central Australia, Tasmania, the Kimberley and Victoria, the geometric style known for its concentric circles, arcs and dots. Then, in Queensland, the style can be found is the simple figurative style. Last, in Arnhem Land, there is the complex figurative style which includes X-Ray art. Painting can be made by ochre and it can be used to paint their body for ceremonial purposes. In addition, National Gallery of Australia is a place where has many great indigenous art works, including the Torres Strait Islands’ traditional sculpture and headgear.

Rock Art

Bark Painting

Aboriginal’s Film

Jedda's Cover

Ten Canoes' cover

The ceremonial of Indigenous Australians are the first subjects to be recorded in Australia. At the Cannes Film Festival in 1955, a film which titled “Jedda” was the first Australian feature film to be recorded in color and the first star Aboriginal actors. In the 1990s and early 21st Century, the films about Indigenous Australians were increasing. Rolf de Heer's “ Ten Canoes” was the first major feature film to be shot in an indigenous language and it took place at Cannes in 2006.

 

Jedda's trailer

Ten Canoes' trailer

Aboriginal’s Sport

Woggabaliri is an Indigenous community game and the oldest Indigenous game. This game is played by the Wiradjuri people of central New South Wales. Woggabaliri is a kicking volley game which is played with a ball made of possum hide, using soccer type skills of teamwork and ball control. Moreover, this game gives a contribution to the development of the code of Australian rules football.

Stolen generations

The Stolen Generations or Stolen children were the removal of children of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent from their families by the Australian government agencies and church missions. This occurred between 1869 and 1969, although in some places the children were taken starting from 1970s. The main reason of this action is to erase the originality of Aboriginal children by sending them to European society over one or two generations.

Poster of Stolen generation

Poster of Stolen generation

 

Stolen Generation's video

Sorry

Kevin Rudd and Sorry

Australia says Sorry

  Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, has formally done an apology to the stolen generations. On 13 February 2008, Kevin Rudd read a speech which is titled as “Sorry” in house of the Parliament of Australia. His apology had been watched by 500,000 people on national television. By reading of the 361words of “Sorry” speech, he hoped that the apology can heal some old pains for the aboriginal generations.

 Rudd's Sorry