Aboriginal Australians

Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands.

Humans first migrated to Australia at least 65,000 years ago, and over time formed as many as 500 language-based groups. In the past, Aboriginal people lived over large sections of the continental shelf. They were isolated on many of the smaller offshore islands and Tasmania when the land was inundated at the start of the Holocene inter-glacial period, about 11,700 years ago. Despite this, Aboriginal people maintained extensive networks within the continent and certain groups maintained relationships with Torres Strait Islanders and the Makassar people of modern-day Indonesia.

Aboriginal Australians have a wide variety of cultural practices and beliefs that make up the oldest continuous cultures in the world. At the time of European colonisation of Australia, the Aboriginal people consisted of complex cultural societies with more than 250 languages and varying degrees of technology and settlements.[vague] Languages (or dialects) and language-associated groups of people are connected with stretches of territory known as “Country”, with which they have a profound spiritual connection. Over the millennia, Aboriginal people developed complex trade networks, inter-cultural relationships, law and religions.

Contemporary Aboriginal beliefs are a complex mixture, varying by region and individual across the continent. They are shaped by traditional beliefs, the disruption of colonisation, religions brought to the continent by Europeans, and contemporary issues. Traditional cultural beliefs are passed down and shared through dancing, stories, songlines, and art that collectively weave an ontology of modern daily life and ancient creation known as Dreaming.

Studies of Aboriginal groups’ genetic makeup are ongoing, but evidence suggests that they have genetic inheritance from ancient Asian but not more modern peoples. They share some similarities with Papuans, but have been isolated from Southeast Asia for a very long time. They have a broadly shared, complex genetic history, but only in the last 200 years were they defined by others as, and started to self-identify as, a single group. Aboriginal identity has changed over time and place, with family lineage, self-identification, and community acceptance all of varying importance.

Groups and sub-groups

Dispersing across the Australian continent over time, the ancient people expanded and differentiated into distinct groups, each with its own language and culture. ] More than 400 distinct Australian Aboriginal peoples have been identified, distinguished by names designating their ancestral languages, dialects, or distinctive speech patterns. According to noted anthropologist, archaeologist and sociologist Harry Lourandos, historically, these groups lived in three main cultural areas, the Northern, Southern and Central cultural areas. The Northern and Southern areas, having richer natural marine and woodland resources, were more densely populated than the Central area.

In the 2021 census, Indigenous Australians comprised 3.8% of Australia’s population. Most Aboriginal people today speak English and live in cities. Some may use Aboriginal phrases and words in Australian Aboriginal English (which also has a tangible influence of Aboriginal languages in the phonology and grammatical structure). Many but not all also speak the various traditional languages of their clans and peoples. Aboriginal people, along with Torres Strait Islander people, have a number of severe health and economic deprivations in comparison with the wider Australian community.

Geographically-based names

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There are various other names from Australian Aboriginal languages commonly used to identify groups based on geography, known as demonyms, including:

. Anangu in northern South Australia, and neighbouring parts of Western Australia and Northern Territory

. Goorie (variant pronunciation and spelling of Koori) in South East Queensland and some parts of northern New South Wales

. Koori (or Koorie) in New South Wales and Victoria (Aboriginal Victorians)

. Murri in Central and Northern Queensland, sometimes referring to all Aboriginal Queenslanders

. Nunga in southern South Australia

. Noongar in southern Western Australia

. Palawah (or Pallawah) in Tasmania

. Tiwi on Tiwi Islands off Arnhem Land (NT)

A few examples of sub-groups

Other group names are based on the language group or specific dialect spoken. These also coincide with geographical regions of varying sizes. A few examples are:

. Anindilyakwa on Groote Eylandt (off Arnhem Land), NT

. Arrernte in central Australia

. Bininj in Western Arnhem Land (NT)

. Gunggari in south-west Queensland

. Muruwari people in New South Wales

. Luritja (Kukatja), an Anangu sub-group based on language

. Ngunnawal in the Australian Capital Territory and surrounding areas of New South Wales

. Pitjantjatjara, an Anangu sub-group based on language

. Wangai in the Western Australian Goldfields

. Warlpiri (Yapa) in western central Northern Territory

. Yamatji in central Western Australia

. Yolngu in eastern Arnhem Land (NT)

Difficulties defining groups
Further information: Indigenous Australians § Other groupings

However, these lists are neither exhaustive nor definitive, and there are overlaps. Different approaches have been taken by non-Aboriginal scholars in trying to understand and define Aboriginal culture and societies, some focusing on the micro-level (tribe, clan, etc.), and others on shared languages and cultural practices spread over large regions defined by ecological factors. Anthropologists have encountered many difficulties in trying to define what constitutes an Aboriginal people/community/group/tribe, let alone naming them. Knowledge of pre-colonial Aboriginal cultures and societal groupings is still largely dependent on the observers’ interpretations, which were filtered through colonial ways of viewing societies.

Some Aboriginal peoples identify as one of several saltwater, freshwater, rainforest or desert peoples.