Aboriginal Australian Daily Life
A brief overview of the traditional food, clothing, housing, and lifestyles of Aboriginal Australian peoples.
Before contact with Europeans, the indigenous people of Australia led lives perfectly adapted to its often hostile landscapes. The typical lifestyle, but not all, was nomadic. By moving between areas as food sources depleted, families were able to thrive without sustained agriculture. They also had little need for sedentary housing. Some cultures slept outside near fires or in natural shelters such as caves. More permanent homes were built in areas with abundant resources or cold, wet weather. These typically involved branch frames covered in sheets of bark or broad leaves. Dome huts built in this manner were particularly common. Families kept Australia’s wild dogs, or dingoes, as spiritual and physical guardians.
This hunter-gatherer lifestyle required, on average, only four or five hours of work per day. Women gathered edible seeds, nuts, and plants, as well as shellfish, eggs, and small animals. Men, meanwhile, went on hunting, fishing, and religious expeditions. Clothing generally took the form of long cloaks and breechcloths, though some cultures instead went nude. These were made from the pelts of possums, kangaroos, and wallabies, among other animals. Special occasions also called for elaborate necklaces, headdresses, body paint, and other ornamental items.
European contact brought this lifestyle, thousands of years in the making, to an abrupt halt. Waves of disease like smallpox destroyed whole communities and the knowledge they preserved. In some areas, Aboriginal people were exterminated like little more than pests. Wherever new settlers went, indigenous people were forced from their lands. Later, efforts were made to divorce Aboriginal Australians from their nomadic ways. Children went to special schools away from their family, where they learned little of their own culture. As adults, they faced racial discrimination in Australian society but lacked the ancient skills needed to survive off the land.
Despite this oppression and its long-lasting consequences, Aboriginal culture is far from stagnant or outdated. Many communities now work to preserve their skills and knowledge through community-based education. Modern Aboriginal people lead diverse lifestyles in both rural and urban areas. The degree to which a person follows older customs largely depends on personal preference.
Further Reading:
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References
Bourke, Colin, Eleanor Bourke, and Bill Edwards, eds. Aboriginal Australia: An Introductory Reader in Aboriginal Studies. University of Queensland Press. 1994.
Broome, Richard. Aboriginal Australians: A History Since 1788. Allen & Unwin. 2010.
“Census: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Population.” Australian Bureau of Statistics, Commonwealth of Australia, 27 June 2017, www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/MediaRealesesByCatalogue/02D50FAA9987D6B7CA25814800087E03?OpenDocument.
Clarke, Francis Gordon. The History of Australia. Greenwood Press. 2002.
“The World Factbook: Australia.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 6 June 2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/as.html.
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