A modern depiction of an Aboriginal family on a hunt. National Library of Australia.
9. Aboriginal families took their relations incredibly seriously, with a complex system of family roles at the heart of their ancient culture
As with every human civilization, the manner in which we treat and interact with our family is both unique and immensely important at revealing cultural values; Aboriginal families are no exception, and are telling about the significance placed on the family unit by these ancient residents of Australia. Defining the place of an individual within a wider community, these systems and conventions of action determine the roles, obligations, and responsibilities of each generation within said community.
In the Aboriginal context, the caring of children was not simply considered the responsibility of the child’s parents as is common in modern-day Western societies. Instead, family members were expected to support each other completely in such aspects of life, with elders supporting their tribe’s young and so on within a system of broad kinship among broad tribal communities; in this way, the old teach the young so the young can pass on said knowledge to the even younger and maintain tribal progress and history.
Unfortunately, this long-standing cultural and generational connection only made the advent of colonialism in Australia even more painful for the Aboriginal peoples. As part of their attempt to “civilize” the savage natives, imperialists often separated entrenched families and communities as a deliberate control method; as a result, the traditional mechanisms of social interaction and the maintenance of cultural knowledge was destroyed for these families resulting in immense harm on both a human and historical level.
8. The Ancient Aborigines faced changing climates just as we are today, suffering the consequences of lost homes and separation
Between 18,000 to 15,000 years ago, our planet underwent a considerable shift in climate resulting in widespread environmental consequences and precipitating adaptation or extinction by countless species. A prime feature of this seismic shift was rising sea levels, with ocean waters rising nearly 400 feet between 18,000 to 7,000 years ago including a rapid period within 16,000 and 14,000 years ago wherein sea levels rose as much as 50 feet in just 300 years. By 13,000 years ago, these risen waters had separated the land bridges connecting Australia via the modern-day Torres Strait to the island of New Guinea, the Bass Strait between Victoria and Tasmania, and impeded access to Kangaroo Island; in consequence of these changes, by 9,000 years ago Kangaroo Island and many of the smaller islands of the Bass Strait were rendered uninhabited by humans. The climate of Australia itself also underwent a significant transformation, becoming a dryer continent more resembling the modern-day conditions, with much lower average temperatures and decreased rainfall.
Remarkably, much of our detailed knowledge regarding this wide-ranging geological shift is known through preserved histories documented by the Aboriginals of Australia via an oral tradition. The only culture to record this dramatic climate change, accomplishing such without written histories, the Aboriginals employed a cross-generational method of storytelling spanning over 300 generations detailing gradual tribal migrations due to the loss of hunting grounds and rising water levels.