88-843: Australian Indigenous Ministries , formerly Aborigines Inland Mission of Australia (both AIM ), is an interdenominational Christian organisation that provides ministries to Aboriginal Australians . Aborigines Inland Mission of Australia was established in 1905, and ran many Aboriginal missions across Australia, including the Retta Dixon Home in Darwin, Northern Territory , St Clair Mission in Singleton, New South Wales . The Aborigines Inland Mission published two monthly newsletters, Our AIM and The Australian Evangel . The organisation re-branded to Australian Indigenous Ministries in 1998. The Petersham Christian Endeavour Society built
176-593: A Holocene hunter-gatherer sample ("Leang Panninge") from South Sulawesi , which shares high amounts of genetic drift with Aboriginal Australians and Papuans. This suggests that a population split from the common ancestor of Aboriginal Australians and Papuans. The sample also shows genetic affinity with East Asians and the Andamanese people of South Asia. The authors note that this hunter-gatherer sample can be modelled with ~50% Papuan-related ancestry and either with ~50% East Asian or Andamanese Onge ancestry, highlighting
264-611: A gene flow from India to Australia: firstly, signs of South Asian components in Aboriginal Australian genomes, reported on the basis of genome-wide SNP data; and secondly, the existence of a Y chromosome (male) lineage, designated haplogroup C∗, with the most recent common ancestor about 5,000 years ago. The first type of evidence comes from a 2013 study by the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology using large-scale genotyping data from
352-401: A half-caste". Governor Broome insisted that the act contain within it a clause permitting traditional owners to continue hunting on their tribal lands. The effect of the act was to give increasing power to the board over Aboriginal people, rather than setting up a system to punish whites for wrongdoing in relation to Aboriginal people. An Aboriginal Department was set up, under the office of
440-741: A house at La Perouse , near Botany Bay in New South Wales, in November 1894, where a Miss J. Watson took up residence and began working among the local Indigenous peoples . After her resignation due to ill-health in 1896, Retta Dixon took over the house and work. She moved to the Singleton area in the Hunter Valley in 1905, where the Aborigines Inland Mission of Australia was formed. The inaugural public meeting
528-751: A person as Indigenous. (Torres Strait Islanders are ethnically and culturally distinct, despite extensive cultural exchange with some of the Aboriginal groups, and the Torres Strait Islands are mostly part of Queensland but have a separate governmental status .) Some Aboriginal people object to being labelled Indigenous , as an artificial and denialist term, because some non-Aboriginal people have referred to themselves as indigenous because they were born in Australia. Australian Indigenous people have beliefs unique to each mob ( tribe ) and have
616-598: A pool of Aboriginal Australians, New Guineans, island Southeast Asians, and Indians. It found that the New Guinea and Mamanwa (Philippines area) groups diverged from the Aboriginal about 36,000 years ago (there is supporting evidence that these populations are descended from migrants taking an early "southern route" out of Africa, before other groups in the area). Also the Indian and Australian populations mixed long before European contact, with this gene flow occurring during
704-615: 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
792-495: A single group. Aboriginal identity has changed over time and place, with family lineage, self-identification, and community acceptance all of varying importance. 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
880-411: A spirit creates the earth then tells the humans to treat the animals and the earth in a way which is respectful to land. In Northern Territory this is commonly said to be a huge snake or snakes that weaved its way through the earth and sky making the mountains and oceans. But in other places the spirits who created the world are known as wandjina rain and water spirits. Major ancestral spirits include
968-470: A strong connection to the land. Contemporary Indigenous Australian 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 by dancing , stories , songlines and art —especially Papunya Tula (dot painting)—collectively telling
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#17327903262091056-531: A suitable age, until they turned 21. An Aboriginal Protection Board was also established to prevent the abuses reported earlier, but rather than protect Aborigines, it mainly succeeded in putting them under tighter government control. It was intended to enforce contracts, employment of prisoners and apprenticeships, but there was not sufficient power to enforce clauses in the north, and they were openly flouted. The Act defined as "Aboriginal" as "every Aboriginal native of Australia, every Aboriginal half-caste, or child of
1144-427: 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. DNA studies have confirmed that "Aboriginal Australians are one of
1232-670: A teaching role to create Indigenous Christian following. Other missionaries decided to walk around communities visiting small groups and families some walking thousands of kilometres each year. Retta Dixon said that within the organisation's 30-year history up to 1935 that there had been 11,000 people under their spiritual care, 35 centres, 100 outposts and 106 "agents at work". The Australian Inland Mission published two monthly newsletters: Our AIM and The Australian Evangel , targeting different readerships. Our AIM (also referred to as just AIM ) targeted evangelical European Australians , and promoted AIM's work within Aboriginal communities. It
1320-773: Is an increase in allele sharing between the Denisovan and Aboriginal Australian genomes, compared to other Eurasians or Africans. Examining DNA from a finger bone excavated in Siberia , researchers concluded that the Denisovans migrated from Siberia to tropical parts of Asia and that they interbred with modern humans in Southeast Asia 44,000 years BP, before Australia separated from New Guinea approximately 11,700 years BP. They contributed DNA to Aboriginal Australians and to present-day New Guineans and an indigenous tribe in
1408-499: Is an interdenominational Christian organisation that provides ministries to Aboriginal Australians . Australian Indigenous Missionaries had Longs' Children, St Clair Mission, Singleton House, Native Workers' Training and the Singleton Bible Training Institute. Missionaries were placed in major centres like Darwin and Alice Springs or in Aboriginal communities and outback towns. The Orphan House
1496-477: Is based on the Aboriginal peoples' geographical isolation, with little or no interaction with outside cultures before some contact with Makassan fishermen and Dutch explorers up to 500 years ago. The Rasmussen study also found evidence that Aboriginal peoples carry some genes associated with the Denisovans (a species of human related to but distinct from Neanderthals ) of Asia; the study suggests that there
1584-480: Is no evidence for South Asian gene flow to Australia .... Despite Sahul being a single connected landmass until [8,000 years ago], different groups across Australia are nearly equally related to Papuans, and vice versa, and the two appear to have separated genetically already [about 30,000 years ago]." Aboriginal Australians possess inherited abilities to adapt to a wide range of environmental temperatures in various ways. A study in 1958 comparing cold adaptation in
1672-453: Is only in the last two hundred years that they have been defined and started to self-identify as a single group, socio-politically. While some preferred the term Aborigine to Aboriginal in the past, as the latter was seen to have more directly discriminatory legal origins, use of the term Aborigine has declined in recent decades, as many consider the term an offensive and racist hangover from Australia's colonial era. The definition of
1760-502: Is that the desert people are able to have a higher body temperature without accelerating the activity of the whole of the body, which can be especially detrimental in childhood diseases. This helps protect people to survive the side-effects of infection. Aboriginal people have lived for tens of thousands of years on the continent of Australia , through its various changes in landmass. The area within Australia 's borders today includes
1848-744: The Half-Caste Act , described as An Act to provide for the better protection and management of the Aboriginal Natives of Western Australia, and to amend the Law relating to certain Contracts with such Aboriginal Natives (statute 25/1886), and The Aborigines Act, 1889 (statute 24/1889). The 1886 act was enacted following the furore over the Fairburn Report (which revealed slavery conditions among Aboriginal farm workers) and
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#17327903262091936-590: The CC BY 4.0 license. Aborigines Protection Board Aboriginal Protection Board , also known as Aborigines Protection Board , Board for the Protection of Aborigines , Aborigines Welfare Board (and in later sources, incorrectly as Aboriginal Welfare Board ), and similar names, refers to a number of historical Australian state -run institutions with the function of regulating the lives of Aboriginal Australians . They were also responsible for administering
2024-490: The CSIRO stressed the importance of taking a demand-driven approach to services in desert settlements, and concluded that "if top-down solutions continue to be imposed without appreciating the fundamental drivers of settlement in desert regions, then those solutions will continue to be partial, and ineffective in the long term." [REDACTED] This article incorporates text by Anders Bergström et al. available under
2112-740: The Chief Protector of Aborigines . Nearly half of the Legislative Council voted to amend the act for contract labour as low as age 10 but it was defeated. McKenzie Grant , the member for The North , claimed that child labour of age six or seven was a necessary commonplace, as "in this way they gradually become domesticated". The attorney general Septimus Burt , in debate on the 2nd reading speech, claimed that contracts were being issued, not for current work, but to hold Aboriginal people as slaves on stations for potential future work, and so prevent them from being free to leave. In 1898,
2200-606: The Cootamundra Domestic Training Home for Aboriginal Girls . Aboriginal children were removed from their families for various welfare reasons and transported to Kinchela and Cootamundra, where they were often abused and neglected while being taught farm labouring and domestic work, many of them ending up as servants in the homes of wealthy Sydney residents. In 1915, the Aborigines Protection Amending Act 1915 gave
2288-590: The Initial Upper Paleolithic . They are most closely related to other Oceanians , such as Melanesians . The Aboriginal Australians also show affinity to other Australasian populations, such as Negritos , as well as to East Asian peoples . Phylogenetic data suggests that an early initial eastern lineage (ENA) trifurcated somewhere in South Asia , and gave rise to Australasians (Oceanians), Ancient Ancestral South Indian (AASI), Andamanese and
2376-712: The Kimberley region in what is now Western Australia about 60,000 years ago. They migrated across the continent within 6,000 years. A 2018 study using archaeobotany dated evidence of continuous human habitation at Karnatukul (Serpent's Glen) in the Carnarvon Range in the Little Sandy Desert in WA from around 50,000 years ago. Genetic studies have revealed that Aboriginal Australians largely descended from an Eastern Eurasian population wave during
2464-637: The Makassar people of modern-day Indonesia. Aboriginal Australians have a wide variety of cultural practices and beliefs that some scientists believe make up the oldest continuous cultures in the world, although this is disputed. 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. Languages (or dialects) and language-associated groups of people are connected with stretches of territory known as "Country", with which they have
2552-683: The Northern Territory to study their genetic makeup (which is not representative of all Aboriginal peoples in Australia). The study concluded that the Warlpiri are descended from ancient Asians whose DNA is still somewhat present in Southeastern Asian groups, although greatly diminished. The Warlpiri DNA lacks certain information found in modern Asian genomes, and carries information not found in other genomes. This reinforces
2640-517: The Pleistocene epoch and lived over large sections of the Australian continental shelf when the sea levels were lower. At that time, Australia, Tasmania and New Guinea were part of the same landmass, known as Sahul . As sea levels rose, the people on the Australian mainland and nearby islands became increasingly isolated, some on Tasmania and some of the smaller offshore islands when
2728-627: The Rainbow Serpent , Baiame , Dirawong and Bunjil . Similarly, the Arrernte people of central Australia believed that humanity originated from great superhuman ancestors who brought the sun, wind and rain as a result of breaking through the surface of the Earth when waking from their slumber. Taken as a whole, Aboriginal Australians, along with Torres Strait Islander people, have a number of health and economic deprivations in comparison with
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2816-578: The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in 2015, it was found that AIM did not provide sufficient training to its staff on how to detect or respond to allegations of child sexual abuse . Compensation was initially awarded to 71 people in a 2017 out-of-court settlement. Since then, at least ten people have applied for compensation under the Australian Government's National Redress Scheme (NRS), which
2904-403: The 1886 Act started to remove Aboriginal people of mixed descent, known as " half-castes ", from Aboriginal stations or reserves to force them to assimilate into European society. These expulsions separated families and communities, causing distress and leading to protest. Nevertheless, the board refused to assist the expelled people. It was assumed that the expulsions would lead to the decline in
2992-778: The 1970s and 1980s, when Aboriginal people moved to tiny remote settlements on traditional land, brought health benefits, but funding them proved expensive, training and employment opportunities were not provided in many cases, and support from governments dwindled in the 2000s, particularly in the era of the Howard government . Indigenous communities in remote Australia are often small, isolated towns with basic facilities, on traditionally owned land . These communities have between 20 and 300 inhabitants and are often closed to outsiders for cultural reasons. The long-term viability and resilience of Aboriginal communities in desert areas has been discussed by scholars and policy-makers. A 2007 report by
3080-677: The 19th century. Scholars believe that most Aboriginal Australians originated from Southeast Asia. If this is the case, Aboriginal Australians were among the first in the world to have completed sea voyages. A 2017 paper in Nature evaluated artefacts in Kakadu . Its authors concluded "Human occupation began around 65,000 years ago." A 2021 study by researchers at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage has mapped
3168-450: The AIM are exploring ways in which AIM could make a meaningful apology to survivors of abuse suffered at the home. St Clair Mission was located between Muswellbrook and Singleton in a place called Carrowbrook. Many Aboriginal groups sought refuge at James White's property in the 1860s. The mission was opened by Reverend James White and was run by Baptist missionary Retta Dixon in 1893. It
3256-941: The Board authority to remove Aboriginal children "without having to establish in court that they were neglected." The Board was renamed the Aborigines Welfare Board (which was frequently referred to as the Aborigin al Welfare Board in later sources ) in 1940 by the Aborigines Protection (Amendment) Act 1940 , which stipulated that Aboriginal people should be assimilated into mainstream white society. It intended that Aboriginal culture would evaporate, and Aboriginal people would eventually become indistinguishable from Europeans. The Board consisted of 11 members, including two Aboriginal people, one "full-blood" and one having "a mixture of Aboriginal blood". It
3344-496: The 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,
3432-620: The East/Southeast Asian lineage, including ancestors of the Native Americans . Papuans may have received approximately 2% of their geneflow from an earlier group (xOOA) as well, next to additional archaic admixture in the Sahul region. Aboriginal people are genetically most similar to the indigenous populations of Papua New Guinea , and more distantly related to groups from East Indonesia. They are more distinct from
3520-881: The Holocene ( c. 4,200 years ago). The researchers had two theories for this: either some Indians had contact with people in Indonesia who eventually transferred those Indian genes to Aboriginal Australians, or a group of Indians migrated from India to Australia and intermingled with the locals directly. However, a 2016 study in Current Biology by Anders Bergström et al. excluded the Y chromosome as providing evidence for recent gene flow from India into Australia. The study authors sequenced 13 Aboriginal Australian Y chromosomes using recent advances in gene sequencing technology. They investigated their divergence times from Y chromosomes in other continents, including comparing
3608-859: 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. There are various other names from Australian Aboriginal languages commonly used to identify groups based on geography , known as demonyms , including: 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: 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
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3696-771: The Philippines known as Mamanwa . This study confirms Aboriginal Australians as one of the oldest living populations in the world. They are possibly the oldest outside Africa, and they may have the oldest continuous culture on the planet. A 2016 study at the University of Cambridge suggests that it was about 50,000 years ago that these peoples reached Sahul (the supercontinent consisting of present-day Australia and its islands and New Guinea ). The sea levels rose and isolated Australia about 10,000 years ago, but Aboriginal Australians and Papuans diverged from each other genetically earlier, about 37,000 years BP, possibly because
3784-549: The age of 14. The Aborigines Protection Board used it to place children removed from stations and reserves until 1920. The Aborigines Inland Mission Bible Training College was located in Minimbah House , and opened in 1953 to replace the Native Workers' Training College. Its goal was to provide Baptist ministry for Indigenous teenagers and young people from all over Australia. It closed in 1973. Their philosophy
3872-444: 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,
3960-624: The appointment of pastors, the handling of properties, and oversight of a bible school based in Rockhampton which provided short-term and long-term courses in a number of centres. Each mission was run independently. AIM began working in the Top End in the 1930s. In 1946 the AIM founded the Retta Dixon Home , an institution for Aboriginal children, on the Bagot Aboriginal Reserve in Darwin , Northern Territory . During
4048-820: The board was replaced by the Aborigines Department . The Queensland Aboriginal Protection Board was established by the Aboriginals Protection and Restriction of the Sale of Opium Act 1897 . The Aborigines Act Amendment Act 1939 created the Aborigines Protection Board in South Australia , which was "charged with the duty of controlling and promoting the welfare" of Aboriginal people (which included anyone descended from an Aboriginal person). Charles Duguid
4136-609: The boards had limited funds, protectors received very limited remuneration. A range of people were appointed as local protectors, including resident magistrates, jail wardens, justices of the peace and, in some cases ministers of religion, though most were local police inspectors. The minutes of the boards show they mostly dealt with matters of requests from religious bodies for financial relief and reports from resident or police magistrates pertaining to trials and convictions of Aboriginal people under their jurisdiction. Aboriginal protection boards also issued permits to allow Aboriginal people
4224-567: The communities. The New South Wales Board for the Protection of Aborigines was established in 1883 and was reconstituted under the Aborigines Protection Act 1909 with wide-ranging control over the lives of Aboriginal people. That included the power to remove children from families because, as stated in many of the files, their parents were Aboriginals, and the power to dictate where Aboriginal people lived, to ensure protection from violent colonialists and provide education in
4312-519: The deep split between Leang Panninge and Aboriginal/Papuans. Mallick et al. 2016 and Mark Lipson et al. 2017 study found the bifurcation of Eastern Eurasians and Western Eurasians dates to least 45,000 years ago, with indigenous Australians nested inside the Eastern Eurasian clade. Two genetic studies by Larena et al. 2021 found that Philippines Negrito people split from the common ancestor of Aboriginal Australians and Papuans before
4400-497: The desert-dwelling Pitjantjatjara people compared with a group of European people showed that the cooling adaptation of the Aboriginal group differed from that of the white people, and that they were able to sleep more soundly through a cold desert night. A 2014 Cambridge University study found that a beneficial mutation in two genes which regulate thyroxine , a hormone involved in regulating body metabolism , helps to regulate body temperature in response to fever. The effect of this
4488-633: The face of European opposition (McCallum, 2008). The Board also controlled their freedom of movement and personal finances. In particular, Aboriginal children could be removed from their homes and families and taken into care to be raised like white children, becoming the Stolen Generations . The 1911 amendment to the Aboriginal Protection Act established the Kinchela Aboriginal Boys' Training Home and
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#17327903262094576-714: The haplogroup C chromosomes. They found a divergence time of about 54,100 years between the Sahul C chromosome and its closest relative C5, as well as about 54,300 years between haplogroups K*/M and their closest haplogroups R and Q. The deep divergence time of 50,000-plus years with the South Asian chromosome and "the fact that the Aboriginal Australian Cs share a more recent common ancestor with Papuan Cs" excludes any recent genetic contact. The 2016 study's authors concluded that, although this does not disprove
4664-401: The idea of ancient Aboriginal isolation. Genetic data extracted in 2011 by Morten Rasmussen et al., who took a DNA sample from an early-20th-century lock of an Aboriginal person's hair, found that the Aboriginal ancestors probably migrated through South Asia and Maritime Southeast Asia , into Australia, where they stayed. As a result, outside of Africa, the Aboriginal peoples have occupied
4752-653: The increased suicide rate, many researchers have suggested that the inclusion of more cultural aspects into suicide prevention programs would help to combat mental health issues within the community. Past studies have found that many indigenous leaders and community members, do in fact, want more culturally-aware health care programs. Similarly, culturally-relative programs targeting indigenous youth have actively challenged suicide ideation among younger indigenous populations, with many social and emotional wellbeing programs using cultural information to provide coping mechanisms and improving mental health. The outstation movement of
4840-511: The indigenous populations of Borneo and Malaysia , sharing drift with them than compared to the groups from Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. This indicates that populations in Australia were isolated for a long time from the rest of Southeast Asia. They remained untouched by migrations and population expansions into that area, which can be explained by the Wallace line . In a 2001 study, blood samples were collected from some Warlpiri people in
4928-572: The islands of Tasmania , K'gari (previously Fraser Island) , Hinchinbrook Island , the Tiwi Islands , Kangaroo Island and Groote Eylandt . Indigenous people of the Torres Strait Islands, however, are not Aboriginal. In the 2021 census , people who self-identified on the census form as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin totalled 812,728 out of a total of 25,422,788 Australians, equating to 3.2% of Australia's population and an increase of 163,557 people, or 25.2%, since
5016-455: The land was inundated at the start of the Holocene , the inter-glacial period that started about 11,700 years ago. Scholars of this ancient history believe that it would have been difficult for Aboriginal people to have originated purely from mainland Asia. Not enough people would have migrated to Australia and surrounding islands to fulfill the beginning of the size of the population seen in
5104-406: The last 10,000 years it may have occurred—newer analytical techniques have the potential to address such questions. Bergstrom's 2018 doctoral thesis looking at the population of Sahul suggests that other than relatively recent admixture, the populations of the region appear to have been genetically independent from the rest of the world since their divergence about 50,000 years ago. He writes "There
5192-524: The latter two diverged from each other, but after their common ancestor diverged from the ancestor of East Asian peoples . The dingo reached Australia about 4,000 years ago. Near that time, there were changes in language (with the Pama-Nyungan language family spreading over most of the mainland), and in stone tool technology. Smaller tools were used. Human contact has thus been inferred, and genetic data of two kinds have been proposed to support
5280-496: The likely migration routes of the peoples as they moved across the Australian continent to its southern reaches and what is now Tasmania , then part of the mainland. The modelling is based on data from archaeologists , anthropologists , ecologists , geneticists , climatologists , geomorphologists , and hydrologists . It is intended to compare this data with the oral histories of Aboriginal peoples, including Dreaming stories, Australian rock art , and linguistic features of
5368-416: The lives of Aboriginal Victorians . The board exerted an extraordinary level of control over people's lives including regulation of residence, slavery as employment, marriage, social life and other aspects of daily life. The Victorian Half-Caste Act of 1886 gave the Board extensive new powers over the lives of Aboriginal people , including regulation of residence, employment and marriage. In particular,
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#17327903262095456-423: The many Aboriginal languages which reveal how the peoples developed separately. The routes, dubbed "superhighways" by the authors, are similar to current highways and stock routes in Australia. Lynette Russell of Monash University believes that the new model is a starting point for collaboration with Aboriginal people to help reveal their history. The new models suggest that the first people may have landed in
5544-403: 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
5632-411: 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 . The term Aboriginal Australians includes many distinct peoples who have developed across Australia for over 50,000 years. These peoples have a broadly shared, though complex, genetic history, but it
5720-638: The oldest living populations in the world, certainly the oldest outside of Africa." Their ancestors left the African continent 75,000 years ago. They may have the oldest continuous culture on earth. In Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory , oral histories comprising complex narratives have been passed down by Yolngu people through hundreds of generations. The Aboriginal rock art , dated by modern techniques, shows that their culture has continued from ancient times. The ancestors of present-day Aboriginal Australian people migrated from Southeast Asia by sea during
5808-480: The original 250–400 Aboriginal languages (more than 250 languages and about 800 dialectal varieties on the continent) are endangered or extinct, although some efforts are being made at language revival for some. As of 2016, only 13 traditional Indigenous languages were still being acquired by children, and about another 100 spoken by older generations only. Dispersing across the Australian continent over time,
5896-420: The other studies had utilised complete Y chromosome sequencing, which has the highest precision. For example, use of a ten Y STRs method has been shown to massively underestimate divergence times. Gene flow across the island-dotted 150-kilometre-wide (93 mi) Torres Strait, is both geographically plausible and demonstrated by the data, although at this point it could not be determined from this study when within
5984-424: 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
6072-597: The population of the reserves and their eventual closure. The Aborigines Act 1910 increased the rights of Aboriginal people in Victoria. The board was abolished in 1957 by the Aborigines Act 1957 . The Aboriginal Lands Act 1970 gave recognition of Aboriginal people's right to land. Under this Act the deeds of land at the Lake Tyers Mission and Framlingham reserves were transferred to
6160-440: The presence of any Holocene gene flow or non-genetic influences from South Asia at that time, and the appearance of the dingo does provide strong evidence for external contacts, the evidence overall is consistent with a complete lack of gene flow, and points to indigenous origins for the technological and linguistic changes. They attributed the disparity between their results and previous findings to improvements in technology; none of
6248-414: The previous census in 2016. Reasons for the increase were broadly as follows: Most Aboriginal people speak English, with Aboriginal phrases and words being added to create Australian Aboriginal English (which also has a tangible influence of Aboriginal languages in the phonology and grammatical structure ). Some Aboriginal people, especially those living in remote areas, are multi-lingual. Many of
6336-487: The remaining land bridge was impassable. This isolation makes the Aboriginal people the world's oldest culture. The study also found evidence of an unknown hominin group, distantly related to Denisovans, with whom the Aboriginal and Papuan ancestors must have interbred, leaving a trace of about 4% in most Aboriginal Australians' genome. There is, however, increased genetic diversity among Aboriginal Australians based on geographical distribution. Carlhoff et al. 2021 analysed
6424-704: The right to leave their respective missions and reserves and enter the mainstream society for a set period of time. The Central Board Appointed to Watch Over the Interests of the Aborigines was established in 1860. This was replaced by the Victorian Central Board for the Protection of Aborigines in 1869 (via the Aboriginal Protection Act 1869 ), making Victoria the first colony to enact comprehensive regulations on
6512-540: The roles of pastors , missionaries , local assistants, deacons and deaconesses . The mission was considered unique due to being mostly female; they mainly recruited young single women. Between 1905 and 1968, 243 women worked for the organisation, with many of them living in poverty, similar to the Indigenous people. By 1935 they had 50 missionaries, 20 associates and 36 Indigenous employees. The Australia Indigenous Mission Church took responsibility for things such as
6600-406: The same territory continuously longer than any other human populations. These findings suggest that modern Aboriginal Australians are the direct descendants of the eastern wave, who left Africa up to 75,000 years ago. This finding is compatible with earlier archaeological finds of human remains near Lake Mungo that date to approximately 40,000 years ago. The idea of the "oldest continuous culture"
6688-589: The story of creation known as The Dreamtime . Additionally, traditional healers were also custodians of important Dreaming stories as well as their medical roles (for example the Ngangkari in the Western desert ). Some core structures and themes are shared across the continent with details and additional elements varying between language and cultural groups. For example, in The Dreamtime of most regions,
6776-409: The term Aboriginal has changed over time and place, with the importance of family lineage, self-identification and community acceptance all being of varying importance. The term Indigenous Australians refers to Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and the term is conventionally only used when both groups are included in the topic being addressed, or by self-identification by
6864-560: The various half-caste acts where these existed and had a key role in the Stolen Generations . The boards had nearly ultimate control over Aboriginal people's lives. Protectors of Aborigines were appointed by the Board under the conditions laid down in the various Acts. In theory, protectors of Aborigines were often empowered to undertake legal proceedings on behalf of Aboriginal people, dictate where Aboriginal people could live or work, and keep all wages earned by employed Aboriginals. The exact powers varied over time and by jurisdiction. As
6952-517: The wider Australian community. Due to the aforementioned disadvantage, Aboriginal Australian communities experience a higher rate of suicide, as compared to non-indigenous communities. These issues stem from a variety of different causes unique to indigenous communities, such as historical trauma, socioeconomic disadvantage, and decreased access to education and health care. Also, this problem largely affects indigenous youth, as many indigenous youth may feel disconnected from their culture. To combat
7040-480: The work of the Rev. John Gribble . The Act introduced employment contracts between employers and Aboriginal workers over the age of 14. There was no provision in the 1886 Act for contracts to include wages, but employees were to be provided with "substantial, good and sufficient rations", clothing and blankets. The 1886 act provided a resident magistrate with the power to indenture 'half-caste' and Aboriginal children, from
7128-625: Was abolished under the Aborigines Act 1969 (NSW). After its abolition, the NSW Aboriginal Advisory Council was formed, which advised the NSW Minister for Aboriginal Affairs directly. The Western Australian Aborigines Protection Board operated between 1 January 1886 and 1 April 1898 as a statutory authority . It was created by the Aborigines Protection Act, 1886 (WA), also known as
7216-415: Was established as a church and school, and Indigenous people used to farm the land. In 1905 Dixon took formal control of St Clair. It was closed in 1918 when it taken over by the Aborigines Protection Board (as an Aboriginal reserve ) and renamed Mount Olive Reserve. In 1920 the missionaries moved out, and the home was closed down in 1923. Singleton was used for both females and males from birth up to
7304-416: Was exclusively Protestant with a generally conservative outlook and evangelical nature. They focused on being nonconformist , the primacy of the bible and personal salvation . AIM did not involve themselves with organisations that took the children who became the Stolen Generations ; their only concern was salvation, and assisting those who were "eager to read God's word". The main mission of AIM
7392-733: Was held on 11 September 1905 in the Singleton Methodist Church, which established the Aborigines Inland Mission of Australia (AIM). Soon after opening approved to build missions in Queensland and Western Australia. She married Leonard Long and around 1909, AIM set up a centre at Herberton in Far North Queensland . It created its first Indigenous training college by 1938. By 1906 AIM had ten missionaries , including employing three Indigenous people. Aboriginal assistants were employed where possible, given
7480-588: Was opened on 14 August 1907, transferred to another organisation in 1918 and closed in 1923. The mission stations were established in the following locations: 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
7568-686: Was published from 1907 until at least May 1961. Evangel targeted mainly Aboriginal people, spruiking the benefits of a evangelical Christian beliefs, and was published from before 1930 until at least September 1966. Back copies of both of these publications are available for free perusal on the AIATSIS website. The Australian Indigenous Index , or INFOKOORI, is an index to the fortnightly newspaper Koori Mail as well as to biographical information from various magazines, including Our AIM (1907-1961). The organisation re-branded to Australian Indigenous Ministries in 1998. Australian Indigenous Ministries
7656-471: Was set up for people who have experienced institutional child abuse. However the government has prevented Australian Indigenous Ministries (AIM) from being a participant in the NRS, for the stated reason that the group cannot afford to pay out potential claimants. There is a possibility that funding could be drawn from a government body, as a "funder of last resort", during the 2021 review of the scheme. Claimants and
7744-492: Was the salvation and expanding the Biblical knowledge of those who were "eager to read God's word', with a particular emphasis placed on preaching, teaching, and applying the word of God.The foundational belief of the AIM was that teaching life skills, providing better health and education, as well as having the ability to resist temptation and trouble would build a better Aboriginal Christian community. Some missionaries undertook
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