83-660: The Bidjigal (also spelt Bediagal , Bejigal , Bedegal or Biddegal ) people are an Aboriginal Australian people whose traditional lands are modern-day western , north-western , south-eastern , and southern Sydney , in New South Wales , Australia. The land includes the Bidjigal Reserve , Salt Pan Creek and the Georges River . They are part of the Dharug language group. The Bidjigal clan were
166-593: 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
249-611: 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
332-413: A high vantage point to distract hostile colonists and slow their reloading speed before throwing spears. Prospect Hill was one of the major sites of warfare and Indigenous deaths. Despite their resistance, several factors resulted in their displacement and the destruction of their ability to continue many aspects of their traditional way of life. The clan was severely weakened by the many deaths caused by
415-575: A meeting of Aboriginal Australians, sometimes of different clans. The Randwick City Council, in conjunction with the La Perouse Local Aboriginal Land Council, have hosted an annual Koojay Corroboree since 2015, although not running in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The Koojay Corroboree is held on Coogee Beach , with the name referring to the traditional Dharug name for the beach, Koojay. The Koojay Corroboree
498-751: 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
581-598: 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
664-615: 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
747-495: 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
830-411: 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
913-470: 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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#1732772316064996-427: 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
1079-511: A variety of reasons, including public intervention, vandalism, natural erosion and failure of governments or councils to take necessary actions to ensure preservation. The Bidjigal Reserve is a 300 hectare corridor of protected public bushland along Darling Mills Creek, mostly lying within The Hills Shire. The Bidjigal clan have inhabited the area for at least 40 000 years. The rock overhangs and caves provided shelter, freshwater provided
1162-571: Is a Bidjigal man and Australian singer and songwriter. He was the first Aboriginal man to appear on commercial TV and became an international recording artist. Josh Cook is a professional rugby league footballer and is part of the Bidjigal and Yuin clans. The Timbery family are said to have been present when the First Fleet arrived, and are descendants of Pemulwuy. They have notably impacted Aboriginal and secular culture, and still remain in
1245-773: 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
1328-477: 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
1411-455: Is held during National Reconciliation Week (NRW) and commemorates the Bidjigal and Gadigal people, who both inhabited the land. The festival involves cultural activities, such as fire ceremonies, song and dance. They were a subgroup/clan of the Dharug people, the Bidjigal would have spoken Dharug . The name Bidjigal means plains-dweller in the Dharug language. The Bidjigal population
1494-480: 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
1577-453: 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
1660-502: 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
1743-490: 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
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#17327723160641826-538: The Cooks River , Wolli Creek and the Georges River to Salt Pan Creek , and yet also seem to have inhabited land in the Hills District of Sydney, in what is now Baulkham Hills . Coastal areas and beaches such as Bondi and Coogee are believed to have been concurrently occupied by a combination of Bidjigal, Gadigal and Birrabirrragal clan groups, who were a shared saltwater cultural group, all from
1909-590: 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
1992-712: 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
2075-553: The La Perouse area where they first discovered the First Fleet. They continue to tell their family story of the invasion, which tells that they gained some level of trust from the colonisers, turning into responsibility for certain members of the family such as Joe Timbery, who was designated 'King of the Five Islands' by Governor Lachlan Macquarie in 1816. However, they also allege that their openness did not protect them from
2158-637: 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
2241-683: 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
2324-517: 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
2407-627: 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
2490-472: The Salt Pan Creek area. Anthropologist Val Attenbrow discusses their possible origin and location, and concludes that the question is "somewhat vexed". Norman Tindale , referring on the earliest historical sources, regarded them as a horde occupying the area just north of Castle Hill , Their geographical location is confusing, as they seem to have been based in southern Sydney, in the region between
2573-495: The smallpox epidemic in 1790. At the time, Governor Phillip estimated deaths to be around half of the Aboriginal people, although estimates since then have been much higher, with most of the Bidjigal clan perishing. Debate remains around whether or not the disease was smallpox or chickenpox , and whether it was brought deliberately by European colonists. Nonetheless, the deaths decimated population size. This, alongside continuing expansion and violence from encroaching colonists into
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2656-778: 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
2739-677: 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
2822-533: The Dharug language group and strong ties of kinship. Fire is of central importance to Bidjigal culture and practices. This includes smoking ceremonies, which are a means of communicating with the Fire Spirit. Smoking ceremonies are part of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clans' cultures, and are a means of cleansing people and places of bad spirits to protect from the dangerous powers of spiritual beings. Men, women and children have different roles in
2905-496: 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,
2988-620: 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
3071-485: The First Fleet. There was a strong Aboriginal resistance to colonisation. There was a period of sustained warfare throughout coastal Sydney, involving the Bidjigal clan at the Sydney basin , from 1788 to 1817. The Aboriginal people utilised guerrilla-style warfare , as a way of combating the vast gap in weaponry capabilities to the colonists. One battle tactic was their War Dance, where the Aboriginal fighters would dance from
3154-881: 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
3237-859: 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
3320-538: The People's Choice award at Mental Health Art Works! 2014. Aboriginal Australian 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
3403-771: 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
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3486-682: The Wolli Creek Valley, both being Wolli Creek. Perhaps the most famous Bidjigal person was Pemulwuy , who successfully led Aboriginal resistance forces against European colonisation, before finally being captured and killed by explorer Henry Hacking in 1802. The treatment of his severed head and Pemulwuy's depiction in European art remain the subject of controversy and academic pursuit, in their significance as representatives of European disregard for Aboriginal culture and paternalism. William Victor Simms , known as Vic Simms or Uncle Vic,
3569-444: 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,
3652-409: The area did not satisfy a significant Aboriginal area, and denied an emergency stop work order. Over 21,000 artefacts were excavated and preserved, although thousands more were disturbed and destroyed by construction. The presence of objects such as weapons indicate the area was a site of conflict, marking a high probability of death occurring on the site. The name of the Bidjigal is today remembered by
3735-465: The area, prevented the Bidjigal clan from living life as they used to, although descendants continue to preserve and celebrate their culture. Rock art and middens from the Bidjigal people remain in several areas across Sydney, including Bondi, George's River and the heritage listed paintings in a hidden, private cave in Undercliffe . These historical sites are at risk of being eroded and/or lost for
3818-435: The clan. Men are the warriors, gatekeepers and protectors, while women are storytellers and nurturers. The men are taught to respect and care for the women. Men and women would contribute to fishing, the main source of food for the Bidjigal people. Men would use spears to hunt the fish while the women would use hooks and lines, and both would do so on canoes made from local wood. The women would also gather shellfish. Men would be
3901-450: The cruelty of the colonisers, who still raped and abused the women of the clan. Esme Timbery was a Bidjigal woman and Elder. She was also a notable shell worker, with her art featured in several museums throughout Australia. Esme and her sister Rose were fourth-generation shell artists and descendants of Emma Timbery , who began the family tradition of shellwork, amongst other achievements in language preservation. The men have partaken in
3984-519: 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
4067-497: 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
4150-422: The discovery. Bidjigal Elders claimed that paid consultants were chosen over the traditional owners in consultation, and that the consultants had a vested interest in the construction going ahead. Despite protest and an emergency heritage appeal under the federal 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act', construction went ahead. Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt ultimately determined that
4233-603: The first Indigenous Australians to encounter the First Fleet . Led by Pemulwuy , the Bidjigal people resisted European colonisation from the First Fleet's arrival in 1788. The Bidjigal are a clan of the Dharug people. Additionally, academic Kohen has suggested that there may have been some confusion between two distinct groups: the Bidjigal (living in the Baulkham Hills area) and the Bediagal at Botany Bay in
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#17327723160644316-714: 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
4399-401: 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
4482-653: 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
4565-511: 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
4648-572: 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
4731-429: The key providers for everything The women and girls have historically made decorative and functional 'shellwork' from seashells. Shellwork is common amongst coastal Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, although the connections and practices remain under-researched. La Perouse remains a major site of production. The shellwork was popular amongst tourists, particularly amongst white women. The shellwork still blurs
4814-519: The land by settlers for construction projects, and wildfires. One such project was the M2 Motorway, which was considered 'environmentally controversial' due to the destruction and disconnection of parts of the bushland. In 2004, an agreement was reached between the Indigenous population and the local council, whereby representatives of Dharug descendants were included on a new board, and the park
4897-455: 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
4980-406: 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
5063-524: 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
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#17327723160645146-496: 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
5229-521: The line between art and artefact, and is now often part of museum exhibitions. In 2015 Bidjigal Elder, artist and shellworker Esme Timbery collaborated with Wiradjuri / Kamilaroi artist Jonathan Jones on the seven-story shell art installation 'Shell Wall 2015' in Barangaroo . The public artwork remains on the southern side of the Alexander residential building. A corroboree broadly refers to
5312-423: 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
5395-403: 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
5478-431: The name of the 186-hectare (460-acre) Bidjigal Reserve , in Baulkham Hills, Castle Hill, Carlingford , North Rocks and Northmead to the north-west of Sydney. The Bidjigal Reserve was known as Excelsior Park until 2004, when it was dedicated to preserve Aboriginal cultural heritage, local flora and fauna and for public recreation. The Bidjigal word Wolli means 'camping place', and is the name suburb and waterway through
5561-411: 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
5644-638: 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
5727-585: The opportunity for fishing, and the plants and animals were utilised for food, medicine and creating tools. In 1804 3,800 the Bidjigal reserve was included in 3,800 acres of land set aside by the Governor King as the Baulkham Hills Common, which was then given in 1818 to private individuals as land grants. The area was named Excelsior Reserve, and the flora and fauna suffered from the introduction of foreign wildlife, such as foxes, clearing of
5810-480: 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,
5893-420: 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
5976-424: 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
6059-440: 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
6142-414: 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
6225-487: 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
6308-406: 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"
6391-589: 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,
6474-409: 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
6557-464: The whales and eels, being totemic, or culturally significant. The eel's migratory journey would be celebrated at the start of the eel's migration, or the 'running of the eels', with feasts and ceremonies. Archaeological evidence has also indicated different tools and weapons were used for hunting local wildlife on land, such as boomerangs . The Bidjigal people were the first to encounter Captain Cook and
6640-517: 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
6723-591: The wooden crafts, with members such as Joe Timbery being a notable boomerang and shield maker. Laddie Timbery also gained notability in his later life for his boomerangs, valued both artistically and culturally. Garry Purchase is an artist of Dharawal, Bidjigal and Dhungutti descent, and is part of the Timbery family. His paintings "The Journey" and "Missing Pieces" won both the Aboriginal Health award in 2014, 2016 and 2017 respectively. "The Journey" also won
6806-567: Was an estimated 500 people at the time of the British arrival, making them one of the most densely populated areas prior to colonisation. The Bidjigal clan, like many of the Dharug people, utilised their access to water for fishing, with fish being their main source of food. This includes Georges rivers , Cooks River , Salt Pan Creek , Wolli Creek and parts of the Hawkesbury River . This has resulted in different sea animals, including
6889-822: Was renamed from Excelsior Reserve to Bidjigal, and the Native Title claim over the area was withdrawn. The Bidjigal clan were part of a conflict between Aboriginal Elders and the Federal Government regarding the construction of the Sydney light rail following the discovery of Indigenous artefacts on the construction site. Over 22 000 artefacts were found in a 100-metre-square area around the light rail's proposed tram stabling yard in Randwick, including spearheads and cutting tools. Transport for NSW employed four Aboriginal groups to advise on cultural heritage following
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