81-662: The Kalkadoon (properly Kalkatungu ) are descendants of an Indigenous Australian tribe living in the Mount Isa region of Queensland. Their ancestral tribe has been called "the elite of the Aboriginal warriors of Queensland". In 1884 they were massacred at "Battle Mountain" by settlers and police. Kalkatung belonged to the Kalkatungic branch of the Pama-Nyungan language family , the other being Yalarnnga which
162-405: A humpy , gunyah, or wurley. Clothing included the possum-skin cloak in the southeast, buka cloak in the southwest and riji (pearl shells) in the northeast. There is evidence that some Aboriginal populations in northern Australia regularly traded with Makassan fishermen from Indonesia before the arrival of Europeans. At the time of first European contact, it is generally estimated that
243-500: A land bridge between the island and the rest of mainland Australia during the last glacial period . Estimates of the population of the Aboriginal people of Tasmania, before European arrival, are in the range of 3,000 to 15,000 people. However, genetic studies have suggested significantly higher figures, which are supported by Indigenous oral traditions that indicate a decline in population from diseases introduced by British and American sealers before settlement. The original population
324-464: A large kangaroo, for example, was indicated by joining the tip of the forefinger to the thumb, with all other fingers remaining extended, while flicking the wrist forward (suggestive of the hopping motion). A land snake was indicated by pointing the forefinger, while rotating the wrist and extending one's arm outwards. The Kalkatungu's traditional lands began at the heads of the Cloncurry river across
405-424: A length of about 900 kilometres (560 mi) and has a drainage basin of about 47,344 square kilometres (18,280 sq mi). The watershed south of the town of Cloncurry occupies an area of 5,975 square kilometres (2,307 sq mi). Kalkatunga (also known as Kalkadoon, Kalkadunga, Kalkatungu) is an Australian Aboriginal language . The Kalkatunga language region is North-West Queensland including
486-687: A single founding Sahul group with subsequent isolation between regional populations which were relatively unaffected by later migrations from the Asian mainland, which may have introduced the dingo 4–5,000 years ago. The research also suggests a divergence from the Papuan people of New Guinea and the Mamanwa people of the Philippines about 32,000 years ago, with a rapid population expansion about 5,000 years ago. A 2011 genetic study found evidence that
567-631: A time when changes in tool technology and food processing appear in the Australian archaeological record, suggesting that these may be related. Mallick et al. 2016 and Mark Lipson et al. 2017 study found that the bifurcation of Eastern Eurasian and Western Eurasian dates back to least 45,000 years ago, with Australasians nested inside the Eastern Eurasian clade. Aboriginal Australian men have Haplogroup C-M347 in high frequencies with peak estimates ranging from 60.2% to 68.7%. In addition,
648-586: A tribal level, and it was often touted that the Kalkatungu had been wiped out. The estimated numbers they lost over six years, from 1878 to 1884, in counter-attacking incursions and the exercise of expropriation over their lands, runs to 900. In 1984 on the centenary of the massacre a plaque commemorating the Kalkatungu was unveiled by Charles Perkins and George Thorpe a Kalkatung elder, at the Kajabbi bush pub north of Cloncurry. It reads in part: This obelisk
729-402: Is a 43% overlap in vocabulary existed with Yalarnnga but with a different grammar and only 10% percent of verbs cognate. Both have bounded pronouns or traces of them unlike all other languages in the surrounding areas suggesting they represented, until their extinction, a larger block of distinctive languages. Like many other Aboriginal societies, the Kalkatungu had a sign language . The idea of
810-665: Is complex and multi-layered, but a few examples are Anangu in northern South Australia , and neighbouring parts of Western Australia and Northern Territory ; Arrernte in central Australia; Koori (or Koorie) in New South Wales and Victoria ( Aboriginal Victorians ); Goorie (variant pronunciation and spelling of Koori) in South East Queensland and some parts of northern New South Wales; Murri , used in parts of Queensland and northern New South Wales where specific collective names are not used; Tiwi people of
891-546: Is estimated that people migrated from the Indonesian archipelago and New Guinea to mainland Australia about 70,000 years ago, as of 2020 evidence of human settlement in the Torres Strait has only been uncovered by archaeologists dating back to about 2500 years ago. Aboriginal people in some regions lived as foragers and hunter-gatherers , hunting and foraging for food from the land. Although Aboriginal society
SECTION 10
#1732781055436972-542: Is in memorial to the Kalkatungu tribes, who during September 1884 fought one of Australia's historic battles of resistance against a para-military force of European settlers and the Queensland native Mounted Police at a place known today as Battle Mountain - 20klms [sic] south west of Kajabbi . The Kalkadoon have been commemorated in the name of the Kalkadoon grasswren , a bird with a small territorial range confined to
1053-464: Is now estimated that all but 13 remaining Indigenous languages are considered endangered. Aboriginal people today mostly speak English, with Aboriginal phrases and words being added to create Australian Aboriginal English (which also has a tangible influence of Indigenous languages in the phonology and grammatical structure). Around three quarters of Australian place names are of Aboriginal origin. The Indigenous population prior to European settlement
1134-481: Is required. Genetic studies have revealed that Aboriginal Australians largely descended from an Eastern Eurasian population wave during the Initial Upper Paleolithic , and are most closely related to other Oceanians , such as Melanesians . The Aboriginal Australians also show affinity to other Australasian populations, such as Negritos or Ancient Ancestral South Indians groups, such as
1215-625: Is sometimes used as part of a wider social movement (seen in terms such as " Blaktivism " and "Blak History Month" ). The term was coined in 1991 by photographer and multimedia artist Destiny Deacon , in an exhibition entitled Blak lik mi . For Deacon's 2004 exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art , blak was defined in a museum guide as: "a term used by some Aboriginal people to reclaim historical, representational, symbolical, stereotypical and romanticised notions of Black or Blackness. Often used as ammunition or inspiration." Deacon said that removing
1296-516: Is unlikely as the Indigenous custodians are not expected to allow further invasive investigations. It is generally believed that Aboriginal people are the descendants of a single migration into the continent, a people that split from the ancestors of East Asians. Recent work with mitochondrial DNA suggests a founder population of between 1,000 and 3,000 women to produce the genetic diversity observed, which suggests that "initial colonisation of
1377-721: The Andamanese people , as well as to East Asian peoples . Phylogenetic data suggests that an early initial eastern non-African (ENA) or East-Eurasian meta-population trifurcated, and gave rise to Australasians (Oceanians), the Ancient Ancestral South Indians, Andamanese and the East/Southeast Asian lineage including the ancestors of Native Americans , although Papuans may have also received some geneflow from an earlier group (xOOA) as well, around 2%, next to additional archaic admixture in
1458-557: The Latin ab (from) and origo (origin, beginning). The term was used in Australia as early as 1789 to describe its Aboriginal peoples . It became capitalised and was used as the common term to refer to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Today the latter peoples are not included in this term. The term "Aborigine" (as opposed to "Aboriginal") is often disfavoured, as it is regarded as having colonialist connotations. While
1539-559: The McKinlay Range . After skirmishing with a group of Kalkatungu, they managed to corral a number, who appeared to give no resistance, into a gully nearby and post a guard over them for the night. Queensland historian Arthur Laurie suggests Beresford's error lay in "stupidly treat(ing) them like cattle". It is presumed that they had a stash of arms prepared for the occasion, and rose up, and killed Beresford and three of his men. One, though speared in his side, managed to escape and cover
1620-616: The Pila Nguru of Western Australia ). Several settlements of humans in Australia have been dated around 49,000 years ago. Luminescence dating of sediments surrounding stone artefacts at Madjedbebe , a rock shelter in northern Australia, indicates human activity at 65,000 years BP. Genetic studies appear to support an arrival date of 50–70,000 years ago. The earliest anatomically modern human remains found in Australia (and outside of Africa) are those of Mungo Man ; they have been dated at 42,000 years old. The initial comparison of
1701-539: The Sahul region. Rasmussen et al. 2011 shows that Aboriginal Australian have a lower proportion of European alleles compared to Asians, which they believe is indicative of a multiple dispersal model. Genetically, while Aboriginal Australians are most closely related to Melanesian and Papuan people, McEvoy et al. 2010 believed there is also another component that could indicate Ancient Ancestral South Indian admixture or more recent European influence. Research indicates
SECTION 20
#17327810554361782-622: The Selwyn Range and Kalkatungu lands from Boulia to Cloncurry, which formed a transit point for exchanges of everything from the native medical anaesthetic and narcotic stimulant, pituri , and ochre to stone knives and axes. Over 800,000 stone axe blanks remain strewn over the 2.4 sq.km metabasalt quarry at Lake Moondarra near Mt Isa, attesting to the intensity of Aboriginal manufacturing of trade goods in this Kalkatungu area, with some axes being traded as far distant as 1,000 kilometres. The Kalkatungu were an early transmission group for
1863-474: The Tasmanian catastrophe genocide". A woman named Trugernanner (often rendered as Truganini ), who died in 1876, was, and still is, widely believed to be the last of the "full-blooded" Tasmanian Aboriginal people. However, in 1889 Parliament recognised Fanny Cochrane Smith (d. 1905) as the last surviving "full-blooded" Tasmanian Aboriginal person. The 2016 census reported 23,572 Indigenous Australians in
1944-924: The Tiwi Islands off Northern Territory; and Palawah in Tasmania . The largest Aboriginal communities – the Pitjantjatjara , the Arrernte, the Luritja , and the Warlpiri – are all from Central Australia . Throughout the history of the continent, there have been many different Aboriginal groups, each with its own individual language , culture, and belief structure. At the time of British settlement, there were over 200 distinct languages. The Tasmanian Aboriginal population are thought to have first crossed into Tasmania approximately 40,000 years ago via
2025-581: The Torres Strait Islanders of the seas between Queensland and Papua New Guinea , located in Melanesia . 812,728 people self-identified as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin in the 2021 Australian Census, representing 3.2% of the total population of Australia. Of these Indigenous Australians, 91.4% identified as Aboriginal; 4.2% identified as Torres Strait Islander; while 4.4% identified with both groups. However,
2106-573: The c from black to "de-weaponise the term 'black cunt ' " was "taking on the 'colonisers' language and flipping it on its head". Contemporary Aboriginal arts in the 21st century are sometimes referred to as a "Blak" arts movement, expressed in names such as BlakDance, BlakLash Collective, and the title of Thelma Plum 's song and album, Better in Blak . Melbourne has an annual Blak & Bright literary festival, Blak Dot Gallery, Blak Markets, and Blak Cabaret. Aboriginal peoples of Australia are
2187-435: The didgeridoo . Although there are a number of cultural commonalities among Indigenous Australians, there is also a great diversity among different communities. The 2022 Australian census recorded 167 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages used at home by some 76,978 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. At the time of European colonisation, it is estimated that there were over 250 Aboriginal languages . It
2268-519: The language group (such as Arrernte ), or demonym relating to geographic area (such as Nunga ), is considered best practice and most respectful. European colonials from their early settlement used the term "Black" to refer to Aboriginal Australians. While the term originally related to skin colour and was often used pejoratively, today the term is used to indicate Aboriginal heritage or culture in general. It refers to any people of such heritage regardless of their level of skin pigmentation. In
2349-409: The message stick . Weapons included boomerangs , spears (sometimes thrown with a woomera ) with stone or fishbone tips, clubs, and (less commonly) axes. The Stone Age tools available included knives with ground edges, grinding devices, and eating containers. Fibrecraft was well-developed, and fibre nets, baskets, and bags were used for fishing, hunting, and carrying liquids. Trade networks spanned
2430-403: The mitochondrial DNA from the skeleton known as Lake Mungo 3 (LM3) with that of ancient and modern Aboriginal peoples indicated that Mungo Man is not related to Australian Aboriginal peoples. However, these findings have been met with a general lack of acceptance in scientific communities. The sequence has been criticised as there has been no independent testing, and it has been suggested that
2511-630: The 1970s, with a rise in Aboriginal activism, leaders such as Gary Foley proudly embraced the term "Black". For example, writer Kevin Gilbert 's book of that time was entitled Living Black . The book included interviews with several members of the Aboriginal community, including Robert Jabanungga , who reflected on contemporary Aboriginal culture. Use of this term varies depending on context, and its use needs care as it may be deemed inappropriate. The term "Black" has sometimes caused confusion as being applied to contemporary African immigrants rather than
Kalkatungu - Misplaced Pages Continue
2592-460: The 21st century there is consensus that it is important to respect the "preferences of individuals, families, or communities, and allow them to define what they are most comfortable with" when referring to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The word ' aboriginal ' has been in the English language since at least the 16th century to mean "first or earliest known, indigenous". It comes from
2673-507: The Aboriginal population. Nevertheless, a population collapse, principally from new infectious diseases, followed European colonisation. A smallpox epidemic spread for three years after the arrival of Europeans. Massacres , frontier armed conflicts and competition over resources with European settlers also contributed to the decline of the Aboriginal peoples. From the 19th to the mid-20th century, government policy removed many mixed heritage children from Aboriginal communities, with
2754-606: The Aboriginal, Papuan and Mamanwa peoples carry some of the alleles associated with the Denisovan peoples of Asia, (not found amongst populations in mainland Asia) suggesting that modern and archaic humans interbred in Asia approximately 44,000 years ago, before Australia separated from New Guinea and the migration to Australia. A 2012 paper reports that there is also evidence of a substantial genetic flow from India to northern Australia estimated at slightly over four thousand years ago,
2835-476: The Government has stated that as of 30 June 2021, there are 983,700 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, representing 3.8% of the total population of Australia, as the "final 2021 Census-based estimated resident population". Of these, 91.7% identified as Aboriginal; 4.0% identified as Torres Strait Islander; 4.3% identified with both groups. The term Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples or
2916-604: The Kalkadoons relentlessly in a war of retaliation, killing many. In September, a Chinese shepherd from H.Hopkins's Granada Station on the Dugald River [ de ] was speared to death in the foothills of the Argylla Ranges, and it was rumoured he had been eaten by "cannibals". Soon afterwards, an estimated 600 Kalkatungu warriors gathered on a rocky outlook to fend off the parties of well-armed settlers,
2997-524: The Kalkatungu were split into two major divisions, the Muntaba (southern) and the Roongkari (western) peoples. Frederic Urquart, who as a trooper took part in a massacre of Kalkadoon warriors, recounted their myth regarding the origins of fire. It started with a thunderbolt that set the plains on fire, as the tribe were preparing to eat raw meat. The flames swept over the camp site, and the charred meat
3078-477: The Kalkatungu. He tried to learn their language. Ernest Henry arrived in 1866, discovering, with the assistance of Kalkatungu guides, copper deposits the following year, and founded the Great Australia Mine. He successfully enlisted some Kalkatungu people to work one of these mines. A short attempt at settlement by W. and T. Brown at Bridgewater in 1874 experienced, like Palmer, no difficulties with
3159-590: The Murray. There is some evidence that, before outside contact, some groups of Aboriginal Australians had a complex subsistence system with elements of agriculture, that was only recorded by the first European explorers. One early settler took notes on the life styles of the Wathaurung people whom he lived near in Victoria. He saw women harvesting Murnong tubers, a native yam that is now almost extinct. However,
3240-615: The area by instigating murderous assaults on the Kalkatung. Iain Davidson describes him as "the man who led the destruction of the tribes of North West Central Queensland". The traditional white heroic narrative version of what then occurred drew on the account provided by Wilmot Hudson Fysh in 1933. According to this version, the Kalkatungu were by nature a hostile and bellicose tribe, exceptionally brave with "primitive" military cunning and guerilla-like tactics of strategic withdrawals to
3321-438: The area that they were harvesting from was already cleared of other plants, making it easier to harvest Murnong (also known as yam daisy) exclusively. Along the northern coast of Australia, parsnip yams were harvested by leaving the bottom part of the yam still stuck in the ground so that it would grow again in the same spot. Similar to many other farmers in the world, Aboriginal peoples used slash and burn techniques to enrich
Kalkatungu - Misplaced Pages Continue
3402-531: The area were explorers Burke and Wills , who crossed the Cloncurry River in 1861. Though their journals make no mention of the tribe, their passing through is said to have been recorded in Kalkatungu oral history, and in their language they coined the term walpala (from "white feller") to denote Europeans. Three parties sent out to search for Burke and Wills, led respectively by John McKinlay , William Landsborough , and Frederick Walker , passed through
3483-481: The area, and the first Queensland Commissioner of Police D. T. Seymour is said to have given Kennedy a blank cheque to war down the tribe and to have dispatched the aristocratic Marcus de la Poer Beresford, a nephew of the Marquess of Waterford , as new head of the Cloncurry native police unit to that end. On 24 January 1883, Beresford camped with four of his troopers at Fullarton River [ de ] in
3564-579: The area. In March 1884, Sir Thomas McIlwraith sent Frederic Urquhart , a Sussex immigrant, employed in the Queensland Native Mounted Police Force to handle the crisis. The Kalkatungu are said to have directly challenged him to fight, via a messenger called Mahoni. Urquhart, though based in Cloncurry, set up a forward camp 25 miles outside of the town, on the Corella River [ de ] . Urquhart
3645-659: The basal form K2* (K-M526) of the extremely ancient Haplogroup K2 – whose subclades Haplogroup R , haplogroup Q , haplogroup M and haplogroup S can be found in the majority of Europeans, Northern South Asians, Native Americans and the Indigenous peoples of Oceania – has only been found in living humans today amongst Aboriginal Australians. 27% of them may carry K2* and approximately 29% of Aboriginal Australian males belong to subclades of K2b1 , a.k.a. M and S . Aboriginal Australians possess deep rooted clades of both mtDNA Haplogroup M and Haplogroup N . Although it
3726-684: The continent would have required deliberate organised sea travel, involving hundreds of people". Aboriginal people seem to have lived a long time in the same environment as the now extinct Australian megafauna . Some evidence from the analysis of charcoal and artefacts revealing human use suggests a date as early as 65,000 BP. Luminescence dating has suggested habitation in Arnhem Land as far back as 60,000 years BP. Evidence of fires in South-West Victoria suggest "human presence in Australia 120,000 years ago", although more research
3807-536: The continent, and transportation included canoes . Shelters varied regionally, and included wiltjas in the Atherton Tablelands , paperbark and stringybark sheets and raised platforms in Arnhem Land , whalebone huts in what is now South Australia, stone shelters in what is now western Victoria, and a multi-room pole and bark structure found in Corranderrk . A bark tent or lean-to is known as
3888-559: The diffusion of the Mudlunga (Molonga) ritual dance from the Georgina River . A photo exists of their men in full ceremonial raiment, dated 1895, prepared to perform their version of the dance that, within a few decades, would reach across Australia. Extensive rock art, with examples of anthropomorphic paintings, has been recorded in the Kalkatungu's Selwyn Range homeland. The nearby Mayi-Thakurti tribe occasionally reported that
3969-498: The distance, some 20 miles, to Farleigh station the following day. For a year, the Kalkatungu managed to hold sway over their tribal lands, as both settlers and the police felt intimidated by their unbeaten territorial ascendancy. According to an anonymous person writing for the Queensland Figaro , nonetheless, sometime towards the end of 1883, the native police "wilfully murdered eight blackfellows and several gins" in
4050-624: The distinctiveness and importance of Torres Strait Islanders in Australia's Indigenous population. Eddie Mabo was from "Mer" or Murray Island in the Torres Strait. He was a party in the Mabo decision of 1992. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people also sometimes refer to themselves by descriptions that relate to their ecological environment, such as saltwater people for coast-dwellers (including Torres Strait Islander people ), freshwater people , rainforest people , desert people , or spinifex people , (the latter referring to
4131-422: The edge of Kalkatungu country in 1864, at Conobie , on the western bank of the Cloncurry River . Decades later, he described them as a peculiar people of whom little was known. Palmer was critical of the use of native police, and interested in indigenous tribes. His station lands did not cover any Kalkatungu sacred sites, he did not object to their presence in the vicinity, and found no problem in his relations with
SECTION 50
#17327810554364212-493: The general area, and Walker, former commander of the Dawson native police , shot 12 natives dead, while wounding several more, just to the north east of Kalkatungu territory. Edward Palmer , described by George Phillips as "one of that brave band of pioneer squatters who in the early sixties swept across North Queensland with their flocks and herds, settling, as if by magic, great tracts of hitherto unoccupied country", settled on
4293-504: The generations after colonisation. The word "community" is often used to describe groups identifying by kinship , language , or belonging to a particular place or "country". A community may draw on separate cultural values and individuals can conceivably belong to a number of communities within Australia; identification within them may be adopted or rejected. An individual community may identify itself by many names, each of which can have alternative English spellings. The naming of peoples
4374-715: The heads of the Leichhardt and Gregory Rivers , including the Barkly Tableland , the Selwyn ranges and extending south to around Chatsworth, Mount Merlin and Buckingham Downs. To their east and north, were the Mayi-Thakurti (Mitakoodi) of the Cloncurry district, and next to the Maigudung tribe, according to Palmer. Walter Roth documented in some detail the intensity of indigenous trading passing through
4455-402: The indigenous owners of the land. The Scottish settler Alexander Kennedy then took up land in the area in 1877. He had managed, since his arrival in 1861, to accumulate land holdings of some 4,800 square miles (12,000 km), holding 60,000 cattle, and established himself in a residence he built, called Buckingham Downs . Kennedy is thought to have begun the troubles with the native peoples of
4536-425: The indigenous peoples. Living Black is an Australian TV news and current affairs program covering "issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians". It is presented and produced by Karla Grant , an Arrernte woman. A significant number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people use the term " Blackfella " and its associated forms to refer to Aboriginal Australians. The term blak
4617-516: The intent to assimilate them to what had become the majority white culture. Such policy was judged " genocidal " in the Bringing Them Home report (1997) published by the government in the late 20th century, as it reviewed human rights abuses during colonisation. There are a number of contemporary appropriate terms to use when referring to Indigenous peoples of Australia. In contrast to when settlers referred to them by various terms, in
4698-502: The last 500 years. The population was split into 250 individual nations, many of which were in alliance with one another, and within each nation there existed separate, often related clans , from as few as 5 or 6 to as many as 30 or 40. Each nation had its own language, and a few had several. Cloncurry River The Cloncurry River is situated in the Gulf Country of north west Queensland , Australia . The headwaters of
4779-449: The last Ice Age, Australian Aboriginal peoples developed a variety of regional cultures and languages, invented distinct artistic and religious traditions, and affected the environment of the continent in a number of ways through hunting, fire-stick farming , and possibly the introduction of the dog . Technologies for warfare and hunting like the boomerang and spear were constructed of natural materials, as were musical instruments like
4860-408: The local constabulary and native troopers. At one point the attackers under Urquhart tried a flanking movement, which caused the assembled Aborigines to charge straight down on them, only to fall in waves under the withering fire of the muskets, called makini by the Kalkatungu. 200 are said to have died in this battle. Urquhart himself was knocked out, and this broke the back of organised resistance at
4941-451: The more inclusive term "Indigenous Australians". Six percent of Indigenous Australians identify fully as Torres Strait Islanders. A further 4% of Indigenous Australians identify as having both Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal heritage. The Torres Strait Islands comprise over 100 islands, which were annexed by Queensland in 1879. Many Indigenous organisations incorporate the phrase "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander" to highlight
SECTION 60
#17327810554365022-412: The mountains to evade reprisals for their savagery, who were vanquished and broken after a last stand against men like Kennedy who triumphed heroically in pursuing the moral and economic progress of Queensland. In December 1878, a settler called Molvo and three of his men were killed near Cloncurry, at the important Wonomo watering hole on Suleiman Creek near Cloncurry, as they camped with their herd. This
5103-438: The nutrients of their soil. However, sheep and cattle later brought over by Europeans would ruin this soil by trampling on it. To add on the complexity of Aboriginal farming techniques, farmers deliberately exchanged seeds to begin growing plants where they did not naturally occur. In fact there were so many examples of Aboriginal Australians managing farm land in a complex manner that Australian Anthropologist, Dr. Norman Tindale
5184-871: The person's specific cultural group, is often preferred, though the terms First Nations of Australia, First Peoples of Australia and First Australians are also increasingly common. Since 1995, the Australian Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag have been official flags of Australia . The time of arrival of the first human beings in Australia is a matter of debate and ongoing investigation. The earliest conclusively human remains found in Australia are those of Mungo Man LM3 and Mungo Lady , which have been dated to around 40,000 years ago, although Indigenous Australians have most likely been living in Australia for upwards of 65,000 years. Isolated for millennia by rising sea water after
5265-441: The pre-1788 population was 314,000, while recent archaeological finds suggest that a population of 500,000 to 750,000 could have been sustained, with some ecologists estimating that a population of up to a million or even two million people was possible. More recent work suggests that Aboriginal populations exceeded 1.2 million 500 years ago, but may have fallen somewhat with the introduction of disease pathogens from Eurasia in
5346-618: The results may be due to posthumous modification and thermal degradation of the DNA. Although the contested results seem to indicate that Mungo Man may have been an extinct subspecies that diverged before the most recent common ancestor of contemporary humans, the administrative body for the Mungo National Park believes that present-day local Aboriginal peoples are descended from the Lake Mungo remains. Independent DNA testing
5427-595: The river is a series of braided channel running parallel with the Burke Developmental Road across the mostly uninhabited plains with many tributaries entering then across Simpson Plain before discharging into the Flinders River of which it is a tributary near Wondoola in Stokes . The riverbed is composed of Silt with clay and sand, sand and gravel and gravel with cobble. The river has
5508-620: The river rise west of Mount Boorama near Mount Tracey in the Selwyn Range and initially flows north west then turns north travelling more or less parallel with the Cloncurry-Dajarra road before crossing the Flinders Highway near the town of Cloncurry . The river continues north westward flowing under Mount Marathon past Fort Constantine and crossing the Wills Developmental Road . Continuing northward
5589-568: The slopes of the Mt Isa region. Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, and/or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of present day Australia prior to British colonisation . They consist of two distinct groups, which include many ethnic groups: the Aboriginal Australians of the mainland and many islands, including Tasmania , and
5670-411: The state of Tasmania. The Torres Strait Islander people possess a heritage and cultural history distinct from Aboriginal traditions. The eastern Torres Strait Islanders in particular are related to the Papuan peoples of New Guinea , and speak a Papuan language . Accordingly, they are not generally included under the designation "Aboriginal Australians". This has been another factor in the promotion of
5751-498: The term "Indigenous Australians" has grown in popularity since the 1980s, many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples dislike it. They feel that it is too generic and removes their distinct clan and people identity. However, many people think that the term is useful and convenient, and can be used where appropriate. In recent years, terms such as "First Nations", "First Peoples" and "First Australians" have become more common. Being as specific as possible, for example naming
5832-448: The troopers stood around that newly made forest grave and to their eyes that fresh heap mound for vengeance seemed to crave. And one spoke out in deep stern tones and raised his hand on high For every one of these poor bones a Kalkadoon shall die. The group responsible was tracked down to a gorge, where they were feasting on the cattle, and most were mowed down. Over the next nine weeks, settlers and Urquhart's police tracked
5913-497: The various peoples indigenous to mainland Australia and associated islands, excluding the Torres Strait Islands. The broad term Aboriginal Australians includes many regional groups that may be identified under names based on local language, locality, or what they are called by neighbouring groups. Some communities, cultures or groups may be inclusive of others and alter or overlap; significant changes have occurred in
5994-612: Was able to draw an Aboriginal grain belt, detailing the specific areas where crops were once produced. In terms of aquaculture, explorer Thomas Mitchell noted large stone fish traps on the Darling River at Brewarrina. Each trap covers a pool, herding fish through a small entrance that would later be shut. Traps were created at different heights to accommodate different water levels during floods and droughts. Technology used by Indigenous Australian societies before European contact included weapons, tools, shelters, watercraft, and
6075-437: Was found to be tastier. An old woman was sent to track the fire and fetch it back, and brought back a blazing stick. Charged with being the fire-keeper, she loyally watched over it for years, until a flood washed out the camp-fire. She was exiled until she could retrieve the secret of fire and, failing to do so, in rage rubbed two sticks together , a flame kindled, and she won back entry to the tribe. The first Europeans to visit
6156-456: Was further reduced to around 300 between 1803 and 1833 due to disease, warfare, and other actions of British settlers. Despite more than 170 years of debate over who or what was responsible for this near-extinction, no consensus exists on its origins, process, or whether or not it was genocide. However, according to Benjamin Madley, using the "UN definition, sufficient evidence exists to designate
6237-478: Was galvanized into action in August on hearing from a native boy, Jackie, who came in and reported that his employer James White Powell of Calton Hills, some 60 miles west of Cloncurry, at Mistake Creek, had been speared to death. Powell was a partner of Kennedy's, and the latter, together with Urquhart and A.F. Mossman from White Hills station buried Powell, with Urquhart composing a poem vowing vengeance: Grimly
6318-533: Was generally mobile, or semi-nomadic , moving according to the changing food availability found across different areas as seasons changed, the mode of life and material cultures varied greatly from region to region, and there were permanent settlements and agriculture in some areas. The greatest population density was to be found in the southern and eastern regions of the continent, the River Murray valley in particular. Canoes were made out of bark for use on
6399-464: Was small, with estimates ranging widely from 318,000 to more than 3,000,000 in total. Given geographic and habitat conditions, they were distributed in a pattern similar to that of the current Australian population. The majority were living in the south-east, centred along the Murray River . The First Fleet of British settlers arrived with instructions to "live in amity and kindness" with
6480-428: Was spoken to its south in the area of Djarra , in Queensland. Kalkatungu was spoken around Mount Isa, Queensland. Nothing is known of a third language Wakabunga sometimes thought to have had a genetic relation to the other two. Remnants of the language collected from the last native speakers by Barry Blake allowed the rudiments of the grammar and the language to be reconstructed. According to Robert M. W. Dixon there
6561-693: Was the starting point, in indigenous history, for Kennedy and other settlers in the district joining forces with native troops under Inspector Eglinton stationed at Boulia to war down the native tribes of the region. Subsequent to this incident, scores of Kalkatungu in the surrounding hills were shot down. Over the following years, the Kalkatungu gained a reputation among graziers for tactical wiliness both in resisting police and settler forays against them, and in harvesting cattle found on their lands. Kennedy pulled strings in Brisbane to get reinforcements that might guarantee greater immunity for people and property in
#435564