Aboriginal History

 

Australia’s original inhabitants are the Aboriginals but they suffered great losses under the European invasion. What had once been a great society that had bloomed under thousands of years were destroyed in less than year. The different Aboriginal clans that occupied of northern Sydney lived primarily along the foreshores of the harbor, they fished and hunted in the waters and hinterlands of the area, and gathered food from the surrounding land. Self-sufficient and harmonious, they had no need to travel far from their lands, since the resources in them were so rich, and trade with other tribal groups was well established.

The Aboriginal had been spared the great plagues because their isolation from the rest of the continents, but with the invaders came diseases. Many perished, in fact in less then a year more then half of the native population had died from smallpox.

When it became clear that the Englishmen were aiming to take over the entire continent the Aboriginal tried a guerrilla war, but that as well was lost. Those not ravaged by disease were exiled when land was cleared for settlements and farms, and overfishing lead to starvation.

The once proud people had been brought to their knees.

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The First European Explorers

European sailors started entering Australian waters in the early 1600s. They called it Terra Australis Incognita which means unknown land of the South. The land was inhabited only by Indigenous people. Between 1696 and 1770 over 50 ships from Europe landed on Australian soil.

The most important European exploration which was conducted in the 17^th century was the one led by the Dutch. Around that time the Dutch East Indian Company was trading with the islands of nowadays Indonesia. The most famous explorer was Captain James Cook who in 1770 discovered the south east coast of Australia. After he landed in Botany Bay on August 22nd he claimed the entire east coast of Australia at Possession Island and it was named eastern Australia New South Wales.

In 1788 the first English convicts were deported to Australia. They were not the only ones who disembarked, but their children and 252 marines together with their families disembarked as well.  Because of the industrial revolution the situation was difficult in England: unemployment and overcrowding caused poverty and increased the crime rates. You risked to be deported if you were a vagrant (had no house or job) or a robber. People who stole goods worth more than a shilling (50$ nowadays) were even hanged.

The convicts had to work in Australia. Depending on the skills they possessed they built bridges, courthouses, hospitals, roads or bridges. After 165 000 convicts were deported here between 1788 and 1868 the majority of Australia´s population consisted of convicts.

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Colonization of Australia

On May the 13^th 1787, the first fleet of 11 ships, led by British Royal Navy Officer Arthur Philip, departed for Australia to begin the European colonization.

Eight long months later, the ships one after one laid anchor on the northern side of Botany Bay, which today is located about 13 kilometers south of Sydney. However, Arthur Philip, the man who led the fleet, found Botany Bay unsuitable for settlement, so he brought some men, using three smaller boats, to find another site. Phillip later reported to Lord Sydney, who was the British Secretary of State; “We got into Port Jackson early in the afternoon, and had the satisfaction of finding the finest harbor in the world, in which a thousand Sail of the line may ride in the most perfect security.” He selected a cove with a stream and named it Sydney Cove.

Early in the morning a few days later, on January the 26^th 1788, Captain Philip raised the British flag and British sovereignty over New South Wales was formally proclaimed. This day is now celebrated as Australia Day.

 

Admiral Arthur Phillip, the first Govenor of New South Wales

World War II

Australian soldiers.

Australia joined the world war with the British commonwealth, and declared war on Germany on the 3rd of september 1939.
Australian soldiers and pilots fought in both the European scene and the North African scene on the British side (The Allies) against Germany and Italy (The Axis Forces).

Later on when Japan joined the war on Germanys side (The Axis Forces) against the Allied forces Australia focused more on the homefront and the Pacific.
This made a lot of Australian soldiers and pilots to come back to the homefront.
Japan mostly worked with the US forces against Japan, taking island to island back and forth from The Empire of Japan.

The war brought a lot of change in both economic and political change in Australia.
Australia adopted a more American way to look at foreign policies as they had alot of British ones earlier.
The war brought much of industrial success in Australia as they had to open more and more factories and so on to help in the war effort, this gave more jobs and a better economy.
After the war Australia’s military changed into a larger peacetime military with more focus on peacekeeping in both Australia and foreign countries.

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Australia After The War And Immigration

After world war II Australia was ruled by the Chifley goverment (1945 – 1949). The prime minister Ben Chifley tought that Australia needed a larger population so he started the Department of Immigration in 1945.  They only wanted british peaople to migrate to the country as they tought that asian people would take over. The slogan “Populate or perish” where born and Australia had a White Australia policy witch did’nt end until 1972 by the Whitlam goverment. After Ben Chifley, Robert Menzies became prime minister in 1949 and he was the longest serving minster in Australia. He gave Australia good economic prosperity under his rule.

Between 1953 and 1956 british people was’nt longer the largest component to migrate to Australia. People from Southern Europe outnumbered them and the Menzies goverment became worried and started a campaign “Bring out the Briton” witch led to that britons where the largest component again. Australias population increased from 7 million people in 1945 to 10 million in 1959.

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Aboriginal Culture

The Australian native people, the Aboriginals, have honed their culture for thousands of years and is probably one of the oldest surviving cultures in the world. They had a very special bond to nature itself, a complete kinship with the natural environment. This made them very skilled in using their environment to the fullest. Normal things such as hunting and killing animals or building shelters all had spiritual and religious elements, and they were carried out in perfect balance with the surrounding nature.

The Aborigines believe in many different deities and one of the most important belief systemes is the Rainbow Serpent mythology, and it is believed to be the oldest ongoing religion in the world that are still practiced today. They are very spiritual people, and each and every tribe has their own divinities and with that, slightly different beliefs.

They don’t have any formal written langue, but instead they have recorded their culture by great rock paintings, songs, spectacular dances and stories. The Aborigines didn’t form any large cities, but instead they lived in harmony with nature.

The walkabout is a rite of passage for a young Aboriginal male. It is to imitate the journey their ancestors took, a spiritual voyage, where they live in the wilderness for the maximum of a half year. It is also known as a “songline”, where a person follows a path over the land and by repeating the old songs, they are told where waterholes and other landmarks are. This means that they can follow a path they have never walked before and still find what they are searching for.

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Australian music throughout the ages.

The Aborginal music.

Music in Australia have changed alot throughout the ages, but it all started with the Aborginals and their music.

The Aborginals have their own traditions with dances and music, the most iconic instruments the aborginal used and still use is drums and the famous Digeridooo which has a very distinctive and unique sound, they would play these instruments while dancing and when having big gatherings.

The Digeridoo

Later when westerners started to come to Australia, the music was greatly influenced by the western world and standards music wise (mainly England) and stayed this way for a very long time.

1950’s
Australian music agents started inviting famous American stars, mainly because of military ties with America during the war in Korea.
Stars like Frank Sinatra was invited to big cities like Sydney and Melbourne.

During late 1950’s Rock&Roll got very big in Australia, Rockers such as Buddy Holly and Chuck Barry was very popular.
Nearly all singles released in Australia was recorded and made by Americans.

1960’s
Rock&Roll was now widely popular and people were dancing Twist and Stomp to the music.
The British band Beatles got very big fast, and they were touring Australia several times.
The Rolling Stones also got very big, also touring Australia.
“British style” of music got very popular but alot of people wanted to stay the “American way” with Rock&Roll.
Now (2000’s and up)
From there to now Australias music have become bigger and they started to produce their own music, even having big festivals like Big Day Out.

Nowadays Australia is a huge music exporter, all from Pop music to Hardcore music.

Image Source: http://www.laoutback.com/playing-a-didgeridoo/

Australia’s Film Industry

Moulin Rouge is one of the most famous Australian films

Australia’s film industry started with the earliest feature film ever produced, The Story of the Kelly Gang. It was the longest narrative film in the world at that time. The movie follows the life of famous outlaw Ned Kelly.

Afterwards Australia has produced a lot of films and over time a lot of their films have acquired international reputations. Some of the most famous Australian actors include Christ Hemsworth, Nicole Kidman, Mel Gibson, Hugh Jackman, Naomi Watts, Eric Bana, Cate Blanchett, Russell Crowe, Heath Ledger.

A very well-known and popular Australian film is Moulin Rouge!, a romantic musical with Nicole Kidman and Ewan McGregor. The movie was nominated for 8 Oscars and won 2: Best Costume Design and Best Art Direction. Other famous contemporary Australian Movies are the animations Happy Feet and Mary and Max.

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Iconic Australian Cuisine

Australia has a big variety of food since it is such a multi – cultural society. In the 1800’s kangaroos were one of the main sources of meat. Oysters were also very popular in the 1800. Sidney had oyster rooms and salons and by 1860 every big city in Australia had them.

Some of the iconic foods today in Australia is:

Vegemite
A dark brown food paste that are usually used on toast and biscuits. It is made of yeast extract and different spices.

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Pavlova
The oldest recipe of pavlova is originally from New Zealand but the name “pavlova” comes from a Australian dancer. It is a dessert, a cake with a crisp crust and fruit on top.

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Meat pie
The meat pie is a very popular take-away food in Australia, made of minced meat and gravy. The pie is only the size of a hand.

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Damper
It is a traditional bread, baked in coals of a campfire. The basic ingredients are flour and water.

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Australia are major quality producers of wine. The country is the fourth largest wine exporter in the world with 760 million litres a year.