3.1.

2
R E L AT I O N S H I P S W I T H A U S T R A L I A N O U T D O O R
E N V I R O N M E N T S E X P R E S S E D BY S P E C I F I C
INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES BEFORE AND
A F T E R E U R O P E A N C O L O N I Z AT I O N
F R O M T H E S T U DY D E S I G N

• Key Knowledge: Relationships with Australian outdoor

environments expressed by specific Indigenous
communities before and after European colonisation.

• Key Skills: Describe and analyse the changing

relationships with Australian outdoor environments
expressed by specific Indigenous communities.
R E L AT I O N S H I P
S

• A major concept in Unit 3

is ‘relationships’ with
outdoor environments.

• There are three elements

that make up a
relationship:
➡ Perceptions

➡ Interactions

➡ Impacts
• Perceptions: What we think about outdoor
environments, how we see/view them, how do we
see outdoor environments in relation to ourselves
on this planet?

• Interactions: What we do in, and with outdoor

environments, the activities/practices carried out.

• Impacts: What are the results of our perceptions

and interactions, both on humans and the
physical environment.
 PERCEPTIONS
( W H AT W E T H I N K )

R E L AT I O N S H I P I N
AND WITH
OUTDOOR
ENVIRONMENTS

I M PA C T S INTERACTIONS
(THE EFFECTS) ( W H AT W E D O )
INTRODUCTION
• Aboriginals first arrived in Australia around 60,000 years ago –
they came from Asia by boat, island hoping

• Aborigines continued to arrive until 10,000 years ago (and after)

when the last ice age ended – at this time:

 The polar caps melted causing the sea to rise separating

Australia from Asia

 Tasmania was separated from mainland Australia

 Australia began a period of warming which continues today

• Aboriginal societies were semi-nomadic – they moved from place

to place over large distances in a seasonal pattern following food
supplies.
R E L AT I O N S H I P S

BEFORE HUMAN
SETTLEMENT
P E RC E P T I O N S

How they view life, what they thought:

• Kinship - obligation to the land and tribal law
• Spiritual connection with land
• Land was perceived in terms of worship
• The Dreaming (aboriginal spirituality) made strong links with
people, the land and all living things
• Spirits formed the earth’s landscape (e.g. rainbow serpent)
• When spirits die they are absorbed into the earth or go to the sky-
sacred sites
• Part OF the land. Equal to the land.
THE DREAMING
• Bunurong (Boonwurrung) people believe, as do all Aborigines
that their world and their history began with the Dreaming.

• The Dreaming is the total of religious beliefs and is held in

genuine conviction by close to all Aboriginal people.

• It is more than just a time in the past. It is with us now in the

re-creation of life and as rules of behaviour. It will also
infl uence and shape the future.

• Dreaming stories tell of the beginning, when there was a void:

empty and without shape. They tell of ancestor heroes who
appeared and created life and the landscape as they moved
from place to place. The creators were often animals or birds,
others included plants, the sun, the moon and natural events
such as rainfall.
B O O N J I L - T H E E A G L E H AW K M A N

• The Bunurong people have two creation totems, Boonjil

the Eaglehawk and Waang the Crow

• The Boonjil was the most important to the Bunurong

ancestor heroes.

• It is believed that he came from the sky world, said to

be a land of trees in heaven, and he cut the land with
his knife, creating valleys, mountains, rivers and trees.

• Boonjil breathed life into clay and so created the fi rst

people.

• When his acts of creation were complete, Boonjil

returned to the sky.
I N T E RAC T I O N S
What they did:
• Hunting and gathering – shellfi sh, seals, kangaroos, bird eggs, yams
etc
• Nomadism/semi-nomadism- moved with the seasons or after small
period of time so they did not exhaust supplies
• Fire-stick farming- use of fi re to clear land to create/regenerate
grasslands to attract large mammals for hunting and make travel
easier
• Sacred sites- burial sites, sites of worship to the ancient spirits and
ceremonies.
• Conservation zones - Sanctuary zones permitting no interaction
• Tools - made stone tools from rocks on beach
• Clothing – made cloaks & bags of possum or kangaroo skin
• Shelter – stacked sheets of bark against a tree/branch
• Transport – made canoes from bark to travel to Phillip and French
Islands
• Annual ceremony & feast of mutton bird at Cape Woolamai
I M PA C T S
The effects of their interactions & perceptions:
• Nomadic lifestyle meant impact was minimal

• Generally very low- middens, rock art, scarred trees and stone carving sites
are often all that remain

• Introduction of Dingo (extinction on mainland of Thylacine) and possible

impacts on some marsupials.

• Fire-stick farming may have changed forest environments- creating

grasslands, assist in destruction of fi re sensitive species (beech forest),
promotion of plants that regenerate after fi re (eucalypts).

• Creation of grasslands also increased populations of grass eating species

e.g. kangaroo

• Sanctuary zones: fi rst form of conservation, allowed species to fl ourish -

untouched.
• May have helped the extinction of Mega fauna due to
hunting – giant wombat (diprotodon) & giant kangaro
(procoptodon)

• Fish traps left in waterways

• Decreased populations of aquatic birds due to harvesting

of eggs in spring (e.g. Cape Barron Geese - P.I)

• Bunurong elders enforced strict collection and

management protocols to ensure all waterbird
populations remained well into the future
Textbook, Page 153
R E L AT I O N S H I P S

AFTER EUROPEAN
SETTLEMENT
P E RC E P T I O N S

• Whilst changes were occurring in the lives of the

Indigenous Australians, their perceptions remained the
same.
I N T E RAC T I O N S
The arrival of Europeans forced many changes:

• Land was fenced, preventing some seasonal movements

• Fire-stick farming was discouraged

• Traditional practices were discouraged (ceremonies,

hunting)

• Communities were dispossessed of their lands

• Violent confrontations occurred

• Aboriginals were kidnapped as slaves (mostly women)

• Population was decimated in murderous rampages

M A J O R I M PA C T
• One major impact at this time was the increase in large
bushfires.

• As fire-stick farming had been banned/discouraged by

europeans, and land was fenced off, preventing tribal
movements…

• Undergrowth was able to grow thick, providing fuel for wildfires

to burn greatly.
CONFLICTS WITH SETTLERS
• The Indigenous fought back at the Europeans

• They hunted livestock (cattle and sheep)

• Burnt down settlements and other infrastructure

• Engaged in violent combat, often raiding when not

expected
R E L AT I O N S H I P S

C O N T E M P O R A RY
P E RC E P T I O N S

• Remain mostly the same as they have always been

• Still strong spiritual connection to the land

• Continue to care and protect the environment. See

themselves as the ‘custodians’ of the land - the care takers.

• Still have a deep respect and great understanding of how

environment works- with many of this being passed down
through generations of elders.

• Still act in sustainable way through some of the interactions

that they have. Eg. Land managers work closely with govt.
organisations to pass on their knowledge of Australian
environment
I N T E RAC T I O N S

• Most places very different to pre-European Settlement

• Much of their traditional land and foods no longer exist

• Mabo made a very big change to indigenous land rights (1992

Native Title rights)

• Another example of a change in traditional Indigenous

interactions would be their work in the cultural and heritage
protection sites that are important to indigenous Australians.

• Education roles that contemporary Indigenous Australians

now undertake in society- work with Parks Victoria or other to
educated about Indigenous history.
I M PA C T S
• Aboriginal people continue to push for more sustainable
use of the natural environment

• Aboriginal people are actively involved in conservation

movements (Jabiluka uranium mine)

• Aboriginals continue to fight for reconciliation – recognition

of native title & that they are the traditional owners of the
land
H E A LT H , E D U C AT I O N & S O C I A L
ISSUES

• Many contemporary indigenous communities are suffering

from poor physical and mental health, low income, lack of
education, alcohol and drug abuse and other social issues.

• Some of the factors leading to this are a reduction in

access to land and scared sites, relocation of communities
and a loss of traditional practices.
A U S T RA L I A N S E X P E R I E N C I N G
STRESS