Australia Local Custom Tips by darthmilmo

A good insight into the aboriginal culture can be had in the Uluru and Kata Tjuta National Park. The local aboriginal, the Anangu people, consist of two tribes: the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara . They inhabited this region of the red center. As many other aboriginals, the man were allowed to have 5 wives. This old custom was created to promote biodiversity and avoid inbreeds. They man basically would go on an 18 months or more hunting expedition traveling from a central home location, typically a waterhole. They would leave their wife there and go to say the North East to another waterhole, where they will get another wife. Traveling clockwise or anti-clockwise, they'll visit 3 more waterholes, where they had different wives, before returning to their original homes. As men were not home frequently, women had to rely on each other to raise the family, procure food, and for defense. The family roles are even more complex. The children are actually raised by their grandparents or uncles. Aboriginals married young (15 years old or less). Consequently, they lacked the experience of the elders; hence the system.

Since we are talking about the Aboriginals, I figure is a good as time as any to talk a bit more about them. These groups of people are often under-rated. They have the oldest living culture on Earth. Their culture has evolved from thousands of years of trial and error. Their origin is not clear. Some estimate that they arrived as early as 115,000 years ago, but the most agreeable date is somewhere in the vicinity of 50,000 to 60,000 years ranges. New and upcoming research may prove this last figure wrong as several archeologists have uncovered paintings that may be over 100,000 years old. See, the aboriginals arrived to the Northern and Western Australia from South East Asia during an ice age when the distance between the two land-masses had shrunk. They quickly spread out throughout this new land, which we now call Australia. Eventually, they covered all the corners of Australia.

Leave a Comment

Interestingly enough, hundreds of Aboriginal communities or tribes evolved with their own language, art, culture, and traditions. These were influenced by were they lived. In the north by Kakadu, where food is plentiful, they were able to develop a really fine and detailed rock art to express themselves both artistically and for survival purposes. In Uluru, where the land is drier and the living is harder they developed a simpler rock art to describe where water and food is available. The Aboriginals never developed a written alphabet. Their oral languages are so diverse that neighbors often couldn't understand each other. They describe it as having a Dutch trying to communicate with an Italian. A bit harder than it sounds I’m sure. In any case, when the British arrived, they displaced many of these Aboriginals. It is estimated that over a million of them lived in Australia. Today, only a couple hundred thousand remain. Many of these have been permanently displaced and forced to live Anglo-Saxon lives. However, recent laws have made it possible for several communities to regain their old ancestral lands. Thus, the Aboriginal way of life is thriving once more. Often, these communities enforce their own ancestral laws. Sadly, many a tourist like me will never see a true aboriginal. All we see are the outcasts or displaced individuals in the cities. Some of these are the remnants of the English invasion. Others are more recent outcasts, people who have been banned from their communities from violating the law. Many of them succumb to the vices of the cities/towns, especially alcohol. Aboriginals lack the enzyme that brakes down alcohol so just a bit will get them drunk easily. If you come across one, just remember that they are not the best example of a thriving Aboriginal culture. As in any society, they are the poor outcasts. You have outcasts everywhere, even on your own home.

Leave a Comment

My first in-depth experience on this subject was while I visited the Dreamtime Center in Rockhampton. The tour goes over the Stencil People living up in the Carnarvon Gorge region. I wasn't aware that the Aboriginal people developed some of the best stencil techniques in the planets. Stencil art is created when the artists blows some paint into a surface blocking a cliff, wall, or cave. Common aboriginal designs include those created with hands, boomerangs, and fingers. Some complex designs took days or weeks to create. This were created over time so at times we may be seeing at a design that is thousands of years old right next to one created a few decades ago. The Aboriginal art still thrives in several areas of Australia. Many more techniques are applied to rock painting/art. This picture is one from Kakadu National Park and the techniques they used varied from those used in the Carnarvon Gorge. See, the Aboriginal people adapted to their resources.

A good place to see rock art up front is in Ubbirr Rock Art Site in Kakadu. Some of these paintings are over 10,000 years old. Among the highlights are the Rainbow Serpent painted on the edge of a rock. Another interesting artwork was the old painting of the now extinct Tasmanian tiger or Thylacine. There is also a big cave overhang with many paintings. It is here that you can take a clear advantage of the different artwork throughout the years. The most impressive one is the skeletal art type in which the aboriginal drew the inside of an animal either in an artistic way or to teach others on how to fillet the animal. On the roof of the overhang there is a painting painted by the Mimi spirit, which is the god that introduce the rock painting to the aboriginals. They believe that only Mimi can reach the high top of the overhang. We then proceeded up a rocky hill to a lookout. En route, we saw the Two Sisters rock painting that acts as a warning of salt water crocs that live in the region.

Leave a Comment

Going deeper into the past, we visited the distinct Yourambulla Rock Art sites, which involved a 2-3 km hike. This rock art was different then what I had seen before. It was made by the Adnyamathanha Aboriginals and was probably made with black charcoal as the art is black. As the other rock art I saw before, it was used to represent important Aboriginal customs, such as hunting patterns, ceremonies, and other things.

Leave a Comment

The deep sound of a didgeridoo is unmistakable. Traditionally, the didgeridoo were built by the aboriginals up north, across from Broome, Darwin and all the way to Cairns. Now in days, you can find this musical instrument on every City and tourist spot in Australia. If you are looking for the real thing, then buy it up north. Otherwise, take your chances on a store in Sydney or Melbourne. Good respectable stores will let you try it and may even offer free classes.

Leave a Comment

We then had a boomerang lesson. Here is where I actually learned how to throw one correctly. You basically use the rule of three thirties. First, you have to through at a 30'angle against the wind (kick the dust to see where the wind is going). Second, you need to throw up at a 30' angle above the horizon. Third, must not throw it horizontal (will come back and hit you hard on the head) or vertical (will only go forward), instead you throw it at a slight 30' angle like this "/."

Leave a Comment

Before you take in the wonders around the many Aboriginal lands or soon after, make sure you visit the many interesting and informational cultural centers. One of my favorite ones is the one in Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) National Park, which offers an interesting insight into the Jawoyon Aboriginals, the local owners. They had a long struggle to reclaim their land. When the English arrived, they assume Australia was no-men’s-land and so took the liberty of displacing all of the Aboriginal communities from their ancestral lands. The Jawoyon, who used to live in and around Nitmiluk Gorge where displaced until 1989, when a favorable court order gave them their land back. They now lease the land to the National Park and by doing so co-manage the park. It's really nice to see such a promising future, not only for this tribe, but also for the traditional owners of Kakadu, Uluru, Kata Tjuta, and other regions.

Leave a Comment

Each Aboriginal community has their distinct Dream Time story, which is the story behind the creation of the world. The Jawoyon Aboriginals in Nitmiluk (Katherine Gorge) believe the Rainbow Serpent, which is the god of creation, lives in the 2nd Gorge. This is perhaps the most beautiful of the gorges, with its tall rock wall and deep green/blue water. Therefore, no one is allowed to fish here. People (Jawoyon Aboriginals mainly) are allowed to fish elsewhere, but only if they give back a part of the fish to appease the Rainbow Serpent, who is a god of creation and destruction for the aboriginal. Their creation story is based on the "Dreaming." The Rainbow Serpent in turns is one of the gods that took part of the Dreaming and created the world.

Leave a Comment

Afterwards, we drove into the Parachilna Gorge, where Khani stopped the truck near a loose wall of rock. We walk closer to the wall in search of Ocra, which is the rock used by Aboriginals to paint their body and to do the rock art. They basically grab the rock, grind it, and then mix it with animal blood. They were not too clever on mixing colors though so they only had the basic colors: red, yellow, brown, white, etc. We followed on their traditions. Instead of blood though, we used water. We painted several designs on our hands and arms just to see how it looked. It was an interesting experience.

Leave a Comment

I visited the Sugar Mill at Condong, which is operated by the NSW Sugar Coop. It is one of the oldest in Australia. I went ahead and took an informative tour of the complex. I learned that the sugar mills require 7 tons of sugar cane to produce 1 ton or raw sugar. After the sugar cane is cultivated, it is send to the sugar mills for refining. This plant can produce 28 tons of raw sugar per hour. It operates from June to December, so you do the math... that's a lot of sugar :). The production starts with the sugar cane, which is crushed into a sugar sweat liquid. This liquid in turn is used to produce molasses and the raw sugar. The molasses is used to produce rum and alcohol. The Raw Sugar (brown sugar) can be consumed or further treated to produce refined sugar, which is the white sugar we often use at home.

The collage depicts the main cycle in the life of the sugar producing regions of Australia. The sugar canes take one to two years to grow to maturity. The sugar cane is then cultivated with the aid of old and modern technologies. Then, the sugar cane is transported to the sugar mill for production. In the mean time, the fields are rejuvenating to get ready for a new season.

Leave a Comment