Aboriginal Australians, also referred to as Aboriginal people, are people whose ancestors were indigenous to the Australian continent— that is, to mainland Australia or to the island of Tasmania—before British colonization of the continent began in 1788.
Each tribe had their own language and sign language was used to communicate between the different tribes.
Earlier the aboriginal people were divided into tribes aswell. The tribes were organized anarchist without a supreme leader, and this was something surprised James Cook. He thought that without a leader the organization would break into chaos and confusion.
The population density was relatively low between the 300 000 Aboriginals living in Australia, when James Cook and his crew invaded the continent in 1770. Initially the British used Australia as a prison, a place to sheet the prisoners who were no longer wanted in Europe.
Aboriginals were driven away from their land, and many died from diseases that came along with the British, because their immune system could not handle such. As many as 90% of the Aboriginals were wiped out for various reasons. Those who did not die from disease risked being shot without purpose or taken as slaves.
In the late 1800s the Aboriginals were extinct from Tasmania and many other places in Australia, and in the early 1900s a campaign to take aboriginal children away from their parents and give them a civilized, Christian childhood, was started. When they became adults they were often forced to married, that is why they were called “the lost generation”.
To conclude; Australia suffered from large consequences, both during- and after the British settlement. The Aboriginals were extremely close to becoming extinct, and were supressed until the most recent decades. It was first in February 2009 that the Australian Prime Minister gave an official apology to the indigenous people of Australia for the way they have been treated through time. Although this can never bring justice to how the Aboriginals were treated, they got the apology they should have gotten a long time ago.
SOURCES:
All long distance (2013) "A guide for travelers to experience Aboriginal Australia" alllongdistance.com (Downloaded 08.05.13)
Valentina, Borghild, Sander and Ida (2013) "Aboriginals" docs.google.com (Downloaded 08.05.13) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1GLQVg_NAu88W97IVRC-6wx2IInJMtK764gnMlqxuje0/edit
Steve (2012) "Australia: Cruising the land down under" photoflytravel.com (Downloaded 08.05.13)
