Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander People’s Knowledge And Use Of Resources 1

Student Information Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander People’s Knowledge And Use Of Resources 1

The First Australians Australia has two distinct indigenous groups - Aboriginal This is a Ready-Ed Publications' Peoples and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Archaeological evidence suggests that they have lived continuously in Australia for over 50,000 years. At the time of European settlement, book preview. approximately 600 diff erent clans or ‘nations’ are estimated to have lived around the continent, each with their own language, cultural traditions, spiritual beliefs and unique identity. Despite their diversity, each group shared in common a rich connection to, and relationship with, its land or place, often referred to as ‘Country’.

Connection to ‘Country’

All cultures have stories about creation. For the Aboriginal Peoples, this time has been translated into English as the ‘Dreaming’. Torres Strait Islanders do not use the term ‘Dreaming’, although they do have similar creation stories and beliefs. While these stories vary depending on the regions in Australia that they originated from, many have in common the giant spirit creatures or ancestral beings that created the environment that we know today, including the land, sea, sky, waterways and living things. Passed on orally for thousands of years, they illustrate the spiritual connection between the people, their places and their environment.

Natural Resources

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples had an excellent knowledge of their local areas, the diversity of plants and animals found there, and a deep understanding of the seasons. As a result they were able to utilise the natural resources that the land had to off er. Access to fresh water, food, materials for tool-making, building and everyday living depended on the location in which a clan lived. Some hunted animals such as kangaroos for their meat and used their skins to keep warm. Possums, birds, snakes, goannas, fi sh, lobsters, eels and tortoises were also captured by certain groups, while shellfi sh, fruit, seeds, roots, witchetty grubs and other kinds of ‘bush tucker’ were gathered. Rivers, waterholes and underground reservoirs provided fresh water.

Capital Resources

Natural resources were used to make capital resources, such as shelter, tools and implements, and refl ect the geographical location of diff erent groups. For example, Go to www.readyed.net. coastal tribes used fi sh bones and shell to tip their weapons, while desert tribes used stone tips. Implements such as: knives, scrapers, axe-heads, spears, digging sticks and various vessels for eating and drinking were common to numerous tribes throughout the continent.