Aboriginal Life

Many years ago before Aboriginals paddled to Australia there were many strange animals; like a Diprotodon (which looked like a wombat, but was as big a rhinoceros), a Procoptodon (which looked like a giant kangaroo), and a Genyornis (which looked like a huge emu). These were called mega fauna which eventually became extinct. The Aboriginals were very good hunters and had a rich way of life.

When the Aboriginals came to Australia they saw a range of different wildlife like the; giant red kangaroos and emus that pounded across the plains, the koalas, possums, and kookaburras in the trees, the platypus happily swimming along in the rivers, the wallabies, wombats and echidnas that scurried along the ground.

The men hunted for food by spearing fish and hunting animals. They did this by looking for animals tracks or by poisoning rivers with wild indigo plants to stun the fish. They stalked the animals and used Spears and Boomerangs.

The woman also looked for food by gathering it in their Coolamons such as honey, roots, vegetables and fruit, birds' eggs, crayfish, oysters, snakes, witchetty grubs (which were found in the roots of the witchetty grub tree). They also hunted for  snakes, lizards, possums (by looking for possum scratches), and also dug for sugar ants and seeds. They ground the seeds into flour to make bread like cakes. They also hunted birds by cutting a tree to get out the sticky sap and placing it on a high branch where the birds liked to go and they would get stuck.

The Aboriginals made a fire by rubbing two sticks together and blowing on the sparks.

Men liked to do a Corroboree which was a tribal gathering or celebration where they danced. They would tell other tribes by smoke signals or a message stick. They painted themselves with white clay or red ochre they also made gum leaf arm and  leg bands and parrot feather headdresses. They used a didgeridoo, tapping sticks and a bullroarer for music.

There houses where called Mia Mia's, Gunyas, and Wurleys. They were made from thatched grass over a wooden frame.

The Aboriginals hunted to survive and always moved their camp so the land could replenish.