Australian Aboriginals

Aboriginal Australians

Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland, Tasmania, and often the Tiwi people. This group contains many distinct peoples that have developed across Australia for over 50,000 years. These peoples have a broadly shared, though complex, genetic history, but it is only in the last two hundred years that they have been defined and started to self identify as a single group. The definition of the term "Aboriginal" has changed over time and place, with the importance of family lineage, self identification and community acceptance all being of varying importance. In the past, Aboriginal Australians lived over large sections of the continental shelf and were isolated on many of the smaller offshore islands when the land was inundated at the start of the inter-glacial. However, they are considered distinct from the Torres Strait Islander people, despite extensive cultural exchange.

Today Aboriginal Australians comprise 3.1% of Australia's population. They also live throughout the world as part of the Australian diaspora. Before extensive European settlement, there were over 200 Aboriginal languages. However, today most Aboriginal people speak English, with Aboriginal phrases and words being added to create Australian Aboriginal English (which also has a tangible influence of Indigenous languages in the phonology and grammatical structure). They have a number of health and economic deprivations in comparison with the wider Australian community.

Living area:

• Australia
• Australië

Matsés | Yaquerana, 16350, Peru

Matsès

The Matsés or Mayoruna are an indigenous people of the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon. The tribe's ancestral lands are currently being encroached by illegal logging practices and poaching. These homelands are located between the Javari and Galvez rivers. The Matsés have guarded their lands from both other indigenous tribes and outsider colonials.

The approximately 3,200 Matsés people speak the Matsés language which belongs to the Panoan language family. In the last thirty years, they have become a largely settled people living mostly in permanent forest settlements. However, they still rely on hunting and gathering for most of their subsistence. Their main source of income comes from selling peccary hides and meat.

Meer info:

First contact

Living area:

• Peru
• Brazilia

Samoa | Palauli, Samoa

Country

Samoa, officieel de Onafhankelijke Staat Samoa en tot 1997 West-Samoa, is een republiek in Polynesië. Het land omvat het westelijk gedeelte van de Samoa-eilanden; het oostelijke deel is het Amerikaanse territorium Amerikaans-Samoa.

People

Samoans or Samoan people are a Polynesian ethnic group native to the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in Polynesia, who speak the Samoan language. The group's home islands are politically and geographically divided between the Independent State of Samoa and American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States of America. Though divided by government, the culture and language remain the same.

The Samoan people and culture form a vital link and stepping stone in the formation and spread of Polynesian culture, language and religion throughout Eastern Polynesia.

Polynesian trade, religion, war, and colonialism are important markers within Polynesian culture that are almost certainly rooted in the Samoan culture. Samoa's colonial history, with the kingdom of Tonga, Fiji and French Polynesia form the basis of modern Polynesian culture.

Living Area:

• Samoa
• American Samoa