Aboriginal Australian Culture Essay

Due to the fact that the Europeans did not understand the Aboriginal Australian’s relationship with the land, nor their culture in its entirety, the colonisation of Australia resulted in numerous clashes between the two civilizations, particularly over land. The Aboriginal’s relationship with the land was complex, unable to be confined by mere spiritual or religious values. (http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/UWALawRw/1983/12.pdf) Prior to the arrival of Europeans, Aboriginals considered their land to be of social and economic significance, divided in to geographical territories in which different groups would live. It was the basis of Indigenous Australian society and used for a plethora of aspects when considering their lifestyle, from

(Strangers in the Land) Watkin Tench, a British Marine Officer who was involved in the establishment and settlement of Australia after arriving on the first fleet, described this misconception of Aboriginal culture within his diary,“It does not appear that these poor creatures [Aboriginals] have any fixed habitation; sometimes sleeping in a Cavern of Rock, which they make as warm as a[n] oven by lighting a fire in the middle of it, they will take up their abode here, for one Night perhaps, then in another the next night.” (http://www.aboriginalheritage.org/history/history/) This excerpt depicts the initial misunderstanding that the British had with Aboriginal society, resulting in the assumption that the Indigenous Australians could simply migrate when their land was taken. (Haese) Ultimately, the vast contrast in the analysis of the land and the use of its attributes between the two civilizations, was the integral factor that resulted in the Europeans concluding that the land was