Aboriginal Community Analysis

Aboriginal people have been living in Australia between 50,00 to 120,000 years ago and their population size was about 300,000 when the British arrived in 1788 (Commonwealth of Australia, 1998). They are known to be non-materialistic and lived in small family groups which survived on food from the land (hunter-gatherer people) hence their deep connection to their land. Each small family group have their own history and culture, membership to each group is determined by birthright, shared language and cultural obligations and responsibilities. They place great importance to their social, religious and spiritual activities hence their belief that the physical environment is controlled by spiritual rather than physical means. They also believed

that their environment was created by their spiritual ancestors (Dreaming ancestors) so the land they lived on is extremely fundamental to them as it is the place which they belong and not own. Within this small family groups, men and women have their own responsibilities (defined according to age and gender) and roles to play e.g. men takes care of the hunting while women are responsible for child rearing and other cultural matters - it is clear that reciprocity and sharing are important cultural values for everyone. Colonisation has brought upon a drop in the Aboriginal population size (through death - diseases and disputes), separation of Aboriginal children from their family, separation of Aboriginal people from their land, loss of cultural heritage and connection (sense of belonging) and long term effects to mental and physical health of the Aboriginal community (Dudgeon et al, n.d.).
Torres Straits Islanders have been living on 17 of the 100 islands in the Torres Strait (northern east coast of Australia and Papua New Guinea)
and their source of income and food was agriculture and fishing. Within the islands, activities like food, weapon and artefacts trading was key as some islands might not have much agricultural activities compared to the others hence they depend on each other for food and supplies hence establishing a communal and village life where intergroup relationships are encouraged. Islanders were gardeners, fishers, hunters and also expert sailors and navigators hence the reason for the use of stars for navigation is symbolised in the Torres Strait flag (Philp, 2001). Due to its strategic location, Straits Island experienced a boom in their maritimes industries (fishing, pearling and sea slug collection) and they have had a mix of positive and negative experience through this transition marked by these historical events - 1936 maritime strike where Islanders collectively rejected government oppression, 1937 Inaugural Island Councillors meeting was held and resulted in the revised Aboriginal Protection Act 1939 which provided Islanders with greater authority on matters concerning them, from 1960 - starting point of the migration of Islanders to Australia mainland due to the decline of their pearling industry and 1992 Mabo Case marks the beginning of the recognition of Aboriginal people rights in Australia (Dudgeon et al, n.d.)