Lesson Notes
Primary Teacher Guideline

Activities Images
Place your cursor over the images for more information.

Aboriginal

People

 The word Aboriginal is an English word meaning the people living in a country from the earliest times. Aboriginal people call themselves a varity of names depending on where they live.

1. Research a few differences between the way that the first non-indiginous people lived compared to the Aboriginal people of the time.

2. Find out the name of the group of Aboriginal people who lived in your area before the coming of non-indiginous people. Do these people still live there?

Didgeridoo

The didgeridoo is a very long Aboriginal musical instrument. It is played only by men. Originally it was only played in northern Australia but today it is played by Aboriginal people all over Australia. It was originally played only to accompany religious ceremonies or dances. Today it is also played for enjoyment. It is a drone instrument which means it can only play one note. It is quite difficult to play - you need big, deep breaths and lots of practice.

 

1. What is a didgeridoo?

2. Where was it played originally?

3. How is it played?

4. Why do you think it is now a symbol of Aboriginal Australia?

Nulla-nulla A nulla-nulla is an Aboriginal word for a hard wooden club used either for killing animals or fighting enemies. It usually consists of one large piece of wood shaped to have a thick wooden 'head' at the top. In some parts of Australia it consisted of a thick wooden handle with a type of hard, hitting head attached to the handle with string and beeswax. The head could be made of wood or stone. The nulla-nulla could be used by either men or women.

1. What are some hunting activities that may require a nulla-nulla?

2. How was the club head attached to the handle?

3. Women did not take part in fighting enemies or hunting large animals in traditional Aboriginal societies. How could a woman have used a nulla-nulla to help her work?

Yams Yams are the enlarged roots of several different plants growing below the ground, like potato or carrot. The women use their digging sticks to dig up the yams. Most yams can be eaten raw or cooked in the ashes of the fire. A few need special treatment to remove poisons before they can be eaten.

1. How do Aboriginal women find and gather yams?

2. How are yams cooked in traditional Aboriginal communities?

Aboriginal

Languages		 There were at least 250 different Aboriginal Languages in Australia before the coming of non-Aboriginal people. Only a few of these survive today as spoken languages.

1. Find out the name of the group of Aboriginal people who lived in your area before the coming of non-indiginous people. What language did they speak? Do these people still have their own language?

2. Did every group have their own language? Why are their different languages?

Mimi Art

or

Mimi Spirits

Paintings of Mimi spirits are found in caves around Arnhem Land. They are powerful spirits but like the Quikan Timara spirits, Mimi spirits are fragile and need to hide in cracks in the rocks, coming out at night and where there is no wind. Mimi spirits taught the local Aboriginal people many skills such as hunting.

1. What significance did art provide for the Aboriginal culture?

2. Why do you think there are so many different styles of art amongst different Aboriginal groups?

Aboriginal

Groups

 Aboriginal groups lived all around Australia and as a result of their geographical differences they lived according to the resources available to them. There are approximately 250 language groups Australia wide and 54 groups in South Australia alone. It is also incorrect to call these groups tribes as it does not describe their society accurately. Instead the term group is used. The major cultural groups represented in South Australia are: The Western Desert Cultural Region, The South Australian Gulf Cultural Region, Lake Eyre Cultrural Region, Murray Darling(Part of Riverina) Cultrural Region, South East Coast Cultural Region. The cultures in these regions are often very similar with only slight variations in lifestyle and dialect. It was common for these groups to trade amongst them selves and as a result enhancing the similarities among the groups.

1. Research a few different Dreaming Stories between different Aboriginal groups.

2. Find out the name of the groups of Aboriginal people who lived in your State before the coming of non-indiginous people. Do these people still live there?

Turtle Sea turtles swim in close to the beaches at certain times of the year. They come ashore to lay their eggs. Turtles are big and provide meat for large gatherings of Aboriginal people eg a speical ceremony. The most popular method used to catch turtles involved hunting in canoes using a three finger, bone-pointed spear with string tied to the end. When the turtle was speared, men dived into the water and lifted the turtle, weighing hundreds of kilograms, into the tiny canoe.

1. How did Aboriginal people catch turtles?

2. How is a turtle cooked and eaten?

3. Where and when can the turtle eggs be collected?

Homes

An Aboriginal traditional home could be many things - simply a shady place under a tree; a cave to give shelter from the sun or from rain; a simple lean-to made of branches used for a day; or a bigger and stronger shelter re-used year after year.

Most homes were used for a day or a month. Homes had to be quick and simple to erect. There were many activities required of their time other than building a shelter.

H

1. Why did most Aboriginal people build only temporary homes?

2. Why were some homes used for one day, then left, while others were used for several months at a time?

3. What would happen to the homes in these images when it rained? Does it matter?

 

Aboriginal

Land

Rights

 Over 200 years ago, Captain Cook arrived in a sailing ship and claimed to discover the east coast of Australia. Aboriginal people had already lived in Australia for a long time. Captain Cook claimed all Aboriginal land as terra nullius - Latin for land belonging to no one. When the new settlers arrived, they took the land. No compensation was given to the Aboriginal people for the land taken from them. Today we must find ways to make up for it to the Aboriginal people.

1. Who claimed to discover the east coast of Australia?

2. Who really lived in Australia?

3. Create or copy an Aboriginal message using your hands - arrange them to show information eg bird on the water.

Ngarrindjeri

or

Women

 Women supplied most of the food for Aboriginal people. They gathered vegetables, fruits, insects and small reptiles. They used digging sticks to look for roots under the ground and carried food in their dilly bag. They also fished using nets but not spears. Aboriginal people today still enjoy this bush tucker and women continue to gather it whenever possible.

1. Make a list of the foods gathered and other activities which involve only women.

2. What are some of the special responsibilites of women?

3. Why do you think women have different tasks from men? What do men do?

Hunting

or

Spears

 Spears were used for hunting, fishing, fighting and ceremonies. They were a man's weapon, not to be touched by women because they had sharp points. There were a variety of spears used, each for hunting different animals eg kangaroos, smaller wallabies, birds, turtle, fish etc. Often the spear was thrown with the assistance of a woomera (a throwing stick). This was held in the hand with the spear attached to one end. It increased the power and distance of the spear. The points and blades of a spear were made from sharpened rock, bones or wood. The points were attached with plant gums, fibres or animal sinews.

1. What different ways could spears be used?

2. There are many different types of spears with a variety of uses. What are some examples.

3. What materials were spears made of?

4. Why do you think spears could not be touched by women?

Australia An Aborigine is a person of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island descent who identifies and is accepted as such by the community with which he or she is associated. A person is only an Aborigine if they are accepted by an Aboriginal group and recognized as an Aborigine. This transcends physical characteristics such as appearance, background and location. In practice it is preferred that terms like Aboriginal people rather than Aborigines be used, and Aboriginal artifacts instead of arts and crafts of the Aborigines.

1. When was Australia first discovered?

2. When did non-indiginous people first settle in Australia?

3. How many Aboriginal groups are recorded? Which State has the most groups?

Reference:
Activities adapted from: Aboriginal Australia Aa - Zz, Steve and Dellene Strong, Peter Leyden Publishing, Australia.

Place your cursor over the images for more information.

Activities menu