Australia. Guide to Australia

Aboriginals of Australia, scientists believe, appeared on the continent at least 50 000 years ago. process of settlement occurred during the last Ice Age of the South – East Asia. Aborigines, united in 300 clans spoke 250 languages ​​and 700 dialects's (Now it remains 145 languages, of which 110 are considered endangered).

Each clan had a spiritual connection with a certain area of ​​land occupied by. However, they are actively moving and traveling to engage in an exchange, search of water, new sources of food and performance of rituals.

A variety of the natural environment - from the uninhabited desert areas, to tropical forests and snowy mountains – set aside a special imprint on the hunters and gatherers with an oral culture and spiritual values, based on the worship of the earth and the belief in the infinite, faery.

There is still a mystery, From where, when and how they came. Until recently, the assumption, that during the settlement of the Indian Ocean coast, Columbus had found Australia, overcome 60 nautical miles between Indonesia and New Guinea, remained no more than a hypothesis.

And only recently in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology was first published evidence of. A group of scientists from India under the leadership of General Director of Anthropological Survey of India (Anthropological Survey of India) Raghavendry Rao (Raghavendra Rao) managed to find a commonality between the genome and some Aboriginal groups of people (so-called "relict populations"), residing in India. The formal separation of the two branches of the time - 45-65 thousand. years ago, that correlates well with the expected time of settlement of Australia.

At the time of arrival of the Europeans, at the end of the XVIII century, on the mainland lived 300-750 thousand. person. By the end of XIX - early XX century the population had fallen to 100 Thd. as a result of new diseases (Only small-pox "mown" almost 50% Aboriginal) and inability to adapt to life with white, selected water and land resources.

Only in 1967 Year, as a result of the referendum, natives were considered citizens of the country, they were released from the reserves, They have the right to freedom of movement. Since that time the government took them "under the wing". They began to write stories, support learning in schools and colleges, dialect dictionaries make and publish folklore. Geographical features are the names of historical return.

One hundred and fifty years ago, the future Secretary of State and Prime Minister Sir Henry Ayers (Sir Henry Ayers, 1821–1897) "Discovered" not far from the capital of the Northern Territories Alice Springs, even in the middle of the desert, picturesque rock and named it Ayers Rock. Now this is again the magic of Uluru - the mountain, on which, they believe for a long time the people of the tribe Ananga, gods live.

Gradually, attracted international attention as the art of Aboriginal. Among the first was the tribe pintupi, living on Northern Territories. Previously, they drew in the sand and stones, that was commercially viable, and was persuaded to paint on wood and canvas. This event was the first joint initiative of the Aboriginals and settlers. Prior to that white had no idea, what benefit can be derived from the Aboriginal.