Native people of Australia who probably came from somewhere in Asia more than 40,000 years ago. In 2001 the population of aborigines and Torres Straits Islanders was 366,429, 1.9% of the Australian population as a whole. The aboriginal population at the time of European colonization in the late 18th cent. has been estimated to have numbered between 300,000 and 800,000. At that time, there were 500–600 distinct groups of aborigines speaking about 200 different languages or dialects (at least 50 of which are now extinct). Although culturally diverse, these groups were not political and economic entities and lacked class hierarchies and chiefs. They lived by hunting and gathering, and there was extensive intergroup trade throughout the continent.

Aborigines in Australia-In the past the word Aboriginal has been used in Australia to describe its indigenous peoples as early as 1789. It soon became capitalized and employed as the common name to refer to all indigenous Australians. At present the term refers only to those peoples who were traditionally hunter gatherers. It does not encompass those indigenous peoples from the Torres Strait who traditionally practiced agriculture.

Torres Strait Islanders-The Torres Strait Islanders possess a heritage and cultural history distinct from Aboriginal traditions. The eastern Torres Strait Islanders in particular are related to the Papuan peoples of New Guinea, and speak a Papuan language. Accordingly, they are not generally included under the designation "Aboriginal Australians." This has been another factor in the promotion of the more inclusive term "Indigenous Australians". Six percent of Indigenous Australians identify themselves fully as Torres Strait Islanders. A further 4% of Indigenous Australians identify themselves as having both Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal heritage.

The broad term Aboriginal Australians includes many regional groups that often identify under names from local indigenous languages. These include:

* Koori (or Koorie) in New South Wales and Victoria (Victorian Aborigines)

* Murri in Queensland * Noongar in southern Western Australia * Yamatji in central Western Australia * Wangkai in the Western Australian Goldfields * Nunga in southern South Australia * Anangu in northern South Australia, and neighboring

parts of Western Australia and Northern Territory * Yapa in western central Northern Territory * Yolngu in eastern Arnhem Land (NT) * Palawah (or Pallawah) in Tasmania.

Total population

517,000 2.6% of Australia's population Regions with significant populations Northern Territory 32.5% Western Australia 4.0% Queensland 3.6% New South Wales 2.5% South Australia 2.3% Victoria 1.0%

Australian Aboriginal culture is one of the world's longest surviving cultures, which dates back at least 50,000 years and there are many who think it could be closer to 150,000 years!All of Australia's Aborigines were semi-nomadic hunters and gatherers, with each clan having its own territory. Those communities living along the coast or rivers were expert fishermen. The territories or 'traditional lands' were defined by geographic boundaries such as rivers, lakes and mountains. All Australian Aborigines shared an intimate understanding of, and relationship with, the land. That relationship was the basis of their spiritual life and shaped the Aboriginal culture.

Land is fundamental to the well-being of all Aboriginal people. The 'dreamtime' stories explain how the land was created by the journeys of the spirit ancestors. Those creation stories describing the contact and features which the spiritual ancestors left on the land are integral to Aboriginal spirituality. Ancestor Spirits' came to Earth in human and other forms and the land, the plants and animals were given their form as we know them today.

The expression 'Dreamtime' refers to the 'time before time', or 'the time of the creation of all things', while 'Dreaming' is often used to refer to an individual's or group's set of beliefs or spirituality. For example, an Indigenous Australian might talk about their Kangaroo Dreaming, Snake Dreaming, or Honey Ant Dreaming, or any combination of Dreamings pertinent to their 'land'. However, many Indigenous Aborigines also refer to the creation time as 'The Dreaming'.

For Indigenous Australians, the past is still fervantly alive in the present moment and will remain so into the future. The Ancestor Spirits and their powers have not gone, they are present in the forms in to which they changed at the end of the 'Dreamtime' or 'Dreaming', as the stories tell. The stories have been handed down through the ages and are an integral part of an Indigenous person's 'Dreaming'. here were a great many different groups, each with their own individual culture, belief structure, and language. These cultures overlapped to a greater or lesser extent, and evolved over time. Major ancestral spirits include the Rainbow Serpent, Baiame, and Bunjil.

Is art produced by Indigenous Australians, covering works that pre-date European colonization as well as contemporary art by Aboriginal Australians based on traditional culture.

It has a history which covers over 30,000 years, and represent a large range of native traditions and styles. These have been studied in recent decades and gained increased international recognition.[1] Aboriginal Art covers a wide medium including painting on leaves, wood carving, rock carving, sculpture, and ceremonial clothing, as well as artistic embellishments found on weaponry and also tools.

Art is one of the key rituals of Aboriginal culture and was and still is, used to mark territory, record history, and tell stories about the dreamtime. Similar to how Christians have their own story of the creation of the Earth, the Dreamtime is how the Aboriginals believed the world was created.

Body Painting-Perhaps one of the earliest forms of Indigenous art, and one which is still very much alive, is body painting. For example, the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land cover their bodies in elaborate and exquisite decorations prior to ceremonies or traditional dances. The preparation can take many hours, and the finest artists will be sought after for this. The designs drawn on the body are traditional designs, often involving fine cross-hatching and lines of dots, which are owned by the clan of the person who is being decorated.Body painting is thought to have been the inspiration for many of the designs now found in Bark Painting.

Rock Painting-Rock painting can be found in most parts of Australia, ranging from simple hand or boomerang stencils to elaborate X-ray pictures.

Traditionally, paints were often made from water, animal fats or spittle mixed with ochre and other rock pigments and sometimes had vegetable fibers added. Painting was then performed on people's bodies, rock walls or bark (particular that of the paperbark gum). Tools used included primitive brushes, sticks, fingers and even a technique of spraying the paint directly out of the mouth onto the medium resulting in an effect similar to modern spraypaint. Aboriginal Art can be made up of a series of dots, lines, or just the outline of a shape.

Rock Painting There are a wide variety of styles of Aboriginal art. Three common

types are * The cross-hatch or X-ray art from the Arnhem Land and Kakadu

regions of the Northern Territory, in which the skeletons and viscera of the animals and humans portrayed are drawn inside the outline, as if by cross section;Dot-painting where intricate patterns, totems and/or stories are created using dots; and

* Stencil art, particularly using the motif of a hand print.More simple designs of straight lines, circles and spirals, are also common, and in many cases are thought to be the origins of some forms of contemporary Aboriginal Art.A particular type of Aboriginal painting, known as the Bradshaws, appears on caves in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. They are named after the European pastoralist, Joseph Bradshaw, who first reported them in 1891. To Aboriginal people of the region they are known as Gwion Gwion. Traditional Aboriginal art is composed of organic colours and materials, but modern artists often use synthetic paints when creating aboriginal styles.Aboriginal art involves story telling, myths, rituals, sorcery and magic.

Bark paintings are paintings made by Australian Indigenous artists on pieces of flattened bark taken from trees such as the stringybark. The designs seen on authentic bark paintings are traditional designs that are owned by the artist, or his or her "skin", or clan, and cannot be painted by other artists. While the designs themselves are ancient, the means of painting them on a piece of flattened bark is a relatively modern phenomenon, although there is some evidence that artists would paint designs on the bark walls and roofs of their shelters.Bark paintings are now regarded as "Fine Art", and the finest bark paintings command high prices accordingly on the international art markets. The very best artists are recognized annually in the National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Award.

Aerial desert "country" landscapesFrom ancient times, Australian aboriginal culture also produced a genre of aerial landscape art, often titled simply "country". It is a kind of maplike, bird's-eye view of the desert landscape, and it is often meant to tell a traditional Dreaming story. In the distant past, the common media for such artwork were rock, sand or body painting; but the tradition continues today in the form of paintings on canvas (see section Papunya Tula and "Dot Painting" below).Rock Engravings

Engravings at Terrey Hills, near Sydney, NSW. The two kangaroos suggest this was used for an increase ceremony, whilst the well-endowed man may be Baiame. More details are in Sydney Rock Engravings.

Engravings at Terrey Hills, near Sydney, NSW. The two kangaroos suggest this was used for an increase ceremony, whilst the well-endowed man may be Baiame. More details are in Sydney Rock Engravings.There are several different types of Rock art across Australia, the most famous of which is Murujuga in Western Australia, the Sydney Rock Engravings around Sydney in New South Wales, and the Panaramitee rock art in Central Australia.The rock art at Murujuga is said to be the world's largest collection of petroglyphs and includes images of extinct animals such as Thylacine. Activity prior to the last ice age until colonisation are recorded.The Sydney Rock Art has its own peculiar style, not found elsewhere in Australia, with beautiful carved animals, humans, and symbolism.

Rock EngravingsEngravings at Terrey Hills, near Sydney, NSW. The two kangaroos

suggest this was used for an increase ceremony, whilst the well-endowed man may be Baiame. More details are in Sydney Rock Engravings.

Engravings at Terrey Hills, near Sydney, NSW. The two kangaroos suggest this was used for an increase ceremony, whilst the well-endowed man may be Baiame. More details are in Sydney Rock Engravings.There are several different types of Rock art across Australia, the most famous of which is Murujuga in Western Australia, the Sydney Rock Engravings around Sydney in New South Wales, and the Panaramitee rock art in Central Australia.The rock art at Murujuga is said to be the world's largest collection of petroglyphs and includes images of extinct animals such as Thylacine. Activity prior to the last ice age until colonisation are recorded.The Sydney Rock Art has its own peculiar style, not found elsewhere in Australia, with beautiful carved animals, humans, and symbolism.

Stone ArrangementsStone arrangements in Australia range from the 50m-diameter circles of Victoria, with 1m-high stones firmly embedded in the ground, to the smaller stone arrangements found throughout Australia, such as those near Yirrkala which depict accurate images of the praus used by Macassan Trepang fishermen.

Iconogaphy and Symbols-The imagery of the Aboriginal culture, as can be seen in many of the sacred sites, rock and cave paintings, used few colours as they were often made from what was available locally. Some colours were mined from ‘ochre pits’, being used for both painting and ceremonies, with ochre also traded between clans and at one time could only be collected by specific men within the clan. Other pigments were made from clay, wood ash or animal blood. There were variations in the symbolic representation of some rock art and paintings, depending on the tribe or region of Australia that you belong to, which is still evident today in the modern art work of Aboriginal artists. The dotted motifs of much of today's Aboriginal modern design work has become the trademark of the contemporary Aboriginal Art movement. Its iconic status developed from a culture stretching back into the history of an ancient land, evolving and weaving into desert dreamtime stories.