Can we go back to a time when millions of bison roamed the plains of, the now, continental U.S.A.? Or, before shallow seas and land-bridges enabled human migration to continental Australia?
Can we, could we, should we?

Hunting and gathering (without any vestige of 'farming' or stock domestication) requires large areas and small human population exploiting the land's natural resources sustainably - particularly in an ancient, eroded, and time-worn land such as mainland Australia.
Who would go back?

We live in a conundrum, of how to reconcile history with the present.
Moving forward offers promise for all - but in a new, inclusive way.
Shall all get on board, willingly and skillfully manning the now cosmopolitan Nation and Land called Australia?

Throughout history peoples have toiled to improve their lot, to create cities and 'civilization', ever moving forward.
To conserve, peoples must have foresight, must fight to preserve those facets and features of their culture and their environment which are most precious to their present and to their vision of the future.
Living in a lost past is no way to live, but more like a slow and depressing death.

Australia for all Australians; precious, but vulnerable to internal and externals shocks and challenges.
Unity is strength; division, from any cause, a challenge to be overcome.
Can there be reconciliation of the spirit, retaining the essence of culture whilst wholeheartedly embracing the promise of present and future prospect, or is the world (and Oz) to be forever challenged by the sins of the past?

Foxy,

I'm related to Aboriginal people (with two aboriginal nephews) and other relatives who are aboriginal - but I am also a strong environmentalist.

"Aborigines have lived in Australia for at least 50,000 years or longer..... But what about Australia's wildlife?

In terms of people, why is Australia 'their' land? I really feel however Australia is different as it was native animals here first - humans second.

This website gives basic details giving an overview: http://panique.com.au/trishansoz/animals/animals.html

I remember a story on the ABC where an Aboriginal person was spearing an animal to death, saying it was part of their culture and their right. Luckily, another aboriginal person didn't agree saying wildlife should be protected and not speared.

Nathanj two of my nephews wed in to that community.
I was working for and looking after many in my last job, usually having to save their jobs too.
Whites needed that help too.
I want an end to the horrible life some live in Citys or more often in the mish [missions].
But if you want truth look to members of that community great members.
Noel Pierson for a start.
Truth is often unpleasant but it and only it can bring about change.
I grow weary of folk with as much white blood as other talking about a culture they can never be sure existed in the way they reform it.
Nathan an ugly truth too many Aboriginals hold views that would brand me racist if I held them, about them.
Even more have no education and no idea what they would do with this country if we left.
I know that answer, as they have done with almost every bit of freehold land they ever got sell it.
Review the failed land councils and know some stole from their own people.
I demand we end all this but first our first Nations people must getup and improve their own ways.

Hi Individual,

You note that Aboriginal people couldn't have had a concept of 'Australia', just of their own territories and those of their close neighbours.

I would go a bit further and suggest that land-holding groups were not 'tribe'-wide, but based on what might be called clans, or more accurately sub-clans, local descent groups, extended family groups, of which there must have been tens of thousands back in 1788.

If there is ever going to anything like a treaty, its proponents would have to take this into account, and also the historical fact that many of them have been forgotten by the people themselves.

Fifteen-odd years ago, I compiled a 100-page file of genealogies of my wife's group, the Ngarrindjeri, around the mouth of the Murray, lower Lakes and Fleurieu Pensinsula here in SA. I included 'clan' names for each family - it wasn't all that difficult to find this out from the Berndts' 'A World That Was' - and passed it onto somebody who is now an authority on Indigenous studies. He said, 'What's this ?' about those 'clan' names. After some discussion, he still couldn't see any point of including them, they obviously meant nothing to him.

But that might be the organisational level that anybody serious about a Treaty would have to work with. I don't know how it is in FNQ but I'm sure that people up there would have a much deeper understanding of their local 'clan' groupings and their significance.

Cheers,

Joe

Dear Nathan,

Animals and plants and nature and the environment
are part of the religious beliefs of the
Aboriginal people. As I mentioned earlier -
The religious beliefs of the Aboriginal people
stressed their position in the environment.
While other religions focused their attention on
the churches or temples, the Aborigines focused
their attention on the plants and animals and
the nature around them.

They believed that most of the
features of the landscape had been made by legendary
ancestors. They only took enough food from the
land to survive. They treated the animals and plants,
and the environment with respect

It is possible today to learn about Aboriginal civilisations,
not only from their wonderful legends, but also from the
finds of archeologists (who study the remains of
civilisations) and of anthropologists (who study the
development of the human race). We can therefore put
together the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle by looking at:

1. prehistoric skeletons that have been dug up.

2. artefacts (tools, utensils, and ornaments) that have
been excavated or found in areas where Aborigines lived.

3. cave and bark paintings.

4. The many different languages, legends and customs that
have been passed on by word of mouth.

Be proud of your Aboriginal ancestry and try to learn more
about it. Ask relevant questions and listen, not only for
the answers, but for the silences. You will learn how they
lived. What they thought of themselves and the world.
And how they solved their problems.

Did you know that at the time of European settlement it is
estimated that there were about 500 different
Aboriginal languages and dialects (variations of a language)
spoken throughout Australia. Therefore there must have been
at least as many tribal groups.

Each was a community in itself, and within this community the
clans and family groups lived in individual units in a big commune.
Just as, in the European tradition, each family had its own
surname, the clans had their 'totem' to distinguish them
from others. These totems were usually animals or plants
that had special importance for the clan.

Belly,

You aren't recognising or understanding my point.

Many aboriginal people do very well - but stereotyped by too many. Both of my nephews have an aboriginal step sister who is working in an arts company and their step brother has a aboriginal partner - both with very good jobs, along with two children - all nice people.

A woman however gave a very hateful official opening speech about we were on "her" land at an official NYE event last year. I was offended by it.

But my question was - who owns this country? Why aren't we recognising this point - that being the native wildlife of Australia, being here first - because humans dominate?

Larger animals that can kill (say like Sharks) and some people want them dead, even though humans are in 'their' territory.