There are several hundred Indigenous peoples of Australia; many are groupings that existed before the British colonisation of Australia in 1788. Before Anglo-Europeans, the number was over 400.
Indigenous or groups will generally talk of their "people" (sometimes their "mob") and their "country". These countries are ethnographic areas, usually the size of an average European country, with around 200 on the Australian continent at the time of European arrival.
Within each country, people lived in clan groups: extended families defined by various forms of Australian Aboriginal kinship. Inter-clan contact was common, as was inter-country contact, but there were strict protocols around this contact.
The largest Sovereign Original language group people today are the Anangu Pitjantjatjara who live in the area around Uluru (Ayers Rock) and south into the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands in South Australia. The second largest Aboriginal community are the Arrernte people who live in and around Mparntwe (Alice Springs). The third largest are the Anangu Luritja, who live in the lands between the two largest just mentioned. The Aboriginal languages and dialects with the largest number of speakers today are the Pitjantjatjara, Warlpiri and Arrernte.
Read more about Indigenous Peoples Of Australia: Australian Capital Territories, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia
Famous quotes containing the words indigenous, peoples and/or australia:
“All climates agree with brave Chanticleer. He is more indigenous even than the natives. His health is ever good, his lungs are sound, his spirits never flag.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Wedding is great Juno’s crown,
O blessed bond of board and bed!
‘Tis Hymen peoples every town,
High wedlock then be honorèd.
Honor, high honor, and renown
To Hymen, god of every town!”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“It is very considerably smaller than Australia and British Somaliland put together. As things stand at present there is nothing much the Texans can do about this, and ... they are inclined to shy away from the subject in ordinary conversation, muttering defensively about the size of oranges.”
—Alex Atkinson, British humor writer. repr. In Present Laughter, ed. Alan Coren (1982)