Module 1: The Australian Aborigines

XSIQ
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Outdoor Education -The Aboriginal lifestyle

Aboriginal lifestyle

The Aboriginal lifestyle of hunting and gathering developed in a
continent which could not offer any plant or animal species on which an
agricultural economy could be based. The species available provided a
reliable and nutritious food supply for a restricted population throughout
Australia. This was sustained with steady modifications over several
millennia. Care and forethought was used to assure a regular supply of food
and water. When harvesting plants, some plants were left to seed future
crops, controlled burning cleared growth and promoted new grass for
favoured large mammal populations. The construction of ponds, channels and
weirs extended the range of, and time of access to, fish, eels, birds and
other aquatic species. Food was rarely stored, but this testifies to the
Aborigines' skill and confidence as hunters and gatherers rather than
indicating improvidence. Finally to promote and complete the circuit of
life religious rituals were carried out and totemic rules limited the
consumption of certain foods.

View the video about the system of canals and traps used by the clans of
Lake Condah.

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