Australian Aborigines

Below are resources related to Robert Tonkinson and Myrna E. Tonkinson's “Australian Aborigines” chapter of Native Nations: The Survival of Indigenous Peoples, 4th Edition, edited by Sharlotte Neely and Douglas W. Hume.

Agencies & Organizations

Discussion Questions

  • Aboriginal people in northern and central Australia have preserved more traditional cultural traits than other Aborigines. Why do you think this is the case?
  • Also, why has the movement for cultural revival centered on Aborigines of the southeast who have the least amount of traditions to pass along to future generations?
  • Explain the cultural changes that have occurred among the Australian Aborigines due to external forces on them.
  • Describe the threats to Australian Aborigine cultural survival by outsiders in their recent history.
  • What is the meaning of “Aboriginality” in these two different regions?

Documentary Films

Further Reading

Contemporary Australian Aboriginal People

Australia Day Protest
Invasion Day in Brisbane: Murri Activists Rally and March (David Jackmanson from Brisbane, Australia [CC BY-SA])

Australian Aboriginal Census 2011

Australian Aboriginal Demographic Map
People of Australian Aboriginal ancestry as a fraction of total persons, in Australia, Australia, according to the 2011 census results. The map is divided into geographical subdivisions by Statistical Local Area. Note the split scale above and below the median value (Toby Hudson based on data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics [CC BY-SA 3.0 AU])

Australian Aborigine Ethno-historical Photograph

Australian Aborigines Performing a Ceremony
Two Australian aborigines performing a ceremony with a magical stick to make another person ill (See page for author [CC BY])

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