( How Australia's Aboriginal people fight fire-with fire.) Who are Aboriginal Australians?Īboriginal Australians are split into two groups: Aboriginal peoples, who are related to those who already inhabited mainland Australia when Britain began colonizing the island in 1788, and Torres Strait Islanders, who descend from residents of the Torres Strait Islands, a group of islands that was annexed by Queensland, Australia in 1879. Here’s what you should know about these Indigenous people. About 3 percent of Australia’s population has Aboriginal heritage.īut the origins, and fate, of Australia’s native peoples are still the subject of heated debates-ranging from social disparities to legal representation, and even whether their genocide can really be considered a genocide.
Diverse and culturally distinctive, they are represented by more than 250 distinct language groups spread throughout Australia. Australia’s first people-known as Aboriginal Australians-have lived on the continent for over 65,000 years.
