Aboriginal Australians
The Northern Territory has the highest proportion of indigenous Australians of any State or Territory. The population of the Northern Territory is less than a quarter of a million; of which aboriginal Australians make up 32.5%. This compares to Australia as a whole, that has just over 23 million people, of which people who consider themselves to be of indigenous descent make up 2.5%.
More than 92% of all Australians descend from Europeans; the remainder are principally of Asian ancestry.
In the more populous States most aboriginal Australians too also have non-indigenous ancestors. But in the Northern Territory there remain people with relatively unmixed ancestry back to the earliest indigenous people; with perhaps some periodic interactions with Indonesian, Melanesian and Polynesian seafarers. These people in turn may, over the past five hundred years, have had ancestors who were Dutch or Portuguese sailors. There are language clues to such interactions, at least at a cultural and trading level. DNA studies have potential to spread more light on this history.
For a longer discussion follow this link to When did people arrive in Australia?
Aboriginal Australians I have worked alongside in Sydney are similar to any other Australian in the workplace; sharing capabilities, education and personal objectives. Australia has such a diversity of ethnic backgrounds that aboriginality needs to be expressly pointed out to be noticed.
But in the Northern Territory many indigenous people live 'on country'; have very distinctive features; and do not have English as their first language.
The Warradjan Cultural Centre at Kakadu provides insights into indigenous lifestyles, language and culture of the Murumburr, Mirrar Gun-djeihmi, Badmardi, Bunitj, Girrimbitjba, Manilakarr, Wargol clans. It's very interesting; displaying methods of hunting and fishing as well as weaving and other crafts. Some people tell their own stories. For example, missions are mentioned in several of the personal stories as places of abuse; both cultural and physical.
The Aboriginal Calendar - Warradjan Cultural Centre
Low levels of education and various forms of dependence have resulted in high indigenous crime rates and very high rates of incarceration. Across Australia this 1,891 people per 100,000 of adult population, compared to 136 for non-Indigenous people; with much higher rates in the Northern Territory.
This is a very sensitive area in Darwin everyone is very careful when discussing these vexed issues. But there is no sense of Darwin being at war with itself; as we experienced in place like Baltimore; or in North London. Private houses do not have obvious high level security precautions and people of different races, including many Asian immigrants, seem to live happily alongside their neighbours. While indigenous unemployment rates are high it seems that this is less the case in the city than in settlements out in the countryside.
Darwin has alcohol free areas; mainly on the outskirts where public drinking, by anyone, is illegal. This effectively prohibits anyone entering an area where they do not live carrying opened alcohol. But Darwin is an outdoors sort of place and there are numerous pubs with beer gardens or table areas in the open in areas; mainly along the coast. We didn't see any drink related misbehaviour anywhere.
Some of the cafes and bars on a wharf in the old Harbour Front - diners are looking at the huge fish
Responsibility for managing the necessary cultural transition is increasingly being placed on the Aboriginal community itself. Europeans possibly because of our preconceptions and different values; like the need convert people to Christianity on one hand; and to preserve indigenous lifestyles or language on the other; have pitifully failed to find a solution over the past century and a half. Increasingly settlements themselves are banning alcohol and other drugs.
