Aborigine Essay, Research Paper

Aborigine?s Survival Methods Report The Australian Aborigines are hunters and

gatherers. The Lardil who live on Mornington, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern

Queensland, have natural resources in abundance all around them. Therefore, they are able

to set up camp in different places, away from the tribe. They can easily find water and

food, enabling them to hunt during the day and set up camp away from the tribe during the

night and go back the next day with what they caught. Their land also provides them with

a great supply of roots, berries, yams, panjas, and water lilies. Wallabies, swamp turtles,

ducks, geese, lizards, and goannas are the different animals living on their land that are

available for hunting. The sea also provides them with different types of nourishment such

as mullet, salmon, rock cod and barramundi. They catch these fish with rock traps and

nets, or by hooks, lines and spears. They also know how to get sea turtle?s eggs by the

hundreds. The aborigines follow a mother sea turtle?s tracks to her nest and by flipping her

over on her back, render her helpless and her eggs, which are buried in the sand. They

leave some so as to insure there will always be sea turtles around. This area is also where

the dugongs feed and breed. Dugongs, or sea cows, are aquatic mammals weighing several

hundred pounds. The Lardil catch them in strong rope nets which are strung out in the

middle of the river and they construct a sort of corral with some bushes. They send one

man to tell them when a dugong is approaching. Then, other men get on the sides of the

river. They?re supposed to make sure it doesn?t escape and that it rushes into the nets by

scaring it into the nets. They then grab the dugong?s tail and lift it out of the water and

haul it ashore because all its power is in the tail. Another survival skill is that they grow

their thumbnails very long to use as a tool and weapon. With it they can gut a fish very

fast. They also own dogs for scavenging companions and to give warning of danger at

night. The Aborigines also believe lizard grease contains healing powers so they rub it

onto their skin.