How Aboriginal Australians Made Australia

[@iammrbeat]

The parallels to American Indians is actually a bit surprising to me. They also dramatically altered the landscape.

[@ThisisBarris]

Yeah I remember reading that the introduction of smallpox by Europeans could have lead to a small ice age as trees grew back in the Americas, but I haven't verified the veracity of that claim.

[@Giaayokaats]

Mr. Beat, can you please do a video on Indigenous agriculture in North America? I feel like it's a woefully neglected subject

[@Roblox2025]

Are you referring to the native Americans in the United States remember there were under 2 million native Americans in the us before Europeans came

[@CogitoEdu]

There were upwards of 50 million rather than 2 million.

[@Giaayokaats]

@@CogitoEdu That's a (lowball) number for the Americas in their entirety. Roblox2025 That's an outdated number from a time when the Americas were only thought to have had 10-20 million people. It is widely recognized today as being woefully low. The numbers I've seen for the territories that now constitute the United States of America tend to fall in the 8-12 million range, while most estimate today put the range for the Americas as a whole in the 80-100 million range.

[@sun.healinggoddexx]

I'm aborignal Australian & I am beyond grateful for this information, makes me feel proud.

[@Ella-gg5fi]

Your culture is so fascinating! You should be proud. I wished we learnt more about it in school.

[@lanalytch]

As you have every right to ❤❤❤

[@Shadey485]

Ditto!

[@davieskunda6748]

Congratulations 🎉

[@sunshineimperials1600]

You have beautiful curly hair.

[@mostly.]

I'm Australian and they don't even give this stuff a passing mention in history class but hey great video 👍🏻

[@CogitoEdu]

Nice to hear an Australian perspective. Hopefully, more and more stuff about this will come out in the future and we can all learn more :D Thanks for watching.

[@unholydemigod4147]

@@CogitoEdu All we really get at school is a little bit of Dreamtime stuff and dot painting, then it's all about how the colonisation. Australian history at school is so fucking boring.

[@CogitoEdu]

That's unfortunate. At least the internet is here to offer you what school couldn't :D

[@deborah-maytorrens6278]

Yes "uninspired Squirt Gun". This is why it is up to us as "We the People" to bring these facts to our Nation so our tourists, visitors and guests can all be in-knowledge of the true history of our Nation and the Original Peoples thereof.

[@SuzSV650]

I always wonder how australian immigrants were taught about history. xD

[@staciehill8659]

I'm aboriginal and I knew some of this because of my grandma, idk why we don't learn about it in school we only know about dream time. Thanks bala

[@julianshepherd2038]

The government would be teaching that they had stolen what they have.

[@xx_julia_xx-_-9658]

I am tho

[@kazpaapzak8637]

In VCE outdoor ed we learn about this. I don’t think we should blame the government for not teaching this, the lack of knowledge in this area is only a racist scar from European ‘colonisation’.

[@abstractmuffin7129]

i had some pretty good elders around where i was that came to our schools who told us stuff like the abouriginal season's and dance's but it was alway's optional and never assigned to history/geography sadly

[@leonardojodeteperra1767]

Aw woopty fuckin doo

[@SPITFIREH]

I'm aboriginal and highly APPRECIATE and RESPECT this video for being created as it is information like this that helps to protect and prolong the cultures survival within this day and age. Everything is precise in this video and you have done a tremendous job to represent just how in tune with the land our ancestors were and still are. Thanks bruz [-o-]

[@jenwalsh4195]

Its a great little video! I watched it because this is how I mostly learn about aboriginal history and culture. My family are wongaibon people but I have no connection with a culture I admire and wish I was a part of. My grandfather was stolen along with his 2 sisters. I didnt learn of this untill after his passing, when great aunty Esme found us. We have no connection to our roots. And it's saddening that I'm not the only one missing out. Keep the culture alive and share as much as you can! My kids learn what they can from school because I cant teach them. We need more indigenous education and community involvement to make sure no more knowledge is lost!

[@jamesspacer7994]

How many % aboriginal are you? You look white to me.

[@kumarvikramaditya9636]

@@jamesspacer7994 how much percent human are you. You sound like a racist bot.

[@kiraalksne4180]

@@jamesspacer7994 plenty of people that pass as ''white''. You look ignorant

[@joepetto9488]

You arent aboriginal, your aboriginal "ancestry" is likely from some bush girl abducted by a power Celtic bushranger warrior, you're 95% European and your parents were smart enough (european trait) to realize they could get some serious gibs if they pretend to be aboriginals.

[@KnowingBetter]

I can't help but snicker at the map at 3:31... do you think he knew what he drew? He knew.

[@CogitoEdu]

He definitely knew!

[@charlottesky4253]

It’s a map of all the tribes and clans. He didn’t draw it.

[@icry2u]

@@charlottesky4253 I think they mean Tyndale's grain belt map.

[@charlottesky4253]

icry2u my bad all I saw was the tribal map. I know that map because I’m aboriginal and my family is Wailwan, Kamilaroi. Much love x

[@aussieatheist960]

Bit of a dick move huh!

[@iammrbeat]

I mean, who ISN'T glistening with moth fat these days?

[@CogitoEdu]

Moth Fat! Coming to a store near you. Unleash your glisten.

[@apersonlikeanyother6895]

Mr. Beat best comment!

[@campbellmanderson943]

Sugar gliders I think.

[@MatthewSmith-sz1yq]

Can confirm, to great surprise, that moth fat is a resource that has not yet been exploited, as it does not seem to be for sale anywhere on the internet.

[@jamesmiddleson1849]

@@MatthewSmith-sz1yq the internet only know what we put on it. Maybe u can get it somewhere!

[@hiddenhist]

Interesting presentation. Aboriginals are definitely among the most ignored groups in history! I was passingly aware of some agricultural practices, but no where near to this extent! Might aboriginals have been the oldest agriculturalists on the planet?

[@ComaToast1]

Thank you for acknowledging

[@nevillelamberti]

No. If that was true then the aboriginal population would have been significantly larger than it was when Europeans brought modern agricultural technology to the region. I suppose that you also believe the one about the whales or do you suck all of the drivvel in ?

[@TT.STAY.]

Neville Lamberti it is true. Don’t you know they were massacred by the Europeans. Their population were reduced.

[@andrewlove3686]

@@TT.STAY. the only place these people(Australoid race) still exist is where europeans found them before asian mongoloids did.

[@timomastosalo]

My guess is more like people have maintained the nature since the beginning. It's just that with long existence in the same environment made people to become experts to coexist the preserving way - all the more, when the environment was somewhat fragile. In a lush environment, the demands for maintenance were not that great.

[@god15625]

"They knew all along what these structures were, but had never been asked". Literally every interactions between natives & colonists.

[@orkadian4173]

And a false rhetoric by certain current activists trying to re-write history!

[@Ttegegg]

@@orkadian4173 by who?

[@orkadian4173]

@@Ttegegg I do not reply to people who can't use their own name!

[@aurelian2668]

@@orkadian4173 Orkadian is your real name? What a weird name.

[@orkadian4173]

@@aurelian2668Aurelian isn't your real name? How unusual..

[@kimbo99]

If they had significant agricultural prosperity their population would have risen to many thousands as in African tribes. But they didnt. Where were the 30, 000 strong indigenous tribes ?

[@deshawnmoore1731]

That logic doesn’t track at all How is Africa reflective of Australia? These are 2 vastly different places

[@kimbo99]

@@deshawnmoore1731 Are you just being argumentative ? If a stoneage society practices farming successfully then it tends to store food for hard times. Which we might call a food profit or rising prosperity. Another effect we would observe would likely be a population increase due to more available food. Many historic examples of this. Country of Ireland tripled its population following introduction of a new food, the potato. Potato boosted the population of Europe about 400pc. Its all due to farming. Do you wish to argue there is no connection between available food and population numbers ? Its axiomatic to everybody else but you. Every part of the globe is different in some way to everywhere else but every area has more in common than differences. And believe it or not available food is determinant of population numbers virtually everywhere. Also in animal populations. Your moniker is familiar. I recall you started an argument with me on a non issue a while back. Impulsive dispute is not a necessary way of starting conversation.

[@deshawnmoore1731]

@@kimbo99 What I said: “That logic doesn’t track at all due to different Africa as a continent is from Australia” What you’re arguing: “Food Production correlates to Population Growth” These are 2 drastically different arguments Using Africa as a reference for Australia is illogical. Various institutions combine to create significant permanent populations. African civilizations had 3 Distinct River Valley systems, Iron/Steel/Powder Age technology, Heavy Carb loaded Crops such as Yams, Millet and African Rice in combination with Advanced Agricultural Practices which along with Trade, Climate, Climatic Stability, Medical Procedures such as inoculation in addition to Biodiversity all allowed for expansion in population. Australia lacked almost all of this so regardless of Agricultural Production would have had a significantly smaller population in Comparison. Obviously Food production was the most significant part however Africa and Australia aren’t comparable; Just like Eurasia and Australia aren’t comparable. To project your logic when numerous factors could influence Population Size isn’t reflective of a Good understanding of WHY Populations grow beyond the Basics

[@kimbo99]

​@@deshawnmoore1731 ​ @deshawnmoore1731 Stupidly argumentative you are. Have met you before. Looking like Asperger Syndrome. No one else is allowed to make comparisons according to you.. They are widely used in adult conversations as a shorthand and you haven't noticed that. You lack a good understanding of adult casual conversation. Historians and geographers habitually compare countries to get the reader onto the same page as the author. And you are foolishly opposed to that. When I talk about food supply influencing population numbers its an accepted generalisation I am quoting from HISTORIANs and GEOGRAPHERS and BIOLOGISTS. David Attenborough. All of them mature ADULTS. For your information in reality, authors can make comparisons between any nations they please in their presentations. Your objections are shrill off-point tirades typical of Asperger Syndrome. Why just yesterday I was watching a video about Tierra del Fuego the land of Fires only 600 mils from the Antarctic. Yet the indigens hardly wear clothes. And sleep without blankets. The narration included Charles Darwin quotes, he went there, and used comparative analysis . Is Charles Darwin allowed to use Comparisons ? Or does he need your permission @deshawnmoore1731 ?

[@reedbender1179]

@@kimbo99 😂...🎯 ...✌

[@EpimetheusHistory]

Very interesting, I learned a lot, did not know 85-90% of this. Loved the animations. This video, the Hatshepsut and the chocolate video are my 3 favorites you have made :)

[@CogitoEdu]

Yeah before I started the research for this I was unaware of all this cool info. Happy to hear they're your favourites, especially the chocolate one. That one was my favourite to make :D

[@Back2Based.86]

Im Australian and have great respect for aboriginal culture and i can say this video is quite sensationalized and interpreted with a bias. He said "They were seen cutting the stalks in large open fields" that does not prove agriculture. Aboriginals were certainly nomadic and hunter gatherers. They would forage in large quantities when that particular food was in season.

[@jemedsall2367]

@@Back2Based.86 Go read the sources mate. Dark Emu, Greatest Estate on Earth are both linked in the description. You don't know what you're talking about.

[@Back2Based.86]

@@jemedsall2367 yeah mate they're just more assumptions based off the evidence we have. Just because they burnt off the land doesn't make them farmers. The evidence is nowhere near strong enough. More likely they were systematic hunter gatherers, going with the seasons while living off the land. For 60000 years. I'm not surprised some areas "appeared" to be "farmed"... it's not exactly agriculture like we know it

[@Back2Based.86]

@Jim lastname no it means they were nomadic hunters and gatherers

[@MrAlexkyra]

My experience as an Australian here. I remember reading an encyclopedia from the 1970s about Australia. It barely mentions the Aboriginals, mentioning them as a 'stone age people' who lived in Australia before the British arrived and then ignoring them. In high school history classes we only hear about Aboriginals in the context of colonization and modern times. In primary school we learned some things about Aborignal mythology (the Dreamtime) and art (dot painting). But their history before 1788 is a huge blindspot in our education system, and I guess this is how you still get people imagining Aboriginals as a 'stone age people' who acheived nothing before the British arrived. We definitely never learned anything about Aboriginal agriculture.

[@matthewmalpeli]

That was a very convenient description based entirely on the British need to declare this land Terra Nulius so their sheep farmers could take advantage of the high market price for wool. The stupidity of short term profit knows no limit, does it?

[@alexdunphy3716]

They were stone age people tho, whether or not you think they should be admired or not

[@MrAlexkyra]

@@alexdunphy3716 'stone age people' comes without a lot of prejudiced notions about whether certain people are more 'primitive' or 'advanced'. It's a very narrow minded way of looking at things. And in any case, my point was more that the phrase 'stone age people' was all that the encyclopedia had to say for the Aboriginals before moving on and pretending they don't exist. Even today we have politicians claiming Australia was a 'wilderness' before the British arrived, an argument very similar to that used to justify the invasion, dispossession and genocide of Aboriginals in the past. As this video, and the work of historians show, this was completely false. Aboriginals managed and cultivated their land in a deliberate way, albeit very different from people on other continents.

[@MrAlexkyra]

@@alexdunphy3716 additionaly, describing a people as 'stone age' can be technically correct but still very narrow minded and prejudicial. For example you could say that the Aztecs and Maya were stone age people, since their weapons technology consisted od wood, stone and obsidian. But this would overlook their other great achievements in monument construction, mathematics, astronomy and hydrology (Aztecs). They certainly weren't equivalent to hunter gatherers. Calling Aboriginals stone age may reflect their technology, but might lead one to dismiss their agriculture, land and ecosystem management

[@MrAlexkyra]

@@scottleft3672 Terra Nullius had nothing to do with the Cold War. The British colonized all of Australia by the early 19th century, claiming all the land regardless of the fact it was already owned by the numerous Aboriginal nations. The British tested nuclear weapons in Aboriginal land in South Australia (Maralinga) but this wasn't the origin of Terra Nullius.

[@w0t_m818]

I'm Australian and thank you for making this video man. I am not Indigenous myself but so many old and young people know next to nothing of indigenous cultures, their history and our history with them. When I was growing up we had a Labor government in power, Labor has always tried to teach the history of Indigenous people's in public schools as a mandatory part of the curriculum, so I learnt about them. Shortly after I left school, however, a Liberal government came in (they're actually a conservative party despite the name) and they removed the subject from the curriculum entirely, mainly because their party were/still continue to be the architects of the vast majority of atrocities committed against Indigenous Australians, and our history of institutionalised racism vis a vis the White Australia Policy and the Stolen generation, etc. To this day our Indigenous communities in Australia have never recovered from these atrocities and white Australians beliefs are still heavily shaped by the societal conditioning that they were subjected to throughout the time these policies were being implemented, and they still hold on to their beliefs of Indigenous Australians being drunken layabouts, even my own parents do, and unfortunately many of those older people have passed those beliefs onto their children, many of whom don't know better because we are no longer educated about their history and our "interaction" with them. I hope more young Australians watch this video and realise that indigenous Australians were far more sophisticated than they had ever realised. A proud culture that has barely survived numerous attempts at genocide, whether by outright massacre, genetic replacement or cultural destruction. We put the original custodians of this land into the situation they're currently in, we need to take responsibility and actually allow indigenous Australians a platform to actually tell us what would help them. THAT is one thing any country with a downtrodden native population should do to help, just listen to them. Edit: if you want evidence of how shamelessly and unabashedly racist some of my fellow Aussies are then read the replies.

[@callumcox6421]

Too right man, great comment bro. I'm from Ireland but my cousin is a police officer in Darwin and I've never met a more openly racist man in my life. He despises aborigines and isn't quiet about how he feels.... And i doubt his views are rare at all for Australian police. He goes on and on about how aborigines are lowly drunks who scrounge from the government and breach the peace, but even if they are there should be some government programme to help these poor folks who have been pushed into a life of alcoholism and drug addiction by past generations of Europeans... Educate don't discriminate..

[@reverentlygrim2666]

@@callumcox6421 That is wrong on so many levels. kudos to you man.

[@4kdefinition70]

Callum Cox they have dozens of programs and aids to help them succeed, yet they squalor, this doesn’t mean their history is tainted, just certain individuals taint their present. I grew up in the region and I met the good and bad of the aboriginal people, I guarantee their isn’t nearly enough good ones for my liking. They have other history that would make you shudder

[@Ryan-qx4wh]

@@4kdefinition70 I can already tell you're a weak closet racist grub

[@RictusHolloweye]

@@4kdefinition70 - The results are not pretty, but they basically come from trying to apply European solutions to aborigine situations. I know, I know, "White guilt!". But if more research and more thinking were put into the situation maybe we don't have to throw money at aborigines and, instead, find a solution that actually works.

[@owenb7911]

It's actually messed up how History education here in Australia didnt teach us about this and its always making Aboriginals as stone age people and the lost generation

[@someones5551]

That's because this is factually incorrect

[@laurensahanna5826]

@@someones5551 got any evidence?

[@medieeevil3697]

@Dan Quayles ITS SPELT POTATOE! I’d hate to be a virgin like you

[@onyabike4205]

they are stone age people, 40,000 years and all they invented was a stick.... reality doesnt care about your feelings sorry

[@medieeevil3697]

@@onyabike4205 faaaaarrrrk up

[@desifish2363]

As an Australian, you never learn stuff like this, I have a new found love for both your channel and the native culture if Australia

[@dawniebee946]

Amazing isn't it? I don't know how it ties in with the infant mortality rates & evidence of malnutrition. Something doesn't add up.

[@blackhawk8920]

@@dawniebee946 it is proto farming less reliable.

[@meditationmusicau]

We learn about the Vietnam war than our country.

[@jeromeisaacs4428]

They built an alliance with Killer Whales this is incredible to me

[@fluchtigziege3202]

you dont learn it cos it never happened.

[@richardjidee5761]

A huge rewrite of history,I was expecting the magical serpent to appear

[@ryan-ci9sl3mt3j]

It is wrong to say Aboriginals "made" Australia. They made Yuggera, Biripi, Woiworung etc. It's like saying the United States was made by Native Americans.

[@rohanindra6401]

Labels change the land mass stays the same

[@Jormunrek_av_Bakromene]

@@rohanindra6401 Based 🫡

[@neodenz]

@@ryan-ci9sl3mt3j They made the land of Australia into usable land

[@YoonaSims]

@@ryan-ci9sl3mt3jthey did make australia though? they made it a place where the land was fertile and people could thrive. the same with the native americans. us europeans came along, introduced all our diseases & colonised these people.

[@djitidjiti6703]

I'm an Australian history major and knew exactly where you sourced all of this from as I watched it. I'm impressed - most KZbinrs pull their videos from their arses. You got an instant sub from me.

[@theantitheocrat6232]

Do tell. Where from?

[@arthurdent6828]

​@@theantitheocrat6232Are you in Australia? Try the state library where ever you are and read the journals of all the early explorers. That's the source. Journals that were published over 150 years ago.

[@brendandarcy8188]

Stoopid

[@iamthenews5624]

Arse-stralia

[@liamisawake5935]

Bruh why aren’t we learning this in school as an Australian I would love to learn more about the people before us

[@playboicartiismydad4842]

@Trousersnake Pliskin Facts hurt your feelings?

[@playboicartiismydad4842]

@Trousersnake Pliskin All the sources are in the description buddy this is the consensus of the academic community who has researched this thing if you want to keep denying reality feel free.

[@qwertqwert414]

Trousersnake Pliskin did you not watch the video, or read any of the academic articles or books which were sourced?

[@marcomaddox]

@Trousersnake Pliskin This is an affront to your racist view of the world.Sorry for ruining your fantasy.

[@richlisola1]

How should KZbin know? Write your government and educators

[@jha9235]

I love your snobby accents when quoting the colonizers. Brilliant.

[@joepetto9488]

Do you see european conquerors and adventurers as naturally greater than yourself or is that a complex or something?

[@GoProKiewie]

😁TRUE!

[@urmum3773]

Political comment alert

[@exacerbatedfellow1236]

Those snobs dominated inferior civilizations, but yeah some online commentator mocking it will show them.

[@OGWildcard]

G'day mate, I just wanted to say I love your work and this video was so interesting to learn about my home country and our rich history of our sacred people. Keep up the good work mate.

[@QPRTokyo]

All ancient groups of people knew their land well. I am surprised to see that so many people did not know about the information in this video.

[@mehere8038]

It was deliberately suppressed though & "terra nulla" was the official line

[@wahlblikk]

Tack!

[@cupidstunt8136]

how come none of the explorers, or expeditions sent to investigate any region of Australia describe "farms" ?

[@laurensahanna5826]

Because of survivorship bias...

[@FranklyAussie]

Because it's a work of fiction.

[@n3v3rg01ngback]

Native Americans were similarly effective farmers before the arrival of Columbus.

[@gayvideos3808]

And after. Traditional agricultural methods were still dominant until the 20th century

[@RubyDoobieScoo]

They even had walled towns despite the depictions of them always being in tents.

[@alt4374]

@@RubyDoobieScoo And the Cahokia mounds, and tons of cities

[@AnimeArchaeologist]

Native Filipinos have always been effective farmers regardless of the Spanish.

[@RubyDoobieScoo]

@KZbins lame Garcia weird flex but okay

[@--Paws--]

Reminds me of the "legend" of how the Amazon Rainforest was actually a garden. The trees and plants were planted by an extinct tribe that once were regarded for building massive structures made of branches and sticks. The jungle that the Amazon has become was due to this garden being left unattended by those who planted it, like the ruins of a lost civilization.

[@--Paws--]

​@Jeremy Kirkpatrick It was briefly mentioned on show on either the History Channel or Discovery Channel, years ago. I have been searching for a copy of that video in KZbin but gave up. I have ended up going to videos that relate to indigenous tribes or mentions what I can only remember yet no one has so far. There might be some in depth lecture about it but have not encountered it.

[@LancesArmorStriking]

@@--Paws-- There's also a Joe Rohan podcast on it (of course)

[@Rafael_Mena_Ill]

There was civilization in the Amazons, and the massive structures were mounds, not made of "branches and sticks. The Ancient America's youtube channel just made a video on the subject a week ago, check that out instead of Joe Rogan or the History Channel.

[@malum9478]

@@LancesArmorStriking no thanks lol

[@LancesArmorStriking]

@@malum9478 Talk about judging a book by its cover

[@StefanMilo]

1:25 the pain of all history youtubers.

[@CogitoEdu]

Why didn't more people get high quality portraits made of themselves. Honestly it's just rude and coincident to people like us :D

[@tullochgorum6323]

Bravo! A much needed counterblast to the myth that the native Australians were uncultured primitives - a narrative that was very convenient to the colonialists and is still used to salve our consciences for the unthinkable damage we caused to their society.

[@ACBmonkey]

Also to continue the oppression.

[@Cecilia-ky3uw]

except a major part of the reason why australia is so barren is due to native burning, yeah harming natives was wrong, but the natives weren't saints and we should not consider them saints

[@tullochgorum6323]

@@Cecilia-ky3uw They didn't make it "barren" - they managed the environment to make it more productive for human habitation. Like we do with our field systems. I don't see how that makes them sinners, as you claim.

[@Cecilia-ky3uw]

@@tullochgorum6323 by burning down forests, they are one of the culprits of the deaths of much flora and fauna, and australia may have become a second united states had it not been so damn barren

[@tullochgorum6323]

@Berle Juice What world do you live in? You need to open your eyes to reality, my friend.

[@jiekenny9975]

Love the video as I am a Aboriginal here I didn't even know about the fish traps lol thanks!

[@ComaToast1]

True my bra we got some deadly history that goes deeper then just this be proud.

[@moi7107]

@@ComaToast1 yes you guys are deadly chur

[@ComaToast1]

@@moi7107 so is the Maoris much respect to all my brother s and sisters, uncle and aunties

[@moi7107]

@@ComaToast1 chur my bro mad respect for my deadly brothers and sisters Kotahitanga/Unity

[@wingsofsuspensionlifts6814]

looks up Pemulwuy... guy was a beast.. I've heard stories aboriginals use to carry snakes/frogs and spiders around with them? is that true?

[@HeidiSue60]

This video, and the one about Potatoes saving the world, made me feel so sad. When the conquerors come in and destroy cultures, they lose SO much. The world loses so much.

[@jjk087]

Like what? Sticks?

[@overbeb]

@@jjk087 More like sustainable agriculture and land management that doesn't deplete soil fertility.

[@brodiekeown4494]

yeah....who needs advanced society when you could have ground moth paste for dinner and a life expectancy no higher than 30.....

[@MrCmon113]

@Pyotr V ... he wrote on his computer sitting in a nice heated room.

[@patbingsoo5219]

@@MrCmon113 How does this imply that he needs advanced society? That argument is not well formed at all.

[@rickkinsman7400]

Given that there were only about 100,000 locals in total in an enormous continent when the British arrived, it's unlikely that there would have been enough people to create the enterprises and communities mentioned on the scale claimed. As for destroying the wildlife, it has been pretty well established that many entire species of large wildlife were hunted to extinction long before white men arrived by the people claimed to have been sensible stewards of the land.

[@kaosisback8376]

Right and he glorifies fire with no irony as the entirety of Australia was burnt into a desert by the natives. He's literally talking only about the coastal cities that survived

[@seana5942]

100,000? Most scholars estimate the population to have been at least 300,000 to over 1,000,000 before 1788. The population in NSW alone is estimated to have been at least 100,000. And it's not like they were spread evenly across the entire continent-some places would've been more densely populated. Also, if by the species that were hunted to extinction you mean the megafauna, that happened 40,000 years ago.

[@mikimorgz]

​@kaosisback8376 The desert doesn't have trees to burn in the first place. Also, gum trees need to be burned to be fertile and produce their seeds. Fires would have been naturally occurring because of how the trees environmentally adapt for wild fire. Indigenous people simply learned how to control the wild fires.

[@Chopperdog]

This is true my tribal land has been growing back with traditional land management while the Aussie farmers land near us is a barren dust bowl 😂.

[@barrymcfuzz7102]

thats incredible hopefully the traditional methods will be accepted again so the land can grow healthy again

[@omarduncan4904]

@Ibroxeagle May i ask why he is an idiot?

[@autumnhomer9786]

TheBadassPatrol I’m glad these Ancient farming techniques have not been lost.

[@Chopperdog]

@@autumnhomer9786 if you want to learn more about accent farming look up Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe on KZbin he shares a lot of info about how Australia was before the English invasion.

[@Chopperdog]

@@barrymcfuzz7102 Most Australians are to ignorant to learn how to manage the land they have no connection with it they blame us for burning Australia but most of the county was a huge grain field look up Dark Emu on KZbin you will be shocked want we had going on here for thousands of years.

[@deafwhales9832]

Hey! I’m so happy to see my culture being represented on KZbin!!! I’m from the Ngunnawal tribe and it’s pronounced none-a-wall Thank you!! 😊

[@charki40]

Ngatta (greetings) my kin. Im Gunditjmara (SW Vic) and yeah, he acknowledged he butchered the pronunciations of nations. He gave it a go...lol. Love the video too. Glad to see our history being told finally. Hope your well. Wurruk. (bye)

[@seanowens3153]

shame most of its misinformation.

[@MrMrMuhummad]

This video has done a justice to my people’s history all my life I’ve been told of what my people used to do before the British Empire arrived and now seeing it Animated and on KZbin my favourite website had made my heart jump with Joy. Thank you mate my people are the Ngarigo one of the Alp tribes that was described as “Glistening” after they had their moth buffets 🥰 something my Grandmother never told me about the moth hunts

[@klenovyysirop12]

@The Purple Helicopter Moth Hunt?

[@SundariAtari]

@@klenovyysirop12 6:50 explains the moth hunt

[@nevillelamberti]

Pop another cap mate. Having a trippy day are you ?

[@klenovyysirop12]

@@nevillelamberti Do you think they hunt moths? Like the little bugs? With a bow and arrow?

[@スノーハッピー]

@@klenovyysirop12 someone literally linked you to the relevant part of the video -_-

[@Elephantgamer-bq7gs]

I told this to my science teacher and he said the reason we don’t know this is becuase the British wanted to think that aboriginals were cavemen so that it would be ok to steal there stuf

[@Elephantgamer-bq7gs]

@Jamie there is a bit of a problem with figuring out where aboriginals were in terms of technology because there were so many different tribes. Some were better then others, also about the whole fighting over cigarettes thing is there evidence that they used to fight over food if there is please let me know because I’m very curious about it so I personally think it’s because after colonisation they got left on the streets, then like homeless people do they got themselves drugged up and started acting like homeless people, I think the solution to that is give them there own independent state that they get to take care of like in the old days

[@crystalwolcott4744]

@Jamie Explain this to me like I'm an American.

[@InterpolBulliedMe]

@Jamie you're a racist pos I hope you know that.

[@arthurdent6828]

​@@Elephantgamer-bq7gsAs with all humans there were a few asshole tribes and they did have their wars. But mostly they were fairly amicable.

[@buddhachimp9226]

"how the aboriginals built Australia" is a bit misleading. Before Europeans, there was no Australia.

[@richardbaker2701]

I Appreciate the care and respect that went into this video on a historically neglected people in a pretty forgotten corner of the world. Cheers mate

[@ihaka439]

Under their management you wouldn't have the sad tragedy that is raging across Aus now.

[@orkadian4173]

What a leap of faith that statement is. We have the current situation because we have people wanting to live on the fringe in predominantly Eucalypt forests, and not clear the accumulation of fire loading every year or so to prevent bushfires. Plus our 'Greens' have prevented hazard reduction burns for so long it has come back to burn us, literally.

[@StuffandThings_]

@@orkadian4173 Well... did you watch the video? Precisely _because_ they were careful, the land was well managed and burned frequently to rejuvenate it. And they created lots of productive pastureland, perfect for habitation. Reinstating such management probably would help.

[@orkadian4173]

@@StuffandThings_ That's the problem you don't get! The video is the re-writing. Grow up until you have some form of REAL counter! I have studied this for years. and it has been dumbed down since 1980! Why?! Because the Mabo otcome suggested we need to look at reality differently! Why? Because it means money and power to certain people. Do som REAL research prior to 1980...

[@arthurdent6828]

​​@@orkadian41731980. Wrong. For atarters the Mabo decision was 92 and this had been documented about 150 years before then. Are you suggesting the journals of various explorers published in the mid to late 19th century were false? Gee. It's a pity we named so many rivers,deserts and other geographical features after such liars isn't it? SMH. Read a book.

[@orkadian4173]

@@arthurdent6828 Where do you get YOUR books. Try Non-Fiction!

[@jonathonjones7068]

We brought a European land management that wasn't in Europe or with a climate like the northern hemisphere. So obviously this didn't work. We also cleared massive amounts of forest on the east coast for grazing.

[@stsk1061]

What do you mean it didn't work? Today, Australia produces like 100 times the amount of food it did before.

[@alt4374]

@@stsk1061 Yeah and it's not sustainable. Now you're dependent on an agricultural system that can't continue indefinitely without completing destroying your home. Not very smart

[@alt4374]

@@stsk1061 Not only that, but how many species have had to go extinct, how heavily has biodiversity suffered, making Australia EVEN MORE vulnerable to the oncoming effects of climate change

[@stsk1061]

@@alt4374 Why is it not sustainable?

[@joepetto9488]

Australia is also much wealthier today than under the aboriginals.

[@MseeBMe]

I migrated to Australia in 2000 and I’ve never heard of the majority of the information in this video, thank you for making this.

[@fluchtigziege3202]

well now you are dumber having heard it, there is a reason you didnt hear about it, because its a complete load of piss

[@gratscott5632]

I'm an australian, I have recently finished learning Australian history through school. We do not acknowledge any of this This does not mean that I don't believe the video. I think my experience will add to the argument

[@gratscott5632]

@čp i did learn a little about the genocides in year 11 however that was not part of my course, it was an extra expansion bit that we did to understand a novel that discussed the genocide. Just an update

[@marcomaddox]

Read Bruce Pascoes "Dark Emu" it documents through the diaries of the first explorers' eyes and writings = credible witnesses. It will amaze you.

[@anugranmathimugan2778]

@@marcomaddox And Bruce got pilloried for it , not sure why there are so many in our country want to maintain the image of indigenous folk not capable of anything apart from hunter gatherers .

[@kranzonguam]

Thank you for this! Awareness of the achievements of earlier cultures has been ignored for too long. Living in Micronesia for the last 25 years, I am frequently surprised at the technical achievements of these peoples that are being swept under the rug of "history." Your point about how we need to learn how our ancestors managed their world is of increasing importance, as we run into our failures as stewards.

[@professorslothingtons7471]

Awesome video on a super interesting and overlooked topic! Also loved the prophecy of WHALEY BOY

[@CogitoEdu]

ALL HAIL THE WHALE

[@steveboy7302]

what about whale rider

[@ripme6616]

There's more to that story look up Davidson family whaling in Eden

[@ganjalfthegreen5312]

Thought about triggerly puff immediately

[@Shasen589]

I’m amazed that a lot of this information can be found in the Melbourne museum’s aboriginal and Pacific Islander exhibits. It’s not really common for me to find high quality videos going into detail on how aboriginal cultures thrived in pre-colonial times.

[@The_Stoic_PhilosopherAU]

They were hunter gstherers

[@shivagoundan8886]

no, they had agriculture so not hunter gatherers

[@kathrynperry992]

​@shivagoundan8886 They were nomadic. They travelled to where the food was. When it was depleted, they moved on.

[@shivagoundan8886]

@@kathrynperry992there's no evidence of that, Just a bunch of colonial excuses for Terra Nullius.

[@Lux-x4y]

​@@kathrynperry992within their tribal land boundaries just like a big backyard garden how genius are Aboriginals for creating a superior culture than the British! Aboriginals had it figured out thousands of years before Europeans

[@woodytugg]

they were probably hunters and farmers that were nomadic

[@BlackRabbit223]

The Bush tomato is definitely not dependant on people to survive, grows like crazy and is near impossible to kill. Also one of the most bitter things I have ever eaten, makes moth cakes seem tasty.

[@bellslayed]

this will help with my assignment thank u so much ! such a well written and made video haha

[@biragaba]

What did you write in your assignment ?

[@saytaylor3603]

There's probably far more advanced tech to be found in Australia, but any kind of archaeological dig gets stopped dead as so as they find a body, which is almost inevitable after 50,000 years of population.

[@saturnproductions1827]

I honestly did not know about 90% of this stuff you have a new subscriber

[@nevillelamberti]

I can assure you that you never knew about 90 % of it because 100 % of it is false. Now you know that the other 10% that you did 'know' about is also crap and you can toss it out and don't watch any of this or similar shit again.

[@saturnproductions1827]

@Neville Lamberti what I mean but 10% is the stone structures at Lake Condah But now thinking about it that’s 0.1% EDIT: I also knew about cool burning so 1%

[@nevillelamberti]

@@saturnproductions1827 so you agree that the video is 99.9% crap then ?

[@saturnproductions1827]

@Neville Lamberti no but I’m still New to this aboriginal farming so I’m still researching

[@saturnproductions1827]

@Neville Lamberti why do you think it is fake just curious...

[@robinaboy]

The position that small tribes with stone tools “cleared the land” and “tilled the earth” just doesn’t stack up. The labour required to remove fallen burnt timber and stumps would be far too energy sapping for a people whose very survival depended on conserving as much energy as possible. There is evidence the Aborigines managed naturally occurring grass seeds, fruits and vegetables, but to suggest they were clearing land for farms is not backed by the physical record. There is much to be proud of and fascinated by in Aboriginal culture. The didgeridoo and boomerang are ingenious inventions. But they are possibly the only civilisation that didn’t think of the bow and arrow, which flies in the face of theories that Aborigines were in an advanced stage of existence that was rudely interrupted and willingly suppressed by the “evil” white man.

[@no-body-22]

Unfortunately this common sense is very rare.

[@BrandonjSlippingAway]

Thanks for the video, as recently as this year (2019) a Victorian Indigenous aquaculture site has been listed as a UNESCO world heritage site, and funds are going towards building a potential visitor centre. It's estimated the site is about 6,600 years old.

[@arnbo88]

It should be pointed out that Aboriginals also made mistakes. It was they who were responsible for the extinction of much of the megafauna on the Australian continent. Much of this thousands of years before the arrival of Captain Cook.

[@oftin_wong]

I love all the farm tools that aboriginals invented ...and their systems of farming they documented to sustain their agricultural science program

[@JustaGuy-pm9ub]

I believe they had great land management that we could use today. It is too bad so much knowledge has been lost around the world.

[@cvbcbvdfghv2296]

@Trousersnake Pliskin what about you shut up

[@Choodcel]

9:45 That's not what aquaculture is. They weren't feeding the fish, or maintaining reproduction in a controlled environment. It was just another method of hunting, hardly anything close to agriculture

[@thotimusprimeofficial273]

Aboriginal australians don’t get nearly enough respect, especially in our education system. This would’ve been amazing to learn as a child but it doesn’t match the narrative the older generations wants to portray of our first nation people. I can only imagine what learning this as an aboriginal child would’ve done for your pride in your identity.

[@galahad6001]

It's just not true that's why you were not taught it...

[@cnrdflx2318]

@@galahad6001and what makes you think that 😂😂😂

[@galahad6001]

Because the bloke telling the story is Irish...they too have a warped sense of history ... Apparently the British introduced the potato to them and then took it away.

[@gothicusmaximus5697]

you forgot the bit where the aboriginal fire use early on made australia a desert in the first place.

[@Jimmy_Johns]

Controlled fires is what made Australia so fertil even in the parts that are now deserts. The British, thier cattle, their camels and bunies, and the displacement of aboriginals made it the sh*thole it is now

[@ashy2127]

I love how you throw subtle shade at England from time to time (I'm from India)

[@MichaelBrown-ul9ph]

Do you believe in Noah's Ark as well

[@Tenast_]

Great video. Greetings from a Tunisian Amazigh to the lovely Aboriginal Australians.

[@dglukesluthier]

This is fascinating. Thanks so much for sharing

[@619G_]

Thank you so much for this I love learning about indigenous people

[@willsim813]

My people, my pride.

[@bbaazzzz1]

Yeah so I’m Australian and they don’t teach much of this stuff in school, maybe dream time stuff when we’re young but nothing like this, good job man

[@Drskopf]

The life of Aboriginal Australian It has remarkable similarities with the natives from North and South American , if you can read all this stuff on this book. 1491 before Christopher Columbus. Author Charles Mann, the Caucasian race living in those land as should be more humble and finally embrace the local culture that survived for thousands of years adapting to its environment

[@matthewmalpeli]

One of the few aspects of aboriginal culture I learned as a child in Perth was their connection to the land and the care they once put into it. Now, I know the why for this emphasis. Suddenly, it all makes a whole lot of sense. The injustice of Australian colonisation was nothing short of a continent wide vandalism. This continent is a crime scene. I feel sick by what they did and continue to do to indigenous Australians.

[@matthewmalpeli]

@Jarrod Maine You realise that the bootlickers will call you a bunch of postmodernist neo-Marxists attempting to indoctrinate children into your pagan communist sorcery ways, don't you? They'll demand a level of evidence that is simply not possible and that's what they'll use as their hammer against indigenous land rights. While they cheer on the boot being held at the throats of indigenous Australians under the Northern Territory Intervention powers.

[@adenkunz4747]

Thats why you have to take it with a grain of salt. Youd think that schools would ram this down our throats, given how much they pamder to leftist ideology

[@matthewmalpeli]

@@adenkunz4747Leftist ideology? In Australian schools? BWAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, that was a good one. For a moment there I thought you were being serious

[@kanora582]

@1:45 it's called 'MurNong' you missed the N. I'm indigenous australian and i grow murnong

[@jorgeh.r9879]

That's pretty cool. What tribe/group are you from?

[@kanora582]

@@jorgeh.r9879 Dharug and Gundagurra

[@westall6662]

Im australian and i thought i knew a fair bit about the Aboriginals but im starting to realise i knew stuff all and what i thought i knew is completely wrong i guaranty the average ausie has no idea how advanced the Aboriginal people where

[@eloise_creative_studios9978]

Thank you for this video man, im so glad pre colonial Australian history is being talked about. Since iv been old enough to learn history from elders and teachers, iv been trying to learn alot more about this kind of stuff!! Cheers from aus!

[@Choodcel]

This video is just regurgitation of 'Dark emu' which is a politically charged book that's widely criticized for poor history.

[@leondrolet354]

Aboriginal Australian agriculturalists? Interesting and worth learning more, but I'm skeptical of the credibility of this video because of the "what noble savages!" trope woven throughout. The old, "they lived in perfect balance with nature" portrayal of an indigenous culture is usually a romantization. Just as in almost every continent human immigrated to, Australia experienced a massive extinction of megafauna soon after human arrival. Also, if agriculture was as extensive as described in the vid, wouldn't denser population centers (cities) have become established (more so than described in the vid)? Yet I am unaware of much archaeological evidence of such cities.

[@TheUltimateWriterNZ]

So read the dozens of sources he's given.

[@urmum3773]

@@TheUltimateWriterNZ You missed the point

[@forlornhope7121]

Good thought

[@RegSorrell]

Read ‘Dark Emu’ for all your answers, great book!

[@trebell885]

I'm a 57yr old waradjuri man from Alexandria Sydney. In & out of institutions 50yrs. Lost my way last 30yrs. This woman; Ella Noah Bancroft, Like my mother, (R,I,P). Re stores hope, things gon be ok. Thank U 2all the Ella's out there trying 2make changes 4the betterment of all?? Atom heart mother. Shine on you crazy diamond ☘️✌️☮️☢️🌴

[@StMaanco]

do you have a fully referenced script?

[@TimChuma]

The eel traps in South Western Victoria have been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site as of 2019.

[@daniyalk713]

and the English destroyed this nature friendly civilization

[@forlornhope7121]

They regularly had conflict with other tribed. There were hundreds of tribed and no way could there were peace all the time. Even in their dreamtime stories. I lived in Katherine, Northern Territory. A meeting point for three tribes in the region. They regularly agrued and needed their own management groups to maintain peace.

[@JoelReid]

As a science teacher in North West I teach indigenous land management. This video has made it onto my program this year as part of my teaching. I found it exceptionally relevant given the large fires in Australia this year, which would have been far less dangerous if people had been managing the land properly.

[@steinanderson]

the aboriginals started fires to flush animals out, not for managing the land itself.

[@marcblank3036]

Very interesting to learn this. However, during the 40,000 years of human presence many large animals have become extinct (due to Human activity?) A lot of time was available to learn the lessons of resource management

[@histrianoronaldo179]

As Australian students, we acknowledge the creator of this video and the information included. We respect how you gave the right information and are giving the respect the Aboriginal crew deserve. We appreciate the facts, the hard work and detail you have put in the video, along with the double checking your facts. Thanks, Histriano Ronaldo

[@narelleday434]

It’s my understanding that a lot of the environmentally healthy land practices were perfected around 8000 years ago. This is informative, and I would love to see the source material referenced with pier reviewed documents.

[@guillaumerusengo9371]

It's been established that agriculture appeared independently in Papua-New Guinea.

[@guillaumerusengo9371]

10000 years ago!

[@MrAnperm]

New Guinea is where banana and sugar cane were first domesticated.

[@MelaniaRose]

Actually all Indigenous people around the world have their own agricultural history

[@zombieat]

@@MelaniaRose source?

[@StuffandThings_]

The desire to grow things seems to be deeply rooted in humanity.

[@charki40]

Great video, I loved the animations and your commentary (made me laugh in a good way). Just an update. The eel traps and houses around Lake Condah, (called Budj Bim cultural landscape) was given World Heritage listing by UNESCO a few weeks ago. We are proud of our home and welcome local and international visitors anytime. Cheers from the Gunditjmara Nation.

[@konstantinoskotsomytis2544]

Great video as always dude, your channel is gold. Oh and btw from now on all your videos must be narrated by Thomas Mitchell.

[@CogitoEdu]

Thanks, I'll send all future scripts to Thomas for narration :D

[@higherresolution4490]

It's interesting how a KZbin channel like this one cannot only compete, but can exceed the integrity and production efforts of a professional crew, such as BBC horizon. Much gratitude for producing this video. It was excellent!

[@CogitoEdu]

Wow, thank you!

[@MargaretteAnnWaren-Roberts]

This knowledge should be taught in schools ots an awakening for us, who came later.

[@ohjinmyoung7350]

We say in east asian countries, in the eyes of a buddha there are only buddhas and in the eyes of a dog, ( dogs were considered base animals)there are only dogs. Europeans who knew only to plunder and destroy never could see that the land was carefully preserved.

[@Greyalien587]

Humans aren’t stupid…they probably did what was necessary and lived a life that worked for them

[@royhay5741]

What's wrong with being hunter-gatherers?

[@jxjc1]

Nothing, in fact it is better because of egalitarianism, less famine, more time for culture, less wars. Hunter gatherers always meet their daily nutritional intake except during wars. Agriculture has brought about more wars, more famines and overpopulation. Also include patriachy, racism and more.

[@royhay5741]

@@jxjc1And civilised people are slaves to money. We spend far way too much time working, which is such a waste of life, if one can even call it life.

[@thiagozequim]

In south Brazil fishermen get help from dolphins who make the fishes flee towards the fish nets. It's mutualism

[@social3ngin33rin]

@3:33 are you sure the Dr. wasn't having a laugh in his sketching >_> Or maybe it was an ancient insider joke by the natives because they're were very insightful to their people's work. lololol, considering how much they cared for and planned their continent (as the video claims), it's not entirely out of the question :P

[@Skelegoblin]

Hey you didn't butcher those names very much at all! This has been an excellent video, but I would advise you to add a disclaimer to the top of the description that "this video contains the names images of deceased persons", as this is important to many indigenous cultures to avoid the mention and eye contact of passed people.

[@Skelegoblin]

@Lord Farquaad "The Natives reject european culture" They didn't fuckin ask for it did they.

[@LyleStacpoole]

thanks for this great docco - I have always had a great respect for the original Aussies having had a few Aboriginal friends early in my life. I have been seeing more and more of this type of information coming out in the last 20 years but this is the most comprehensive I have seen. The Australian Aboriginal also gave us the the best game on the face of the earth!!!! he he he he - Marn Grook is now "almost' universally recognised as the original game that our great Australian Rules Football is based on ... YAY!!! thanks guys!!!! and thanks you Cogito again for a great docco!!

[@murrvvmurr]

9:00 aren't there folks who similarly fish with the aid of dolphins?

[@nswpublicservant]

Never met an Aboriginal who has learned to farm from their families, they have all learned to hunt (exceptionally) from their ancestors. This new age nonsense is new to Aboriginal people, it's just misinterpreted deliberately.

[@anushilamazumder2153]

This vid is so good! love the animation!😉👍

[@mountainman6172]

Top notch and very engaging.

[@thomasschaefer5898]

Apparently aboriginals made solar panels and antigravity vehicles to but the Europeans removed all evidence of this.

[@DonDon45-i5h]

such a funny and cool comment

[@padriachooper91]

​@@DonDon45-i5hwell said. All this comment deserved.

[@padriachooper91]

All this comment deserved

[@chrsmcfrln]

An ancient Aboriginal prophecy about a half-whale, half-man would come to unite our worlds? Clive Palmer! Give us another chance!

[@スノーハッピー]

lolllllll

[@KelThaFunkeeGaming]

Coming back to this video now with the bush fires in the news. Why do settlers ruin everything

[@Daoland-Everywhere]

I am very happy with this video. In my anthropology studies this wasn't touched. O had about 8 aboriginals staying with me for a while in Amsterdam and they told me some things bit o couldn't really relate. But this clarifies a lot. Can you offer more sources?

[@evanhadkins5532]

On the explorers and first nation's agriculture, Bruce Pascoe - Dark Emu. The book referenced in the video, The Biggest Estate on Earth is by Bill Gammage.

[@D.L.Hunter.Palmer]

A lot of this is amazing and the Australian school curriculum could definitely benefit from greater emphasis on these topics. But some of this also seems to exaggerate or distort the history and practices of the aboriginal people. Your emphasis on the tragic extinction of Australian mammalian species in the past century, is particularly troubling. As the aboriginal people were far from the great preservers and saviors of Australian native wildlife this video portrays them aa. In the first few centuries in which the presence Homo sapiens (in australias case aboriginal people) on the Australian mainland can be verified, 95% of the native megafauna was driven to extinction. That is far higher than what we saw in Africa where modern humans drove around 30% of megafauna to extinction, Europe and Western Asia where 50%-60% was driven to extinction, East Asia where 70% of the megafauna was driven to extinction or survived only on a few isolated islands, or even the americas where 85%-90% of megafauna was also wiped out. And anyone who's ever come across a koala covered in burns desperate for water, knows the annual burning is hardly a great solution. I found a mother koala half cooked alive from the fire below, stuck up a tree that had barely survived, with her dead baby still clinging to her back. Nothing I ever hope to see again.

[@lavenderspring142]

Wow your channel is a well researched wealth of information on world history. Keep up the good work!

[@thelightinthisdarkworld2649]

I've been to the Brewarrina Fist Traps and people still fish there.

[@whattherichardd]

Great video, you're doing important work. Not enough people know about this stuff.

[@ullumhero9002]

Thanks for this video😁👌🏽 much love and respect.

[@tacitdionysus3220]

I think we're still making the same fundamental mistake. Early settlers projected their concepts of how land should be managed onto what they saw; and mostly couldn't see what was being done. All we are doing now is projecting a newer contemporary view (conditioned by an equally transient sentimental western environmentalist view) onto what aboriginal people did. Aboriginal people are probably equally puzzled and perplexed by both. They did things quite differently from old European ideas of agriculture, but equally there is nothing sentimental / environmentalist about the aboriginal approach; if anything it is more like what we would call a pragmatic use of the land. We like to imagine we're more open to understanding other cultures, but still often fail to really listen to them, think we 'understand', but continue to distort our understanding of their practices and purposes to conveniently fit our paradigm. In a century's time we'll look back on such thinking and feel just as embarrassed that we again really didn't 'get it'. We're just exchanging one set of cliches for another, while the real situation is far more diverse, rich and complex.

[@nachannachle2706]

Very good point. History is too often written by romantically and nostalgically-inclined minds who ferociously believe it's their missions to bring the "glorious past" back to life. There has to be a middle-ground somewhere.

[@steinanderson]

in 60,000 years on one of the largest land masses in the world, they only grew to a population of 500-750,000. I'd say the settlers were right.