Glossary of Aboriginal Australia terms

When you are learning about Aboriginal culture there are many unfamiliar words. This glossary of Australian Aboriginal terms explains them.

Aboriginal: Refers to the First Peoples of Australia but excludes those of the Torres Strait region.
Artefact: Any object made or modified by Aboriginal people, often stone tools or wooden objects. A group of artefacts (especially stone tools) located on the ground surface is referred to as artefact scatter.
Assimilation: A 19th century idea that Aboriginal people should be become 'white', convert to Christianity and learn how to work and live as Europeans. From the 1930s assimilation became Australian government policy.
Country: A term used by Aboriginal people to refer to the land to which they belong and their place of Dreaming. Aboriginal language usage of the word 'country' is much broader than standard English.
Culture: The accepted and traditionally patterned ways of behaving, and a set of common understandings shared by members of a group or community. Includes land, language, spirituality, ways of living and working artistic expression, relationships and identity.
Community: Important elements of a community are country, family ties and shared experience. Community is about interrelatedness and belonging, and is central to Aboriginality. Aboriginal people may belong to more than one community.
Custodian: A person charged with maintaining and passing on particular elements of cultural significance (e.g. knowledge, stories, songs, dances, language, ritual and imagery).
Discrimination: Unfair treatment on the basis of perceived differences between people.
Dreaming: The Dreaming has different meanings for different Aboriginal groups. The Dreaming can be seen as an embodiment of Aboriginal creation which gives meaning to everything. It establishes the rules governing relationships between the people, the land and all things for Aboriginal people.
Elder: Key go-to person within Aboriginal communities who is respected and consulted due to their experience, wisdom, knowledge, background and insight. Elder does not necessarily equate with age.
First Peoples: The term First Peoples is often used synonymously for Aboriginal people or Indigenous people.
Heritage: That which comes or belongs to one by reason of birth, sometimes also understood as 'descent' when talking about identity.
Indigenous: Native to a place or area, originating in and characterising a particular region or country.
Indigenous Australians: Term used to refer to the original inhabitants of Australia; always capitalised. Includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Many Aboriginal people don't like the term to be used to refer to them.
Kinship: Kinship includes the importance of all relationships, and of being related to and belonging to the land.
Land Rights: The struggle by Aboriginal people to gain acknowledgment of prior ownership of this land both legally and morally and allowing all the accompanying rights and obligations which stem from this association.
Land use: The way land and water are used and maintained both physically and spiritually. Modern land use can include non-Aboriginal parties.
Mabo: Eddie Koiki Mabo, whose Murray Island land claim led the High Court to recognise, for the first time, that a form of land title existed prior to Australia’s occupation by Great Britain in 1788. The High Court judgment, made in 1993, is usually referred to as the Mabo case.
Language group: Language is linked to particular geographical areas. The term 'language group' is often used in preference to the term 'tribe', and many Aboriginal people identify themselves through their language group.
Massacres: Indiscriminate killing of Aboriginal people by government forces, private killing parties and individuals.
Midden: Danish term referring to a large heap of shell and other food remains left by Aboriginal people at camp sites which built up over an extended period of time. Middens are often found near rock platforms and in proximity of fresh water.
Missions: Areas originally set up and governed by different religious denominations for Aboriginal people to live. Aboriginal people associate the term with trauma suffered from forced living conditions and abuse, rarely with positive memories.
Mob: A colloquial term that many Aboriginal people use to identify their people or communities.
Nation: A nation is a group of Aboriginal people who share the same language and area of land, river and sea that is their traditional land.
Native title: Form of land title which recognises Aboriginal people as rightful owners of that land. Involves a prolonged process which often ends in litigation before a court.
National Native Title Tribunal: An independent statutory body to assist people to resolve native title issues.
Racism: Discrimination on the basis of perceived racial differences. Racism takes on many forms, e.g. attitudinal, institutional or cultural.
Rarrk: The fine cross-hatching used by artists of western and central Arnhem Land. Similar patterns are known as miny'tji and dhulang in the region's east. The patterns are used to identify clans in the region.
Reconciliation: A Commonwealth initiative to promote reconciliation between Aboriginal people and the wider community and to redress Aboriginal disadvantage.
Reserves: Areas of land reserved by the Crown for Aboriginal people in the 19th century. Much of this land was later taken from Aboriginal people again. Until the 1970s the remaining reserves were administered and controlled by government.
Scarred tree: A tree injured by Aboriginal people to extract a piece of bark for making a canoe, a shelter or utensil. Some trees have been marked for ceremonial purposes only.
Self-determination: When Aboriginal people determine their affairs themselves, including decision making, interacting with non-Aboriginal parties and creating the solution to a problem.
Site: Aboriginal sites are places of importance and significance to Aboriginal people because they provide a link to former or current traditions, people or practices.
Stations: Living areas established by governments for Aboriginal people on which managers and matrons controlled (and 'cared for') Aboriginal people.
Terra nullius: A concept in international law meaning 'a territory belonging to no-one' or 'over which no-one claims ownership'. The concept has been used to justify the invasion and colonisation of Australia.
Torres Strait Islanders: Refers to the First Peoples of the Torres Strait region (as compared to the mainland people).
Wandjina: Striking figure represented by people in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, featuring a halo effect around the face. Wandjinas are recognised as having a significant role in natural and spiritual events.