During our time in Cairns, I’ve learned about the culture and history of the Aboriginals, Australia’s indigenous people. Australia is home to over 500 indigenous tribes, and Cairns in particular hosts a number of attractions for visitors to learn about these people.
Our evening cultural tour at the Tjapukai Cultural Park was our first opportunity to learn about Aboriginal culture within the Djabugay people. We were treated to dance and musical performances to entertain and explain how the tribes functioned and were then served a large buffet with many local food products. You could see that entertainment was a large part of their traditional culture, and I found it interesting that to this day they are still using entertainment, only these days it is in order to provide employment to their people and to educate visitors.
Upon further research, I learned that the Tjapukai Cultural Park gives back to the indigenous community through employment opportunities for Aboriginal people (with two-thirds of employees being Aboriginals) and by stimulating local economy through its purchase of aboriginal art.
Our Down Under Tour took us to the Mossman Gorge Centre where we were given a presentation by the traditional owners of the gorge, the Kuku Yalanji people. Here we learned about how the Kuku Yalanji people used products from their land to entertain and heal. Entertainment was a very important part of their early culture, which is why they would use the clay from the gorge to paint their faces to tell stories. They also had many different remedies for ailments that they had discovered from the vegetation on their land.
On my own, I was able to talk to a local who gave us some information on the Aboriginals that you now see around town. Historically, the Aboriginals have been pushed off of their land and relocated. The European settlers would try to control the Aboriginal people because they felt like the practices of their culture were not acceptable. The gentleman that we talked to said that these days, there is a large population of homeless Aboriginals that live in the Cairns area. To this day, because they have been pushed out of their land, they struggle. The city has even created laws about how much alcohol can be sold at certain times of the day in hopes that it will help to thwart the drinking problems seen in many of these Aboriginal people.
While learning about these Aboriginal people, I can’t help but think of the Native American Indians and the similarities between the two. Both were pushed out of their land by European settlers and were left in circumstances that many see as unfair.
While both the Aboriginals and the American Indians may have been pushed out of their land, I find it interesting that both have found ways to use their culture and history to survive through different business ventures. For the Aboriginals, it is all of the tourism opportunities they have made available for visitors. Between entertainment and art, they have found a way to support their communities and stimulate the economy.
While I don’t know much about the Native American Indians, I do know that they often use the land that was granted to them by the government to their economic advantage. You will find things like casinos and many shops filled with their art and products available. While a casino may seem like a silly thing to compare to the Aboriginal entertainment, I believe that it shows how both cultures have persevered through the oppression they have historically faced in order to create a means of living.