Club Info  

 

             

 Aboriginal

  Timeline

             Budgerigar, Water Dreaming            

                                       Courtesy Charlie Egalie               

                      Japaltjarri 1991                  

 

 

120.000 B.P.                                 The Land was being cleared by use of fire in the Lake George Basin in the

                                                    Southern Tablelands of N. S. W.

55.000-60.000 B.P.                        A site in Arnhemland in the Northern Territory where a shelter was used by people

                                                    about 60.000 years ago. They used  stone tools and red ochre to prepare pigments

                                                    for rock painting and/or body decoration.

45.000 B.P.                                   Rock engravings made in S.A. the earliest dated petroglyphs.

35.00 B.P.                                    At Willandra Lakes Districts in Western N. S. W. an Aboriginal family left a

                                                    midden of mussel shells, charcoal and ash from a dinner camp.

36.780 B.P.                                  Aboriginal underground oven from this period at Lake Mungo

                                                    N. S. W. shows continuity with recent historical times.

30.000 B.P.                                   A man from Lake Munga area is buried in a shallow grave. His forearm bone stained with ochre.

29.500 B.P.                                   Devils Hair in the South West of Western Australia, is home to Aboriginals who left

                                                    bone tool artefacts including bone beads of split pointed macropod shin bones.

                                                    The cave was occupied from this time to 6.000 B.P.

26.500 B.P.                                   A body of a woman from Lake Munga provides earliest evidence of ritual cremation

                                                    in the world. The body is prepared with ochre before cremation.

23.000 B.P.                                   Aboriginals living at Malangangani Arnhemland and using ground edge grooved

                                                    axes.

22.000 B.P.                                  Earliest recorded occupation of the Central Desert at Piritjarra.

15.000 - 24000 B.P.                       Deep caves under the Nullarbor Plains at Koonalda. Aboriginal mining flint and

                                                    leaving grooved designs on cave walls.

20.000 B.P.                                   At Devils Hair engravings are being made

18.000 B.P.                                   Miriwan Western Australia ground edge axes are in use in the Pilbara.

18.000 B.P.                                   In Arnhemland grindstones are being used for hard fruits, seeds and vegetables.

                                                    Grindstones are also being used to prepare ochre.

18.000. B.P.                                  Art at Ubirr in Kakadu depicts now extinct animals

17.500 B.P.                                   Rock shelter at Colless Creek on Barkly Tablelands is occupied

12.000 - 15.000 B.P.                      At Kow Swamp in Victoria Aboriginals were wearing Kangaroo teeth head bands

                                                    similar to those in the Central Desert in the 19th Century.

12.000 B.P.                                   End of the glacial periods, seas rise separating Tasmania from the mainland.

10.000 B.P.                                   Aboriginals at Wyrie Swamp are using boomerangs of returning type to catch

                                                    waterfowl.

9.000 - 7.000 B.P.                          Earliest visible sign of belief in the Rainbow Serpent. The earliest religion in the

                                                    world.

6.500 - 7.500 B.P.                          Burial at Lake Nitchie includes a necklace of Thylacine teeth. It consists of 178 teeth

                                                    from approx 47 animals

5.000 B.P.                                    About this time a new small tool technology is developing in South Eastern

                                                    Australia. By 3.000 B.C. the technology has spead to Cape York.

1.000 B.P.                                     Dugout canoes were being used along Australias Northern coast.

543 B.P.- 1451 AD                         Dutch documents record journeys of Macassan Trepangers to

                                                    " Marege" as the Macassans call Australia.

406 B.P.- 1588 AD                         Trade between Aboriginals and Macassans continue until it is stopped by the South

                                                     Australian government in 1906.

224 B.P.- 1770 AD                         Cook claims to take possession of the East Coast of Australia by raising the British

                                                     Flag at Possession Point of the Northern tip of Cape York Peninsula.

206 B.P.- 1788 AD                         Cook raises the Union Jack at Sydney Cove and the invasion begins. The Aboriginal

                                                    population is more than 750.000, resistance is immediate. Within a few months of

                                                    the tall ships arriving Aboriginals kill two convicts at Rushcutter Bay.

195 B.P.- 1799 AD                         Aboriginal resistance flares in Parramatta and Hawkesbury area.

190 B.P. - 1804 AD                        In Tasmania settlers are authorised to shoot Aboriginals.

170 B.P. - 1824 AD                        Conflict with Aboriginals and Whites in the Bathurst area becomes serious so

                                                    martial law is declared

164 B.P. - 1830 AD                       Govenor Arthur gets 5000 men to line up across Tasmania and walk the length of the

                                                    Island to force the Aboriginals into the Tasmanian Peninsula.

160 B.P. - 1834 AD                       Western Australia's Governor Stirling leads 25 mounted Police against Aboriginals

                                                    following attacks on white settlements. Aboriginal account says a tribe was wiped

                                                    out.

159 B.P. - 1835 AD                       Blankets and goods were exchanged for 250.000 hectares of land

157 B.P. - 1837 AD                       In London a Parliamentary Select Committee reports that genocide is accuring.

156 B.P. - 1838 AD                       The first Aboriginal Protectorate is established for Port Phillip. 300 Aboriginal

                                                    resistance fighters attack 17 white men killing 10. Some 28 Aboriginals are killed in

                                                    return. At Myll Creek N. S. W. 12 white men shoot and burn 28 Aboriginals. 7 of the

                                                    white men were hung in December, but there was an outcry from the white sector,

                                                    why anyone should hang for killing an Aboriginal.

146 B.P. - 1848 AD                       N.S.W. Police troops are brought to Queensland to kill Aboriginals to open up land

                                                    for white settlement.

132 B.P. - 1851 AD                       Protection Board for Aboriginals is setup and continued until 1957

126 B.P. - 1868 AD                       First Aboriginal Cricket team left Sydney for England. 150 Aboriginals killed for

                                                    resisting arrest in the Kimberleys.

125 B.P. - 1869 AD                       Act of Protection and Management of Aboriginals passed in Victoria.

122 B.P. - 1872 AD                       Overland Telegraph line connect Adelaide to Darwin and cuts Aboriginal land down

                                                    the middle.

118 B.P. - 1876 AD                       Tasmania's Truganini dies

100 B.P. - 1894 AD                       Jandamurra declares war on white invaders in the West Kimberley. He held them at

                                                    bay for 6 years.

86 B.P. - 1908 AD                         The invalid and old age pension act provides social security for whites. But not for

                                                    the Aboriginal people.

84 B.P. - 1910 AD                         Enquiry is held after the massacre in the Kimberley's.

82 B.P. - 1912 AD                         Maternity allowance is introduced. But not for Aboriginals.

76 B.P. - 1918 AD                         In the Northern Territory the Aboriginal Ordinance forbids mining on Aboriginal

                                                   Reserves.

66 B.P. - 1928 AD                        Conniston massacre whites admit to shooting 31 Aboriginals after 1 white dingo

                                                   trapper is killed. Aboriginal records show lots more died.

63 B.P. - 1931 AD                        Arnhemland Aboriginal Reserve is declared.

56 B.P. - 1938 AD                        On 26th Jan Australian Aboriginal Conference is held in Sydney. First of many

                                                  demonstrations against inequality and injustice. In the celebrations of N.S.W. 

                                                  Aboriginals were trucked in from Western N.S.W. to Sydney and threatened with

                                                  starvation unless they played the role in the re-enactment of the events of 26th Jan

                                                  1788.

53 B.P. - 1941 AD                       Child endowment was brought in. But not for Aboriginals.

52 B.P. - 1942 AD                       Darwin is bombed by Japanese. Many Aboriginals relocated to

                                                  ' control  camps '. Some Aboriginals used to make up a special reconnaissance unit.

45 B.P. - 1949 AD                       Commonwealth electorial act extends the franchise to Aboriginal Ex Servicemen.

41 B.P. - 1953 AD                       Northern Territory Legislative Council passes a Bill giving Citizenship rights to all  

                                                  Northern Territory Aboriginals, except those in State care. Atomic tests conducted at

                                                  Emu South Australia, a black cloud passes over, leaving many Aboriginals with  

                                                  radiation sickness.

38 B.P. - 1957 AD                       Another atomic blast at Maralinga South Australia. More Aboriginals ill.

32 B.P. - 1962 AD                       Aboriginals given the right to vote after a referendum.

31 B.P. - 1963 AD                       In July a bark petition against mining on the Gove Peninsula is drawn up by the

                                                  Elders of effected clans, but is refused recognition because of lack of 'signatures'.

29 B.P. - 1965 AD                       Charlie Perkins leads a freedom ride through Western N.S.W. protesting

                                                  discrimination and  living conditions. Federal Government adopts a policy of

                                                  intergration of Aboriginal people.

27 B.P. - 1967 AD                       Referendum is held in May to change Frederal Constitution discriminating against  

                                                  Aboriginal people being counted in the census and giving Aboriginals equal rights.

23 B.P. - 1971 AD                       Noonkanbah station worker walk off - Gunatj elders, Milirrpum and others take on

                                                  Nabalco Pty Ltd and Commonwealth of Australia in the ' Gove Land Case ', following

                                                  on from the Bark petition - Larrakia people ' sit in ' on Baget Road, Darwin as a

                                                  protest to the theft of their land.

21 B.P. - 1972 AD                       Justice Woodward of the Aboriginal Land Commission delivers his first report, leaving

                                                  the way for a new approach to Aboriginal land rights.

19 B.P. - 1975 AD                       World Council of Indigenous Peoples is founded. An Aboriginal Land Fund is started

                                                  to buy land for Aboriginal Corporate bodies anywhere in Australia.

18 B.P. - 1976 AD                       Aboriginal Land Rights N.T. passed by Federal Parliament. Recognition of Aboriginal

                                                  Land ownership to about 11,000 Aboriginal people. The Pitjantjatjara Council is

                                                  formed [ Uluru area ].

17 B.P. - 1977 AD                       First land claim hearing for Crown Land at Borroloola commenced. Eye and Health

                                                  Program begins.

16 B.P. - 1978 AD                       Northern Territory Sacred Sites Ordinance. Prosecution for trespass and desecration

                                                  of Aboriginal Sites is passed.

15 B.P. - 1979 AD                       Aboriginal Development Commission is established.

14 B.P. - 1980 AD                       Pitjantjatjara Council advises Aboriginal Affairs Minister of the possible radioactive

                                                  contamination of Aboriginal people from Wallatinna Station South Australia.

13 B.P. - 1981 AD                       Pitjantjatjara Land Rights Act South Australia is passed and a large area of the State  

                                                  is returned to the Anangu Pitjantjatjara people.

12 B.P. - 1982 AD                       Aboriginals in Hermannsberg Mission granted free hold title.

11 B.P. - 1983 AD                       Aboriginal delegation of 5 people go to Geneva to United Nations Commission on

                                                  Human Rights.

1988                                           Tens of Thousands Aboriginals march the streets of Sydney on 26th Jan to celebrate

                                                  their survival over 200 years since invasion.

1991                                           Royal Commission into Deaths in Custody.

2000                                           Correboree 2000 - Half a million people of all races walk Sydney Harbour Bridge for

                                                  Reconcilliation...............................

 

 

                                                                                         

                                                                                                                   

                                                                     Home