Introducing the Australian Arandas.

The main tribe of Australia are the Aboriginal tribe, also known as the Aranda people. As a tribe, you would not think that the Aranda's would be interested into other cultures and other people. I would think that a tribe would be very traditional and like to keep their tribes within their culture. However, the Aboriginals are very friendly people and love to learn new facts about other cultures and how people view the world. They are down to Earth and they love their landscape. They respect how the world and their ancestors made their home/landscape, so they stick with their traditions and beliefs. Join me on my journey and learn some amazing facts about a culture you probably did not even know about either.

My main interests, as I go through my exploration, about the Aranda's:

• History
• Homeland
• World
• Cosmos
• Birds
• Neighbors
• Migration
• Interview
• Cultural Survival
• References

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3f/Australian_Aboriginal_Flag.svg

Aboriginal Flag.

History Oceania: Australia. the Aborigines.

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2006/07/19/svABORIGINES_wideweb__470x338,0.jpg

Their spiritual/tribal dancing.

          The region Oceania, Australia is the main focus. To be more specific, the topics are going to be about the Aranda tribes of Australia. This tribe is one of the many different types of the Aboriginal tribes found in Australia. The Aborigines are the ancestors of Australia and still live in Australia today. There are many different ways to pronounce the Aranda people; can also be called; Arrente, Arunta, or Arrarnta in traditional terms. As in today's day in age, the Aranda people live a more modern life, live in cemented houses, however, keep their naturals ways still.
          Starting from where they originated, approximately 40,000 years ago, was when man first stepped on land in Australia. They originated from Africa went to Europe, came down through Asia, then down to Australia. This continent started global trading with the world was in the mid-1700's with South Asia and South-East Asia. The tradings from around the world was very interesting is their cuisine. Basically, the big main cities of Australia did the tradings and the tribes basically kept with their traditions with hunting, picking vegetables, fruits and roots.
          The Aborigines in modern days adapted to their surroundings, not just adapt, but also appreciate the natural and original way their "home." They keep their traditional tribe and ways because they do not want to disturb the ancient ways. The way that their surroundings are is its natural way and they respect what mother nature and their ancestors have given them now. Another fact, they do not want to disturb the nature they live in because it is disrespectful to their ancestors. The tribe will keep their traditions and beliefs, but they are very open minded to other cultures and ideas. The Aranda people are very outgoing and open to any culture, art, and anything new to them, as long as the outsiders respect their lands, ancestors and respect the natural habitat itself. 

References:

• Clarke, Philip. "Where the Ancestors   Walked." Google Books. Philip   Clark 2003, 2003. Web. 25 Feb.   2014.
• Kenny, Anna. "The Aranda's Pepa." Google Books. ANU E   Press, 2013. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
• "Dreamtime of the Aborigines - Ancient   Civilizations." YouTube. YouTube, 31 May 2011.   Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
• "Aboriginal Witchetty Grubs & Honey Ants - Ray Mears   Extreme Survival - BBC." YouTube. YouTube, 19   May 2008. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
• "Australian Bureau of Statistics." N.p., 14 Nov. 2013.   Web. 30 Mar. 2014.

Homeland of the Aranda.

http://www.aboriginalartonline.com/regions/regions.php

          Where do the Arrente people live? What part/parts of Australia? Looking at the photo of the map above, there are areas that are shaded in brown and green, which are the different locations of the Aranda tribe. The shaded green areas are where the people are living the more modern life and surrounded/living with many other different cultures and different people. The brown areas are where the tribes are living in a more traditional life style, however, they do have some modern traits that will be discussed later on through the text. 

          The Arunte tribe take pride to their land and keep their homeland and landscapes as natural as nature makes it. Reasons are because they do not want to disrespect their ancestors or mother nature and her creatures. Today, in modern times, the tribe (and the many other Aboriginal tribes) focus on keeping their most sacred land sage, the Urulu, also known as Ayers Rock (the picture below).  Many people from around the world come to visit Australia and come tour the Urulu, so the tribes, the tour guides, and the national park keep the Ayers Rock safe, natural, and untouched by the harm of outsiders. 

          Ayers Rock is a large sand-stone rock in the Southern part of Central Australia. Which does land in apart of the brown area in the photo above. Urulu is very sacred, as stated before, to the Aranda people (and the other Aboriginal tribes) because of their ancestors stories, the tourists attractions, most of their bush foods (which will be discussed in another blog) came from, and this is where most of the tribes hunting took/takes place.

http://www.backpackerinsight.com/5-top-destinations-to-visit-in-australia/

References:

• Clarke, Philip. "Where the Ancestors   Walked." Google Books. Philip   Clark 2003, 2003. Web. 25 Feb.   2014.
• Kenny, Anna. "The Aranda's Pepa." Google Books. ANU E   Press, 2013. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
• "Dreamtime of the Aborigines - Ancient   Civilizations." YouTube. YouTube, 31 May 2011.   Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
• "Aboriginal Witchetty Grubs & Honey Ants - Ray Mears   Extreme Survival - BBC." YouTube. YouTube, 19   May 2008. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
• "Australian Bureau of Statistics." N.p., 14 Nov. 2013.   Web. 30 Mar. 2014.

World of the Arandas.

          As stated in one of the previous blogs, there are Aranda tribes who live more modern and others more traditionally. The people who live more modernly, live around many different cultures and people. They do keep their traditions, but only for special occasions. Also, these Arrente people do not hunt for food, they go to food markets and shop for their food.
          There's a big difference with the Arunte traditional people who live almost as did their ancestors. To keep things to an understanding, these people do live in modern looking houses, wear full peices of clothing (t-shirts, pants, shorts, ect.), and most of them do speak English now in today's day and age. However, in the past they lived in almost a mud looking hut, they wore one piece of cloth that surrounded their groin area in the summer, and wore many different layers in the winter.
          Their life style is pretty simple, but also stressful at the same time. Stated in the previous blog, Urulu was the main spot for the tribe to hunt and search for roots, fruits, and vegetables. The stressful part, is to keep the tourists and outsiders away from the Ayer's Rock and from doing any harm to it. This was also where the tribes ancestors share their stories with the present, so the tribe today want to keep it as it was originally was from their ancestors.
          The men were/are the ones who go hunting and now keep an eye out for the Urulu's safety. As the men would run their responsibilities, the women would stay home, watch the kids, and depending on the weather, they would go digging for wichetty grubs; as seen in the photo below (which will also be discussed in the next blog).

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/oct/09/australia.barbaramcmahon

How they lived in the past. 

http://www.smh.com.au/national/between-the-rock-and-a-hard-place-20090703-d7sa.html

How they live now.

http://www.gondwananet.com/aboriginal-hunting.html

A young girl searching for Wichetty Grubs. 

References:

• Clarke, Philip. "Where the Ancestors   Walked." Google Books. Philip   Clark 2003, 2003. Web. 25 Feb.   2014.
• Kenny, Anna. "The Aranda's Pepa." Google Books. ANU E   Press, 2013. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
• "Dreamtime of the Aborigines - Ancient   Civilizations." YouTube. YouTube, 31 May 2011.   Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
• "Aboriginal Witchetty Grubs & Honey Ants - Ray Mears   Extreme Survival - BBC." YouTube. YouTube, 19   May 2008. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.
• "Australian Bureau of Statistics." N.p., 14 Nov. 2013.   Web. 30 Mar. 2014.

Bush Cosmos.

          The name for food of the Aranda tribe (also for the other Aboriginal tribes) is called Bush Foods. The bush foods include wichetty grubs, roots, fruits, vegetables, and the animals they hunted too. The main animals they hunt are kangaroos and water buffalo. They do hunt for other animals, such as turtles, koalas, alligators, and more. Most of the bush foods are found at Urulu, which is roots, fruits, vegetables, and kangaroos.

          There are two main types of grubs, which is called Wichetty Grubs, that they eat. One is the warumpi that means honeyant, which are red ants (as seen below). The warumpi's big butts carry honey inside, which is high in vitamins and some in protein. When eaten the taste is a little crunchy, then juicy, and finally sweet with the honey. 

          The other witchetty grub eaten are the bibaj. These are white caterpillars, that are high in protien. The bibaj have this egg like texture and taste like plain eggs with no butter or no cheese. These grubs were/are the grubs that get dug up from the ground by the women of the tribes.

http://www.aboriginalartonline.com/regions/papunya.php

http://www.gondwananet.com/australian-aboriginal-food.html

References:

• Clarke, Philip. "Where the Ancestors   Walked." Google Books. Philip   Clark 2003, 2003. Web. 25 Feb.   2014.
• Kenny, Anna. "The Aranda's Pepa." Google Books. ANU E   Press, 2013. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
• "Dreamtime of the Aborigines - Ancient   Civilizations." YouTube. YouTube, 31 May 2011.   Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
• "Aboriginal Witchetty Grubs & Honey Ants - Ray Mears   Extreme Survival - BBC." YouTube. YouTube, 19   May 2008. Web. 17 Apr. 2014.

Birds of the Arandas.

Australasian Grebe	Tachybaptus novaehollandiae	Common on large dam.
Australian Hobby	Falco longipennis	Uncommon.
Australian King-Parrot	Alisterus scapularis	Common resident.
Australian Magpie	Gymnorhina tibicen	Common over most of the reserve, especially in the paddocks.
Australian Pelican	Pelecanus conspicillatus	Usually in flight to or from Lake Burley Griffin.
Australian Raven	Corvus coronoides	Common crow like bird.
Australian Wood Duck	Chenonetta jubata	Common around the large dam. Roosts in trees.
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike	Coracina novaehollandiae	Common.  A large proportion of the population is migratory.
Brown-headed Honeyeater	Melithreptus brevirostris	Uncommon.
Brown Falcon	Falco berigora	Sometimes seen on light poles near Glenloch Interchange.
Brown Goshawk	Accipter fasciatus	Common. May have bred in the lower woodland.
Brown Thornbill	Acanthiza pusilla	Common.
Buff-rumped Thornbill	Acanthiza reguloides	Common.
Collared Sparrowhawk	Accipter cirrhocephalus	Uncommon, with most individuals leaving in winter. Breeding has occurred in the pine grove.
Common Blackbird	Turdus merula	Common introduced bird along the urban fringe.

http://www.friendsofarandabushland.org.au/flora-and-fauna/birds/

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Australasian_grebe6535.jpg

Australasian Grebe = Tachybaptus novaehollandiae

          The Grebe bird is a very small bird (some details come from the chart above) that live on the Pacific parts of the ocean. Fun fact, these birds are unable to fly for a long, so to make up for their unablility to fly well, they are great swimmers and divers. If the birds have chicks, both parents take care of the chicks and are very protective of their little ones.

http://www.birdphotos.com.au/Australian%20King%20Parrot/slides/kingparrot2.html

Australian King-Parrot = Alisterus scapularis

          The King Parrot lives in the deep forests and humid regions of Australia. To tell the difference in the male and female bird is by looking at the color of the bird on their beaks, heads, wings, and chest. The easiest way you can tell between the two is the beak; the females is a gray color and the male has a yellow beak with a black color at the tip of the beak. A fun fact about the Australian King Parrot is that there are three different sizes and they have been around since the early 1800's. It is very rare to see these birds alone, they stay in big groups and keep each other as good company. 

http://www.graemechapman.com.au/library/viewphotos.php?c=94

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike = Coracina novaehollandiae

          The Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike are highly protected by the National Parks because of predators and hunters. These birds are found wooded areas, but not in rainforests. They do not change much appearance from when they are chicks to adult hood because they stay gray/white and the only difference is they get a black mask on their faces and tips of their wings. Fun fact, the Coracina nocaehollandiae are not closely related to cuckoos or shrikes. They just have cuckoos and shrikes in their name because they take off flight identically to the cuckoos and shrikes. When one finds a Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, they will see them in pairs and singing their little hearts away.


References:
Boles, Christidis, and Walter Boles. "Systematics and Taxonomy of Australian Birds." Google Books. CSIRO, 2008. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.

Aranda and Their Neighbors.

          The Arrente's neighbors are the other Aboriginal tribes, such as the Southern Arrernte, Luritja, Anmatyerr, Alyawarr and Western Arrernte tribes. These tribes get together on special occasions and meets to keep things organized with the Urulu (Ayer's Rock) and sometimes even to do some of their traditional dances. The Aranda tribe and their neighbors are very close and are in good terms. They attempt to keep things equal, fair, and to be on good terms with one and other. 

          A fun fact is that there are some places in Australia where these Aboriginal tribes came to an agreement to share some of the lands with the National Parks, so tourists can come through. With tour guides from the National Parks and from the Tribe, the tourists can explore the lifestyle of the Aboriginals and even get a wonderful performance of one of their tribal dances. 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/desertpea/9677466040/

Alyawarr Tribe

References:

• http://aboriginalart.com.au/culture/arrernte.html