Tjapukai

It is sad, but all good things must come to an end. And so we are approaching the end of our road trip. We got up early today for our last stop before Cairns: The Aboriginal Center Tjapukai.

I think I wrote something about is already but the situation of aboriginals in Australia is still a disaster. Most tribes already lost their cultural heritage completely and life of social welfare. So far, everything I have seen and heard of modern aboriginal life was rather depressing or even frustrating. Native Australians are not actively oppressed anymore and in fact get a lot of privileges. But their spirit seems broken and you sense a huge lack of motivation in their communities. Sadly that appears to prove the point of many skeptics in the Australian society. Racism against aborigines as well as jealousy of their privileges are widespread here. Whatever is left of traditional aboriginal life in most of Australia is usually conserved by non or half-aboriginal volunteers. (there are some exceptions in the northern territories, but there are no roads or permanent settlements). So the best you can get here is some kind of “reconstruction” of aboriginal life.

The Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park here near Cairns is widely regarded as the best representation of traditional aboriginal life. However, the aborigines are divided in more than 50 tribes, each of them with their own language, customs, rituals, food and religious beliefs. The Tjapukai here lived in a rainforest, whereas most other tribes inhabit other environments. I guess its a bit like comparing Russia with France (for many Asian people they are more or less the same Europeans). There are indeed some common features that I didn't´t only learn about here but also many other places along my journey. Native Australians used to be strongly connected the land they inhabited. They only took as much as they currently needed(which prohibits all farming of animals or crops and therefore limits population growth and settlements). They used to have no permanent settlements but moved in their respective territories with the seasons. And all tribes belief in some kind of Dreamtime, which describes the creation and deeper reality of nature (and there is always a Rainbow Serpent involved, though to different degrees).

This center is far more than a museum, you get a guided introduction and demonstration in many aspects of traditional life. We also got to try traditional archery, boomerang throwing, and earth oven cooking. I hope that one day I can travel to the northern territories get some unfiltered views into aboriginal life (as long as some remnants exist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

07.04.2016