Manipulation & Land Usage:
Aboriginal Australians have been farming, tending to animals
and manipulating the surrounding areas of their communities for tens of
thousands of years. Long before the
arrival of Europeans a complex system of growing and altering the landscape for
this purpose had been established.
Where possible Aboriginal Australians changed nothing of the area they occupied, simply accepting it and coexisting with it. When this wasn’t possible decisions were made to manipulate the land to serve their needs. Much of this was achieved by using fire farming or firestick agriculture. Particular areas of plant growth would be identified and clustered into groups near suitable drinking water, controlled burning of the surrounding areas was then performed. This helped to attract and localise animals to the area where they lived and ensured an abundance of plants and animals were easily accessible for their immediate needs.
Regular use of fire was also performed to encourage regrowth in certain areas ensuring a plentiful supply of grazing fields for the animals they hunted for food. By understanding the soil, plants and animals that inhabited the land, Aboriginal Australians were able to develop a range of farming techniques to allow them to not only exist with the land but would sustain it to be available for later generations.
Where possible Aboriginal Australians changed nothing of the area they occupied, simply accepting it and coexisting with it. When this wasn’t possible decisions were made to manipulate the land to serve their needs. Much of this was achieved by using fire farming or firestick agriculture. Particular areas of plant growth would be identified and clustered into groups near suitable drinking water, controlled burning of the surrounding areas was then performed. This helped to attract and localise animals to the area where they lived and ensured an abundance of plants and animals were easily accessible for their immediate needs.
Regular use of fire was also performed to encourage regrowth in certain areas ensuring a plentiful supply of grazing fields for the animals they hunted for food. By understanding the soil, plants and animals that inhabited the land, Aboriginal Australians were able to develop a range of farming techniques to allow them to not only exist with the land but would sustain it to be available for later generations.