|
|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
 Background Information - How was food obtained?
All people living in Australia prior to the country's colonisation by Europeans practised a subsistence economy based on foraging. Women, men and children contributed to their subsistence in varying but complementary ways. Both women and men hunted, and collected plant matter. However, hunted different types of animals using different equipment, and collected significantly different quantities of vegetative matter. Women tended to hunt for smaller animals like goanna, turtle, snake, shellfish, fish, insects and grubs. Women also collected most of the plant foods, ranging from tubers and leafy plants to seeds and fruits. Men tended to hunt the larger animals such as kangaroo, crocodile and emu. They also collected plant food, but not as much as the women. Children were also closely involved in the processes of obtaining food. Young children accompanied adults and learnt how to obtain food through games and play. Older children were expected to become more involved in food collecting. The systems used by Indigenous peoples to obtain food were tied to a highly developed belief system about the land, its custodianship and the relations between groups of people. Modest population densities could be sustained by exploiting seasonal resources. Outside desert and arid areas, many Indigenous peoples were able to pursue a reasonably sedentary lifestyle, moving seasonally over short distances in order to maintain food supplies.
|
 |
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
