Cultural Disclaimer: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this post contains images of deceased persons, and links to resources that may contain the names and images of deceased persons.
Aboriginal rock art at Mount Elizabeth Station, on the Barnett River in WA
Australian Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islanders belong to the oldest continuous culture on the planet. Evidence of human habitation in Australia goes back more than 65,000 years. Australia's indigenous cultures were complex with nuanced kinship systems and deep cultural mores and laws. When they arrived, Europeans considered aboriginal people to be members of a dying race. But while colonial settlement in Australia seriously disrupted indigenous traditions and culture, it has not destroyed them. By combining modern genealogical practice with traditional cultural knowledge, people with indigenous heritage can reveal the rich history of their ancestors.
Researching Australian Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Family HistoryResearching Australian Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Family History
An Aboriginal woman in a kangaroo skin cloak carrying a child, South Australia, ca. 1860
Researching Indigenous Australian family history presents a range of distinct challenges. The First Australians did not keep written records the same way as European cultures, so paper records, lists and ledgers simply do not exist prior to colonisation.
European colonisation disrupted and disconnected First Australians from the life they led before 1788. Ignorance, prejudice and discrimination, including the classification of the aboriginal population as "flora and fauna" for almost two centuries, further complicated the collection and retention of records related to first nations individuals.
Widespread, government sanctioned separation of aboriginal children from their families, now known as The Stolen Generations, further disrupted familial ties and continues to have ongoing consequences for people with aboriginal heritage.
That being said, the movement towards reconciliation between indigenous and non indigenous Australians has led to the revival of indigenous languages, greater connection to and appreciation of indigenous cultural practices, and the opening up of important datasets, have created opportunities for people with indigenous heritage to understand their family histories in more depth.
Before ColonisationBefore Colonisation
Error creating thumbnail: Nabulwinjbulwinj, an evil spirit who eats females after striking them with a yam; Anbangbang Rock Shelter, Kakadu National Park, NT
Ancient rock art dotted across the continent tell origin stories, known as The Dreaming, that describe relationships between ancestral beings, long extinct animals, and people. Aboriginal Australians have always had a close connection to land. This "connection to country" represents a physical, cultural, and spiritual relationship with landscape, which is reflected in the creation stories. These stories are distinct to each community, who continue to see themselves as custodians of the land for future generations.
Rites of passage were marked by ritual and ceremony, which included distinct men's and women's business.
Initiation ceremonies were complex, with many stages and rituals, and in some areas circumcision forming part of the ritual. Boys were taken away from the main camp (to be away from the women and girls) for initiation to be conducted by the powerful man of the group. Although less is written about women's initiation, it was part of the law to signal that girls were of a marriageable age (Brough Smyth 1878).[1]
Elders were revered, passing down law and lore orally, through story. Cave art and "songlines" - storytelling tracks integrated into the landscape - helped educate children and communicate culture down the generations. Family structures were extended, with a child's aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents considered just as important and authoritative as their biological parents.
Aboriginal kinship systems in Australian Aboriginal culture are not just about bloodlines and biological descent. They encompass social, spiritual, and cultural relationships. Traditionally, these systems governed who could marry whom, and even who could speak to whom.
Kinship is based on a classification system. Some groups have only two classifications - called "moieties" in academic vernacular or "skins" more colloquially - while others have four or eight. Some groups split these relationships into male and female, potentially allowing for up to 16 skin names.
While membership in skin groups is ideally based on blood relations, Australian Aboriginal subsection systems are classificatory, meaning that even people who are not actual blood relations are assigned to a subsection. They are also universal, meaning that every member of the society is assigned a position in the system.[2]
Familiar terms denoting specific relationships in western culture may have an added or alternate meaning in Aboriginal society. For example, the terms Uncle and Aunty don't just denote a parent's sibling, they are also titles used as a mark of respect for an elder. Additionally, a child may not only call their biological mother "mum", but also her sisters; "Dad" may refer to the biological father, his brothers, and other men of the same kinship status; and "parallel" cousins - the children of their mother’s sisters or father’s brothers - may have the status and title of siblings.
These kinship protocols may have implications when researching indigenous family history, so here are a few things to keep in mind:
Do not assume Western nuclear family definitions - A family tree based on European models may not adequately represent Aboriginal kinship.
Pay attention to Oral history - Elders and community members hold the knowledge of who belongs to which kinship group.
Respect cultural protocols - Some names, stories, or relationships may be restricted, especially after someone has passed away.
Documentation challenges - Early colonial records, government protection files, and church mission records often misunderstood or mis-recorded kinship terms. This may lead to confusion or misunderstandings in relation to genealogical tracing.
Community validation - Genealogical conclusions should be checked with the relevant community, as they are the custodians of kinship knowledge.
Sorry Business and cultural taboosSorry Business and cultural taboos
Traditional funerary rituals and mourning processes are referred to as Sorry Business. Those with a kinship relationship with the deceased person may feel a strong obligation and responsibility to participate in Sorry Business. Their role within a memorial ceremony or funeral may also depend on their kinship relationships. Participating in Sorry Business is not optional. A person's obligations to a loved one, Elder, or someone with whom they share kinship ties are integral to their culture and connection to the land, community, and people.[3]
In some aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, there is a taboo on saying the name of the deceased. This protocol is not unique to Australia. It also appears in some areas of Saharan and sub Saharan Africa, Siberia, Southern India and the Americas.[4]
As part of funerary ritual, certain Aboriginal cultures in Central Australia, Arnhem Land and Cape York Peninsula prohibit anyone from speaking a person's name during the mourning period after their death. The mourning period varies according to the age and status of the deceased, from a couple of months in the case of a baby up to four years in the case of a prominent leader or lawman.[4]
This taboo may extend to the display the image of the deceased person as well. Media organisations have developed specific protocols to manage this taboo today, usually with a content warning related to cultural safety, but in the past it was not respected.
Connection to CountryConnection to Country
Norman Tindale Map of Aboriginal Australia 1940
By the time Europeans arrived in Australia, First Australians had developed a geographically distinct culture with complex mores and traditions. Identifying the ancestral Country and traditional language group/s your ancestor/s may have come from will help you understand the different Dreaming stories and colonial histories.
These traditional boundaries were erased as the Colonial authorities established new boundaries. Because these administrative divisions shifted over time - especially when the colonies federated into states in 1901 - it may effect where records are housed.
Lasting effects of colonizationLasting effects of colonization
The size of the indigenous population prior to colonization is not clear, but estimates range from 300,000 (Radcliffe-Brown, 1928) to over 1 million (Professor Noel Butlin, 1983)[1]. The newcomers failed to notice or understand aboriginal cultural land tenure and for almost two centuries the idea that Australia was "terra nullius", an empty land, was readily accepted by new immigrants, despite evidence to the contrary.
As explorers and settlers began to interact more and more with first nations people, the more curious and scientific minded began to record their encounters. Journals, diaries and expedition notes are a valuable source information about individuals and groups along Australia's coastline. Captain James Cook kept a detailed journal in his log book during his voyage on the Endeavor in 1770.
The journal provides a rare, firsthand account of some of the earliest interactions between First Nations peoples and Europeans in Australia. Journal entries ... give us insight into Cook’s feelings about who and what he was seeing, but they also reveal glimpses of the people watching and waiting for Cook and his men from the shore. [5]
Victorian era anthropologists, ethnologists and academics dismissed aboriginal culture as at best prehistoric, and at worst, sub-human. They saw first nations peoples as destined for either "civilizing" or extinction. Robert Dawson, chief agent of the Australian Agricultural Company, who lived on Worimi country at Port Stephens between 1826-1828, while not a trained scientists, was an exception. In his book "The Present State of Australia", published in 1830, Dawson recorded his observations of the Worimi he interacted with daily, including snippets of language and culture, often describing what he saw with admiration. He also expressed a more sophisticated view of aboriginal families observing:
They are remarkably fond of their children, and when the parents die, the children are adopted by the unmarried men and women, and taken the greatest care of ... The parents retain, as long as they live, an influence over their children, whether married or not ...[6]
As European settlers spread across the country they brought widespread displacement, dispossession and disease. Smallpox spread rapidly and cultural misunderstanding and disrespect led to conflict. Pemulwuy, a Bidjigal warrior from the Kamay/ Botany Bay area, staged open warfare against the nascent colony. The subsequent Frontier Wars have only recently been formerly recognised and more extensively documented by historians.
Research from the University of Newcastle, which identifies and records sites of frontier massacres, found at least 10,000 Indigenous people were killed in 416 massacres between 1780 and 1930.[7]
The Stolen GenerationsThe Stolen Generations
Error creating thumbnail: 200 Shellworked Slippers - artwork by Esme Timbery, from La Perouse, with daughter Marilyn Russell, that depicts the 'Stolen Generations'.
From the mid 1800s, right up until the 1970s, Indigenous children were forcibly separated from their families and placed in institutional care with the specific goal of "civilizing" them. Collectively these children are now known as The Stolen Generations.
These children were taken by the police; from their homes; on their way to or from school. They were placed in over 480 institutions, adopted or fostered by non-Indigenous people and often subjected to abuse. The children were denied all access to their culture, they were not allowed to speak their language and they were punished if they did. [8]
The effects of these destructive policies continue to reverberate through First Nations communities with generational trauma evident in statistical data such as incarceration, health and education outcomes.
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)
AIATSIS is an indigenous led cultural organisation that:
celebrates, educates and inspires people from all walks of life to connect with the knowledge, heritage and cultures of Australia’s First Peoples.[10]
National Library of Australia (NLA) - First Australian Family History page has links to resources and collections held by the library.
The Tindale GenealogiesThe Tindale Genealogies
The Tindale Genealogies - South Australian anthropologist Norman Tindale was based at the South Australian Museum. During the 1920s and 30s he collected a huge amount of genealogical and other data about Indigenous communities from all over Australia. His genealogies include the names of over 50,000 Indigenous people. The collection also include thousands of named photographic portraits[11].
Note: Access to the Tindale genealogies is limited to direct descendants or persons with permission from families or communities. To request access fill in the family history application form and/or contact Family History staff at the South Australian Museum Archive.
Oral HistoriesOral Histories
The NLA, some State Libraries and other organisations hold collections of oral histories of indigenous people:
Aboriginal births, marriages, and deaths were not always recorded faithfully in the colonial public records. The transition from traditional names to colonial name structures, as well as the preponderance to give some aboriginal people nick-names, also complicates the search for vital records. Some government records may include offensive terms such as “half-caste,” or “native”, denoting the status of the individual.
Find & Connect brings together historical resources and practical information relating to adoption and institutional ‘care’ in Australia. The site does not hold any personal records, but it does have links to the relevant government departments in each state.
Colonial RecordsColonial Records
Early accounts of contact between aboriginal people and newcomers often omit the actual names of first nations individuals. As the colonial bureaucracy began to exert more control over the lives of Indigenous people, they created records to manage that administration. Each colony, then state/ territory, eventually passed legislation to control them, often moving communities off country into government-managed reserves, missions, and children’s institutions.
These places were created and designed to ‘protect’ First Australians in a very patronising, paternalistic sense. Mainstream Australian thinking at the time was that Australia’s First Peoples were a ‘dying race’. Protectionist policies were developed reflecting this view. ...The thinking was that all ‘full-bloods’ would eventually die off in these locations and that any children descended from white people could be ‘civilised’. During this time blood quantums (half-caste, quarter-caste, etc.) and ‘percentages of blood’ came into popular use as a tool for classification and control. These terms are so deeply offensive to First Nations Australians today and should never be used.[12]
Blanket Lists and returns of Aboriginal peopleBlanket Lists and returns of Aboriginal people
In 1814, Governor Lachlan Macquarie initiated the official distribution of blankets to Aboriginal people. He hoped the adoption of blankets would encourage civilised habits and cooperation with the settlers[13]. Local authorities ... were required to report to the Government on the distribution of blankets and on the conditions of Aboriginal people in their area. These reports, or returns, resulted in detailed lists of individuals and communities[14]. A collection of blanket lists held by the State Library of NSW represent some of the earliest known documentation containing the names of aboriginal people. These lists are exactly as their name describes: a list of people to whom the colonial government distributed blankets.
Some Blanket Lists have been digitised and images can be browsed online. A few have been transcribed and indexed including:
In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many First Australians were forced from their Country and on to missions, reserves or stations. It was not unusual for families to be separated and sent to different areas, sometimes across state borders, with no idea of where their loved ones ended up.
Error creating thumbnail: Doomadgee Mission 1950Missions were often created by churches or religious individuals to house Aboriginal people, convert them to Christianity and prepare them for menial jobs. Most of the missions were developed on land granted by the government for this purpose.
Stations or ‘managed reserves’ were generally managed by officials appointed by the government. Schooling (in the form of preparation for the workforce), rations and housing were provided, and station managers tightly controlled who could, and could not, live there. The managers usually had total control over Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lives including legal guardianship of their children.
Reserves were areas of land set aside for Aboriginal people to live on. and were not managed by the government or its officials. People living on unmanaged reserves might receive rations and blankets from the state or territory government, but often remained responsible for their own housing.[12]
Royal Australian Historical SocietyRoyal Australian Historical Society
Historians Michael Bennet and Dr Paul Irish have collaborated to create a guide for the RAHS, to assist people searching for their indigenous family history. The site includes a series of videos and links to resources.
MHNSW holds a variety of records related to government interaction with indigenous people including records for some aboriginal schools. the Aborigines Welfare Board, and photographs. Most of these archives are open to the public, however some that contain sensitive or personal information may be restricted.
Census Records & Voter RollsCensus Records & Voter Rolls
Census returns with identifying information were not preserved in Australia, but even if they had been, Indigenous Australians were explicitly excluded from the census until 1967, when non indigenous Australians overwhelmingly voted in to include them. The 1967 referendum was a turning point in relations between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.
Voter rolls are a census alternative in Australia, but Indigenous Australians did not have the same voting rights as non indigenous Australians and so may not appear in historic electoral rolls.
From the 1850s, First Nations men had the same right to vote as other male British subjects aged over 21, in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia.[15]
In 1895 South Australia became the first electorate in the world to give equal political rights to both women and men. First Nations women shared these rights.[15]
In 1896, Indigenous Tasmanian men were granted franchise. But in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory laws were enacted to deny Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the right to vote.[15]
The first federal electoral Act, the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902, granted men and women of all states the right to vote. First Nations men and women were excluded from this right unless they already had the right to vote before 1901.
After WWII, where many First Australians had enlisted to fight, Prime Minister Ben Chifley introduced an amendment to the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 to extend the right to vote in federal elections to any Indigenous person who had been a member of the defence forces.[15] However, discriminatory laws in Queensland, NT and WA continued to deny Indigenous Australians voting rights, and in some cases even citizenship.
In the 1950s, activists established the Federal Council for Aboriginal Advancement (FCAA), which led to the establishment of the House of Representatives Select Committee on Voting Rights of Aborigines in April 1961. As a result of the committees enquiry, The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1962, granting all First Nations people the option to enroll and vote in federal elections, received assent on 21 May 1962. But indigenous voting was not made compulsory, as it was for non-indigenous citizens, until 1984, when First Nations people gained full equality with other electors under the Commonwealth Electoral Amendment Act 1983.
All Australians registered to vote appear in electoral rolls after 1983. MyHeritage holds electoral rolls from some states.
Research your ancestors on MyHeritage
Military recordsMilitary records
Error creating thumbnail: Warrant Officer Class 1 (WO1) Jim Geedrick, an Indigenous soldier from Rockhampton, QLD, in Gio Linh, South Vietnam, 1969.
Indigenous Australians enlisted in the Commonwealth and Australian Defence Forces, despite the many restrictions and discrimination they experienced. The actual number of Indigenous service personnel is still unknown as research into this area only began in earnest in the last few decades.
Before 1980, individuals enlisting in the defence forces were not asked whether or not they were of an Indigenous background. While service records sometimes contain information which may suggest Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage, many servicemen have been identified as Indigenous by their descendants.[16]
The Australian War Memorial (AWM) has a searchable list of Indigenous Service Personnel.
[The] ...list provides information about people of Indigenous descent who enlisted for service in conflicts including the Boer war, the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.[16]
The Australian Government Department of Veterans Affairs has a dedicated page Indigenous Service page on their Anzac Portal, which acknowledges the injustices experienced by indigenous personnel and highlights the service of several notable individuals.
Further research is required to ascertain how many people with indigenous heritage served in the RAAF and Australian Navy. All Australian military service records are held by the National Archives of Australia (NAA).
Newspapers - TroveNewspapers - Trove
First Australians on Trove - From activists to poets, from the Northern Territory to Tasmania, this collection feature provides a portal into the people and organisations who lived and worked in Australia from 1880's to today.
Trove holds digitised, searchable copies of a range of publications related to aboriginal individuals and groups, which may include the names and biographical details in news reports and articles published in local and regional newspapers.
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