How was society structured before European settlement?

How Indigenous Australians lived before European settlement

The original Australians
Aboriginal peoples settled throughout Australia, migrating from Asia at least 40 000 years ago. They
adapted their lifestyle over the centuries to the local climate and natural conditions to obtain their basic needs:
food, shelter and clothing. They were self-sufficient in their local areas in the tools and weapons they used and
the foods they ate. They had a two-way relationship with their country. Aboriginal peoples were the guardians of
their country and many of the traditional ceremonies were designed to protect the land and their spirit
ancestors.

It is believed, for example, that at least 1600 generations of Indigenous Australians have lived continuously in
Victoria. Over this time, a large and complex cultural tradition evolved. This included ideas about creation,
life and death, all specific to and part of a close relationship to the land.

The Indigenous peoples lived in a secure social structure based on groups that formed clans of perhaps up to 500
people. They shared a common language and their common connection was to their land and to their history.
These clans were also connected to larger groups who shared a common culture and, although their
dialect may have been slightly different, they belonged to a similar cultural group.

At the time of white settlement, there was

thought to be about 250 different language
groups in Australia, further divided into
about 600 dialect groups. In Victoria, there
were about 30 of these groups made up of
many small clans. The large groups were
spread across the state and often met to trade
goods, and they also frequently intermarried.
However, they were not friendly with the
Indigenous groups away from their usual
routes; these people belonged to different
cultural and language groups with often very
different beliefs and ideas.

Strangers were feared as enemies and were

often believed to be dangerous sorcerers.
Fights and large-scale wars often erupted
between distant groups. The first European
settlers did not notice this complex social
structure and relationship with the land. The
white settlers believed they had absolute right
to live on the land and to establish a British colony in what was in their view terra nullius-land that did not legally
belong to anyone. British imperialism was to decimate the Indigenous Australians.