Photos from the REAL Australia

Aboriginal Children from Northern Australia

Like everywhere in the world, Aboriginal kids are indulged by their parents, but the extended family is also very important. A child knows from a very early age who their relatives are, how they must be called with the correct kinship names and what their rights and obligations are with each one. They also learn their traditional dances and songs and are always encouraged to perform at the public ceremonies. Although "disco" now seems an inevitable part of life in Aboriginal communities, the traditional dances are still done and children are decorated for ceremonies and for the "fun" corroborrees that are part of life, as they have been forever.

Although childhood is a time without worries, children learn from an early age where to find bush foods, how to hunt and fish, even in a time where the supermarket fulfils most of their needs and all communities have schools. The bush is a great place to roam and discover things, especially when there is clear, clean water to go for a drink or a swim. Apart from school, life seems one great holiday here. These children look after themselves and each other, and are quite self-sufficient at an early age.

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VRD School	Boy with spears	Boys painted up	Using a calculator	Cooling off
Reading a book	Boys on the trampoline	Friends in Borroloola	Clapping boomerangs	Cat's cradle
String game	Girls' game	Drinking water	Decorated for "Bungkul"	Young driver
Paperbark raft	Tea and biscuits	Collect "jotmo" berries	Having a bath	Five brothers
Swim in the Wearyan	Two young "daru"	Eating "johnnycake"	Cooking a goanna	Computer work
Doing shot-put	Six little heads	Collecting water lilies	Painted faces	Ready for "Bungkul"
Boy and his dog	Borroloola boys	Eating chicken	Working on a Mac	Eating a mango
Little Fireman	Girl with clay pot	Having fun?	Brotherly love	Riding a turtle
Best friends	Boys with ice cream	Little boys of Borroloola	After swimming	Cooling off

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