e rituals were usually only performed when the food supply was abundant and they got together with members of other tribes to perform the rituals. In the 1780s, the Aborigines lifestyle took a turn for the worse. This the period in which Europeans began to explore and eventually colonize Australia. The two vastly different cultures would soon clash and cause a dramatic change for the Aborigines. The British were the first of the Europeans to start colonies in Australia. The Aborigines were at first very friendly and receptive of the settlers. But as more and more settlers came this would change. Although the Colonial Office in London prescribed the safeguarding of indigenes' rights and their treatment as British subjects, friction soon developed between the colonists and local Aborigines (Blainey, 85). Once the European settlement began to expand inland, it caused conflict because it interfered with the Aborigines economic and religious activities. The Europeans were forcing them off their hunting land and sacred areas. They couldnt compensate for the increasing population of the settlers. Before long, the Europeans became annoyed with the Aborigines and violence was inevitable. Some of the Aborigine groups were able to wage successful guerilla war against the Europeans, but eventually, the lack of technology became their downfall. Up to the 1880s, many Aborigines were killed as a result of fighting against the Europeans (Blainey, 93). Other groups were forced into hiding while others stayed in camps. The Aborigines who stayed in camps became the nucleus of the European labor force (Blainey, 102). Fighting wasnt the only thing that killed the Aborigines. Diseases, brought over by the Europeans, killed off many Aborigines. Diseases killed more of them than did fighting. In the southeast, the Aborigines died off so fast that the Europeans believed that all the others would soon become extinct (McLeo...
