Although most Americans know that a native people lived on this continent prior to the European takeover, the majority has not taken the time to study their history. That is sad considering it was our ancestors who took advantage of this innocent people for territory expansion and other insignificant reasons. Similar injustices have also taken place on the island continent of Australia. And although a country can not change the mistakes of the past, the least we can do is respect the indigenous people of the world and learn their history. If we do this, our lives will be enriched with knowledge that will positively affect the way we treat people in the future. I chose to parallel two groups of Aboriginal people from different parts of the Earth: the Native American and the Australian Aborigine. It is fascinating that these geo-graphically distant people share a similar history and similar characteristics.The first Australians were the Aborigines. Aboriginal folklore claims that the Aborigines were always in Australia, but most scientists do not subscribe to the lore. Anthropologists believe that the Aborigines migrated from Southeast Asia at least 40,000 years ago, probably during a period when low sea levels permitted the simplest forms of land and water travel. The subsequent rise in sea level made Tasmania an Island and caused a cultural and physical separation from the main land (Australian Aborgine). It is fascinating that the American Indians are also from Asian descent. Native Americans physically favor the Asian people, and it is a widely accepted belief that they migrated from Asia during the Ice Age. The only possible route of travel was the Bering Land Bridge that is believed to have joined present day Alaska with Siberia. The Bering Land Bridge was also submerged with water afterwards, isolating them from their homeland (Native American Page 1).Both native cultures were social people and relied on the basic hu...
