Tasmanian

Tasmanian

* * *

I
Any member of a now-extinct population of Tasmania.

An isolate population of Australian Aboriginals who entered Tasmania 25,000–40,000 years ago, they were cut off from the mainland when a general rise in the sea level flooded the Bass Strait about 10,000 years ago. Subsistence was based on hunting land and sea mammals and collecting shellfish and vegetable food. The first permanent white settlement was made in Tasmania in 1803, and the settlers provoked a war in 1804. Of an estimated 4,000 Tasmanians present when the Europeans first arrived, only 200 remained by the 1830s; moved to Flinders Island for their protection, they did not survive long in their new home, and the last full-blooded Tasmanian died in 1876.
II
(as used in expressions)
Tasmanian tiger

* * *

people
      any member of the extinct Australoid population of Tasmania. The Tasmanians were an isolate population of Aboriginal Australians (Australian Aborigine), not a separate or distinctive population, who were cut off from the mainland when a general rise in the sea level flooded the Bass Strait about 10,000 years ago. Their population upon the arrival of European explorers in the 17th and 18th centuries has been estimated at about 4,000. They were a relatively short people, with generally Australoid physical characteristics. The Tasmanians spoke languages that were unintelligible to mainland Aborigines.

      The island was divided among several tribes speaking different dialects, each with a delimited hunting territory. Subsistence was based on hunting land and sea mammals and collecting shellfish and vegetable food. In warm months the Tasmanians moved through the open forest and moorlands of the interior in bands or family groups of 15 to 50 people; in colder months they moved to the coast. Occasionally, bands gathered together for a corroboree (a dance celebrating important events), a hunt, or for protection against attack.

      Wooden spears, waddies (clubs, or throwing sticks), and flaked-stone tools and weapons were produced. Bone implements, basketry, and bark canoes for coastal travel were also made. A few rock carvings depicting natural objects and conventionalized symbols have survived.

      The first permanent white settlement was made in Tasmania in 1803; in 1804 an unprovoked attack by whites on a group of Tasmanians was the first episode in the Black War. The whites treated the Aborigines as subhumans, seizing their hunting grounds, depleting their food supply, attacking the women, and killing the men. Tasmanian attempts to resist were met with the superior weaponry and force of the Europeans. Between 1831 and 1835, in a final effort at conciliation and to prevent the extermination of the approximately 200 remaining Tasmanians, the Aborigines were removed to Flinders Island. Their social organization and traditional way of life destroyed, subjected to alien disease and attempts to “civilize” them, they soon died. Truganini (d. 1876), a Tasmanian woman who aided the resettlement on Flinders Island, was the last full-blooded Aborigine in Tasmania. Another Tasmanian woman is said to have survived on Kangaroo Island in South Australia until 1888.

* * *


Universalium. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Tasmanian — Tas*ma ni*an (t[a^]z*m[=a] n[i^]*an), a. Of or pertaining to Tasmania, or Van Diemen s Land. n. A native or inhabitant of Tasmania; specifically (Ethnol.), in the plural, the race of men that formerly inhabited Tasmania, but is now extinct. [1913 …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Tasmanian — n. & adj. n. 1 a native of Tasmania, an island State of Australia. 2 a person of Tasmanian descent. adj. of or relating to Tasmania. Phrases and idioms: Tasmanian devil a bearlike nocturnal flesh eating marsupial, Sarcophilus harrisii, now found… …   Useful english dictionary

  • tasmanian — ta·sma·nian s.m.inv. ES ingl. {{wmetafile0}} TS tess. pregiato tessuto di lana, usato spec. per confezionare abiti maschili | estens., abito confezionato con tale tessuto {{line}} {{/line}} DATA: sec. XX. ETIMO: ingl. tasmanian propr. tasmaniano …   Dizionario italiano

  • Tasmanian Pygmy Possum — Tasmanian pygmy possum[1] Conservation status Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[2 …   Wikipedia

  • Tasmanian Grade Cricket — Tasmanian Grade Cricket, or the Tasmanian Grade Competition, refers to the hierarchically graded cricket competitions played in Tasmania, Australia. The Tasmanian grade competitions all come under the administration of the Tasmanian Cricket… …   Wikipedia

  • Tasmanian Kid — is the name of a fictional character from the various Transformers universes.Beast Wars SecondTransformers character name =Tasmanian Kid caption =Snarl/Tasmanian Kid toy affiliation =Maximal subgroup =Basic Beasts function =Diversionary Trooper… …   Wikipedia

  • Tasmanian Gothic — is an artistic genre. Although it deals with the themes of horror and the uncanny, it differs from the European horror tradition, rooted in medieval imagery, crumbling mansions, and ancient rituals. Frederick Sinnett, writing in 1856, considered… …   Wikipedia

  • Tasmanian state election, 2014 — 2010 ← Prior to March 2014 …   Wikipedia

  • Tasmanian Emu — Restoration by John Gerrard Keulemans Conservation status …   Wikipedia

  • Tasmanian year book — Tasmanian year bookWas the annual review of statistics collected for Tasmania.It was a companion volume to Walch s Tasmanian Almanac bound in the same colour red cloth and produced between 1967 and 2000. It was issued by the Commonwealth Bureau… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”