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The Aboriginal people of Australia have
existed on this continent for at least 40,000 years. Over that period, they
developed a series of specific treatments for various ailments. It should be
remembered that their knowledge of plant and animal lore was encyclopedic. It
would be unwise for those without detailed knowledge to attempt to use any of
the remedies that follow:
Plants produce chemicals that defend them
from the myriad creatures that dine upon them. In the main, these chemicals are
poisonous. Man has learned to make use of these toxins to attack bacteria or
deaden pain. You should never forget that many plants produce toxins that can
make you very sick, so do not attempt to use any of the following remedies
yourself.
Billy
Goat Weed (Ageratum)
The plant is crushed and applied to open
wounds. Other plants used to treat wounds are Tree Orchid (bulb sap), Spike
Rush (decaying plant bound to wound), Tea Tree (bark bandage), Cocky Apple (bark
infusion).
Blood wood (Eucalyptus dampieri/ Eucalyptus polycarpa)
Used as a painkiller for toothache. It's gum is rubbed directly on the area of
the pain.
Bush Plum (Santalum lanceolatum)
A poultice of mashed warm leaves is used to treat rheumatic pain. Liquid from
the bark soaked in water is used to treat skin sores.
Smoke from burning the bark and leaves is used as a mosquito repellent.
Cocky Apple (Planchonia careya)
Liquid from the bark after soaking in water is used as a treatment for skin
sores. The roots are soaked in water and mashed to treat prickly heat. The inner
bark has been boiled to create a treatment for scabies.
Desert Walnut (Owenia reticulata.)
Leaves and young stems are heated then crushed and soaked in water.
The resulting liquid is then thickened and used as a poultice. Seeds are roasted
and extracted, then used to rub on external sores.
Dodder Laurel (Cassytha filiformis.)
Used as a primary ingredient for a poultice to help with joint and muscle pain.
Eucalypt (Eucalyptus)
An infusion made from the bark is drunk and used as a cure for Diarrhoea. Other
plants used for this treatment include Native Raspberries, Sacred Basil (leaf),
Dysentery Bush (root), Cluster Fig (bark) and Lemon Grass.
Green Plum (Buchariania obovata)
Plugging the affected tooth with shavings of wood treats toothache. Other plants
used to treat toothache are Coast She-oak (inner bark), Supplejack (stem
chewed) and Quinine Berry (fruit held in mouth).
Lemon Grass (Cymbopogon)
Crushed and simmered in water. The resulting liquid is drunk or applied as a wash
to relieve coughs. Other plants used in the same way are River Mint and Fuchsia.
Pig face (Carpobrotus glaucescens)
Leaf juice is applied to stings from marine animals like jellyfish.
Red Ash (Alphitonia excelsa)
Leaves are crushed in water and the head is bathed with the resulting liquid to
cure headaches.
Snake Vine (Tinospora smilacina)
The leaves and stems are warmed and mashed into a paste that is then applied as
a poultice to relieve joint pain.
Spinifex (Triodia)
The gum produced on the spiky heads was burned and the smoke inhaled as a
decongestant and to relieve headaches.
Tea Tree (Melaluca)
Leaves crushed and vapour inhaled to relieve congestion. Other plants used in
this manner include Toothed Ragwort and Jirrpirinypa.
White Berry Bush (Flueggea virosa/melanthsoides.)
Leaves and bark are made into a paste that is then painted onto sores, rashes and
itches. Weak infusions are also made for drinking to treat internal pains.
The fruit is prized as food.
40,000 years in Australia
Evidence clearly shows that the Australian Aborigine's
ancestors have been on this continent for over 40,000 years. That alone is an
amazingly long time in the history of human evolution but it needs to be put
into some sort of perspective to allow us to appreciate what it really means.
The last Neanderthals died out in Europe 28,000 years ago as
modern humans moved north out of Africa and completed populating Europe. The
question that needs to be answered is how did Australian Aborigines get as far
east as Australia more than 40,000 years ago if modern humans only started
moving out of Africa at around that time? Other estimates state that modern
humans moved out of Africa 60,000 years ago but even if that was the case it
seems highly unlikely that people would have moved east into Asia and then south
into Australia in such a relatively short time.
Even more puzzling are the remains found at Lake Mungo that
suggest humans may have inhabited Australia as much as 68,000 years ago. If this
is true (and it has yet to be proven) it would mean that the 'out of Africa'
theory is wrong.
Ice age sea levels allowed humans to reach the Australian
continent more easily and the lowest sea level due to the last ice age, is
thought to have occurred at about 65,000 years ago. Ocean levels rapidly rose
from 60,000 years ago and so this 'window of opportunity' seems the most likely
period for the population of Australia by the ancestors of the Australian
Aborigines. |
