'Aborigine' is generally perceived as insensitive, because it has racist connotations from Australia's colonial past, and lumps people with diverse backgrounds into a single group. You're more likely to make friends by saying 'Aboriginal person', 'Aboriginal' or 'Torres Strait Islander'.
Be consistent – The preference is to use 'First Nations people', 'Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people(s)', or 'Indigenous Australians'.
The term Native is often used officially or unofficially to describe indigenous peoples from the United States (Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Alaska Natives), but it can also serve as a specific descriptor (Native people, Native lands, Native traditions, etc.).
Indigenous" is an umbrella term for First Nations (status and non-status), Métis and Inuit. "Indigenous" refers to all of these groups, either collectively or separately, and is the term used in international contexts, e.g., the 'United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples' (UNDRIP).
"Indigenous peoples" is a collective name for the original peoples of North America and their descendants. Often, "Aboriginal peoples" is also used. The Canadian Constitution recognizes 3 groups of Aboriginal peoples: Indians (more commonly referred to as First Nations), Inuit and Métis.
Today, the term 'Indigenous Australian' is used to encompass both Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people. However many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people do not like to be referred to as 'Indigenous' as the term is considered too generic.
When used in Australia, it's preferable to capitalise the words 'Indigenous', 'Aboriginal' and 'Torres Strait Islander', just like you would with any group of people, and avoid using acronyms like ATSI or TSI. If you're referring to indigenous peoples generally around the world then 'indigenous' is spelt in lowercase.
Unacceptable terms
Assimilationist terms such as 'full-blood,' 'half-caste' and 'quarter-caste' are extremely offensive and should never be used when referring to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
'Tribe' can be offensive to many people due to the violence, colonialism and history associated with its meaning. It's a word that has been used to marginalize indigenous communities, failing to recognise their history and their oppression.
The legal definition of Aboriginality is drawn from the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983. An Aboriginal person means a person who: (a) Is a member of the Aboriginal race of Australia; and. (b) Identifies as an Aboriginal person; and. (c) Is accepted by the Aboriginal community as an Aboriginal person.
And if you are talking about both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, it's best to say either 'Indigenous Australians' or 'Indigenous people'. Without a capital “a”, “aboriginal” can refer to an Indigenous person from anywhere in the world. The word means “original inhabitant” in Latin.
Some common synonyms of indigenous are aboriginal, endemic, and native. While all these words mean "belonging to a locality," indigenous applies to that which is not only native but which, as far as can be determined, has never been introduced or brought from elsewhere.
preference for other terms including tribes, first peoples/nations, aboriginals, ethnic groups, adivasi, janajati. Occupational and geographical terms like hunter-gatherers, nomads, peasants, hill people, etc., also exist and for all practical purposes can be used interchangeably with “indigenous peoples”.
Some common synonyms of aboriginal are endemic, indigenous, and native. While all these words mean "belonging to a locality," aboriginal implies having no known others preceding in occupancy of a particular region.
The islands were settled by different seafaring Melanesian cultures such as the Torres Strait Islanders over 2500 years ago, and cultural interactions continued via this route with the Aboriginal people of northeast Australia.
That means choosing "ethnic group," "nation," "people," "community," "chiefdom," "kin-group," "village" or another appropriate word over "tribe," when writing or talking about Africa.
For Indigenous people, tribal identity is important. So when non-Native people say “find your tribe” or “tribe” to describe groups of shared interest, it is offensive because it erases the significance of Tribal sovereignty, identity, and people. Instead, we can use words like: group, crew, friends, or circle.
“Tribal knowledge” refers to the collective information of people who work together for an organization such as employees in a unit. But using forms of tribe in this way are offensive to many American Indian and Alaska Native and world indigenous peoples.
In Aboriginal culture it is taboo to mention (or in some cases write) the name of a deceased person. Aboriginal people believe that if the deceased person's name is mentioned, the spirit is called back to this world.
Australians, colloquially known as Aussies, are the citizens, nationals and individuals associated with the country of Australia.
Australia's Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Peoples have long identified with the term Black; more specifically, as Blak (or Blackfullas).
Genetic studies have revealed that Aboriginal Australians largely descended from an Eastern Eurasian population wave, and are most closely related to other Oceanians, such as Melanesians.
In Australia, 812,000 people identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander in the 2021 Census of Population and Housing. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people represented 3.2% of the population.
There are 468000 Aboriginals in total in Australia in which 99 percent of them are mixed blooded and 1 percent of them are full blooded. Are there any full blooded aboriginal peoples left in Australia? Yes. Plenty of tribal groups (their Mob) contain people of pure Aboriginal descent.
Aboriginal people refer to an Elder as 'Aunty' or 'Uncle'. However, it is recommended that non-Aboriginal people check the appropriateness of their use of these terms as referring to an Elder or leader as Aunty or Uncle may not be appropriate for an outsider unless a strong relationship has been established.