In Australia, 'Indigenous' has become a popular, catch-all term to describe Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
'Nation', 'community', 'people', 'mob' or the local language or Page 3 culture group name is usually preferable to 'tribe'. 'Mob' is an Aboriginal English word and as such may be more appropriate, but community acceptance may be required before using this word.
The term is still commonly used to refer to First Nations peoples, often in exchange with, and to avoid repetition of, "Aboriginal" or "Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander". But many Aboriginal people dislike being referred to as Indigenous.
'First Nations,''Aboriginal,' and more recently, 'Indigenous' are more current and are preferred by many in the community, though each has particular nuances.
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. When is it sensible to use endemic instead of aboriginal?
Indigenous and tribal peoples are often known by national terms such as native peoples, aboriginal peoples, first nations, adivasi, janajati, hunter-gatherers, or hill tribes.
The term “Indigenous” is increasingly replacing the term “Aboriginal”, as the former is recognized internationally, for instance with the United Nations' Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. However, the term Aboriginal is still used and accepted.
"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.
Murri is a demonym for Aboriginal Australians of modern-day Queensland and north-western New South Wales. For some people and organisations, the use of Indigenous language regional terms is an expression of pride in their heritage.
Blackfella (also blackfellah, blackfulla, black fella, or black fellah) is an informal term in Australian English to refer to Indigenous Australians, in particular Aboriginal Australians, most commonly among themselves.
Genetics. Genetic studies have revealed that Aboriginal Australians largely descended from a population wave associated with an Eastern Eurasian meta-population, and are most closely related to other Oceanians, such as Melanesians.
Koori (or Koorie)
Koori is a term denoting an Aboriginal person of southern New South Wales or Victoria.
A race-based term that classified Indigenous people of mixed Indigenous and European descent. 'Half-caste' people were defined as those Indigenous people who had one Indigenous parent. Now accepted as an offensive term and no longer used to refer to Aborigines in official records.
The Turrbal are an Aboriginal Australian people from the region of Brisbane, Queensland. The name primarily refers to the dialect they speak, the tribe itself being alternatively called Mianjin/Meanjin. Mianjin is also the Turrbal word for the central Brisbane area.
Yugambeh people have lived in the Gold Coast region for thousands of years, fishing the creeks and estuaries, making their homes in the rainforest and using the resources that the land provides. If you visit the Gold Coast today, you can still find many traces of her ancestors – if you know where to look.
The traditional name of Brisbane is Meeanjin - the place of the blue water lilies. It is the story of near-extinction of the Turrbal Tribe, the original inhabitants of Brisbane, that has enticed some neighbouring tribal groups (such as Jagera/Yaggera) to attempt to falsely claim Brisbane as their ancestral homelands.
Some common synonyms of indigenous are aboriginal, endemic, and native.
Australia's Indigenous peoples are two distinct cultural groups made up of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
First Nation – Some communities have adopted First Nation to replace the term band. Many bands started to replace the word band in their name with First Nation in the 1980s.
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.
Pap(a) is also found as 'mother', mainly in Victoria. Other kinship roots (for grandparents) have been shown to have a split distribution with one root dominating in the east and one in the west for what is apparently a single proto-meaning.
The word Nullah is a word for war club/hunting stick derived from the Dharug language.
To make direct eye contact can be viewed as being rude, disrespectful or even aggressive.To convey polite respect, the appropriate approach would be to avert or lower your eyes in conversation. Observe the other person's body language.