Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

peoples traditionally classified food sources in a methodical way. Below are a few examples.

Central Australia

In Central Australia, people used innovative means to obtain a balanced diet. The food categories, and their

Arrernte Arrernte (also spelt Aranda, etc.) is a descriptor related to a group of Aboriginal Australian peoples from Central Australia. It may refer to: * Arrernte (area), land controlled by the Arrernte Council (?) * Arrernte people, Aboriginal Australi ...

names, are: : Some other category words from

that are used in relation to food include: *''Thipe '' fleshy flying creatures; birds (not emus), bats *''Kwatye'' water in any form, sources of water; water, rain, clouds *''Arne '' trees, shrubs, bushes, woody plants, some grasses *''Ure '' fire, things to do with fire.

Top End

In the

Top End The Top End of Australia's Northern Territory is a geographical region encompassing the northernmost section of the Northern Territory, which aside from the Cape York Peninsula is the northernmost part of the Australian continent. It covers a ra ...

, seafood plays an important part in the diet. The food groups and their Yolngu names are: : The old people would talk about the need to eat from both ''murŋyan and ''gonyil'' food groups and the need to supplement their diet with ''gapu'' (fresh water). While this balance was maintained, the people knew they were eating correctly. When the men would come back from the magpie goose hunt, they would be craving ''murnyaŋ'' foods after having eaten so much meat and eggs. Meanwhile, the women, children and old people back in the camps would be looking forward to ''gonyil'', magpie goose meat and eggs, after eating so much ''murnyaŋ.Thomson, Donald and Peterson, Nicolas, ''Donald Thomson in Arnhem Land'',

Miegunyah Press Melbourne University Publishing (MUP) is the book publishing arm of the University of Melbourne. History MUP was founded in 1922 as Melbourne University Press to sell text books and stationery to students, and soon began publishing books itself. ...

, 2003, , p 158.

References

*Trudgen, Richard, ''Why Warriors Lie Down and Die'', ARDS, Darwin, 1996, , p 140 {{Indigenous Australians Bushfood Australian Aboriginal bushcraft Diets