Walkabout is a term dating to the pastoral era in which large numbers of
Aboriginal Australians
Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands.
Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...
were employed on cattle stations. During the tropical wet season, when there was little work on the stations, many would return to their traditional life back home.
The term was also used to describe unexplained absences of any kind. This was commonly treated as the product of what was erroneously assumed to be a nomadic predisposition to wander aimlessly.
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See also
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Australian Aboriginal culture
Australian Aboriginal culture includes a number of practices and ceremonies centered on a belief in the Dreamtime and other mythology. Reverence and respect for the land and oral traditions are emphasised. The words "law" and "lore", the latter ...
* ''
Walkabout
Walkabout is a term dating to the pastoral era in which large numbers of Aboriginal Australians were employed on cattle stations. During the tropical wet season, when there was little work on the stations, many would return to their traditional ...
'', a 1971 film based on
a book of the same name
* ''
The Songlines
''The Songlines'' is a 1987 book written by British novelist and travel writer Bruce Chatwin about the songs of Aboriginal Australians and their connections to nomadic travel. A roman à clef that combines novel, travelogue, and memoir, Chatw ...
'', a book combining fiction and non-fiction by writer
Bruce Chatwin
Charles Bruce Chatwin (13 May 194018 January 1989) was an English travel writer, novelist and journalist. His first book, ''In Patagonia'' (1977), established Chatwin as a travel writer, although he considered himself instead a storytelling, s ...
* ''
Australian Walkabout
''Australian Walkabout'' is a TV series made for the ABC and BBC by director Charles Chauvel. It was the last project completed by Chauvel prior to his death.
Lee Robinson later got the rights to the series and sold it to Germany and Japan.
...
'', television series
References
{{reflist, 30em
Australian Aboriginal culture
Rites of passage