Aboriginal people are familiar with Kinga (salt-water crocodiles) and their behaviors on the land. Large crocodiles are respected and left alone, while smaller crocodiles may be caught and eaten for food. Crocodile eggs are also a nutritious food source for Aboriginal people.
The Daly River's Brinkin tribe shown in the documentary hunt crocodiles as a food source, using harpoons, bamboo and their own bare hands. The crocodiles caught by the non-Indigenous hunters are for the leather hides, which are then skinned, prepared and transported to factories in capital cities.
Can you eat crocodile in Australia? Absolutely yes, it's actually fairly common and crocodile is farmed for meat and skins in the tropical parts of Australia. Crocodiles are wild animals in Australia, and also tourist attractions, particularly in Far North Queensland and The Northern Territory.
Incredible footage from 1949 shows Aborigines hunting for crocodiles using a tiny canoe and JUMPING in the water to secure their catch. Incredible footage has emerged showing a group of Aboriginal people hunting for crocodiles using a tiny canoe and jumping into the water to secure their catch.
Many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people believe the crocodile to be a symbol of cunning, virility and primal strength, as crocs are known to lie hidden in wait until the right moment when its prey is seduced into a sense of safety and then strike with extraordinary strength and speed.
KOALAS ARE A TOTEM FOR MANY FIRST NATIONS PEOPLE
The koala is a totem for many Aboriginal people, and totems are a very significant part of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and identity.
Some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have the crocodile as their totem. They believe that the croc is a hero and they cannot be harmed by him. This is a story from the Torres Strait. One cloudy night when there was no moonlight, some kaigas men (men with the shovel-nosed ray totem) went dugong hunting.
Common animals that were hunted and eaten by Aboriginals included Kangaroos, Wild Turkeys, Possums, Emus, Anteaters, Lizards and Snakes.
Indigenous Australians have had the kangaroo as a totem, a source of food, furs, tools and ornaments, and as a subject of rock art for tens of thousands of years.
Another common plant remedy was the sap of the Native or Cherry Ballart (Exocarpas cupressiformis), used for snake bites.
Crocodile meat is mild in flavor and is often compared to chicken. Depending on where the croc is caught and how it is processed, it may have a slight fishiness. Its white flesh has a firm, tender texture and flakes apart with ease compared to beef or lamb. However, it will not come apart as easily as fish does.
Well, crocodile meat is lean. low in fat and high in protein so, it can be a healthy choice for meat lovers. It can be used in several recipes. We use no chemicals in farming, so the meat should be safe for human's consumption.
Description: Crocodile flesh is tender and has been compared to a milk-fed veal, or between pork and chicken taste. This species is genuine bush tucker and traditional aboriginal fare. Cooking Tip!
In the past, kangaroo meat was more widely accepted. It was always eaten by aboriginal Australians, for whom the succulent tail, roasted in a pitful of embers, is a particular delicacy.
As recently as 110 years ago, Aboriginal Australian hunters enlisted help from an unlikely source. They used dingoes, difficult-to-train canines halfway between wolves and dogs, to help trap and kill kangaroos and emus.
Prehistoric crocs widespread
Palaeontologist Steve Salisbury from the University of Queensland said crocodiles have lived in Australia since at least 100 million years ago, but were not always concentrated to the northern parts of the country.
The relationship between canids and Indigenous Australians is intricate, but unique in that these peoples never domesticated the wild dingo. Neither were dingoes and dogs seen as a source of food nor in many cases considered practical hunting assistants, yet they were highly prized.
"They were almost certainly introduced as domestic animals, once in Australia they became feral but were tamed by Indigenous Australians and used as companions animals in much the same way as dogs today.
The native population of Aboriginal Australians that once occupied the island (sometimes referred to as the Kartan people) disappeared from the archaeological record sometime after the land became an island following the rising sea levels associated with the Last Glacial Period around 10,000 years ago.
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.
yam, taro, cassava, wild yams, eggs, shellfish and small animals whilst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men fished and hunted for larger land and sea animals such as dugong, kangaroo and turtles.
The National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 (SA) authorises hunting by Aboriginal persons outside reserves and wilderness protection areas which would otherwise be illegal under the Act.
Dungalaba: crocodile, and a totem for the Larrakia people. "It's a very important word for Larrakia people because it's one everyone wants to be linked to," the Aboriginal Bush Traders officer said. "It's also one of the primary clans of Larrakia people.
Turtles are a favoured food source for Indigenous communities and therefore appear as totems and in Dreamtime stories and Creation myths. Indigenous people respect the food resources that sustain them and they celebrate the turtle in rituals that aim to increase the bounty of the species.
The largest speaker numbers are: Djambarrpuyngu (one of the large group of Yolŋu languages spoken in Arnhem Land - 4,264 speakers) Pitjantjatjara (one of the large group of Western Desert languages - 3,054 speakers) Warlpiri (spoken in Central Australia - 2,276 speakers)