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 life on country.
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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Following is a definition of ''walkabout'' in respectful intercultural words: "A time of reflection of the soul, a return to one's roots and family ancestry, a joyous revisit to vistas creeks and waterholes. A time to replenish the food supplies from another region of Australia. A time of balance to harmonise with the sounds and sights of the great land of Australia." Godwinsdatter, M.G. (1981)
Temporary mobility
"Temporary mobility" is a neutral term covering various forms of movement from place to place, without the specific connotations of "walkabout". Young Indigenous adults have the highest mobility rate of all age groups in Australia; males make up the majority.
See also
*
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. Over 300 languages and other groupings ...
* ''
Walkabout
Walkabout is a rite of passage in Australian Aboriginal society, during which males undergo a journey during adolescence, typically ages 10 to 16, and live in the wilderness for a period as long as six months to make the spiritual and traditiona ...
'', a 1971 film based on
a book of the same name
* ''
The Songlines
''The Songlines'' is a 1987 book written by Bruce Chatwin, combining fiction and non-fiction. Chatwin describes a trip to Australia which he has taken for the express purpose of researching Aboriginal song and its connections to nomadic travel ...
'', 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 storyteller, i ...
* ''
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.
References
External links
* ''Walkabout''at National Film and Sound Archive''A ...
'', television series
References
{{reflist, 30em
Australian Aboriginal culture
Rites of passage