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Aborigines, Indigenous Australians
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The term "blacks" has ten been applied to Indigenous Australians. This owes more to superficial physiognomy than ethnology, as it categorises Indigenous Australians with the other black peoples Asia and Africa. In the 1970s, many Aboriginal activists, such as Gary Foley proudly embraced the term "black", and writer Kevin Gilbert's ground-breaking book from the time was entitled Living Black. The book included interviews with several members the Aboriginal community including Robert Jabanungga reflecting on contemporary Aboriginal culture.
Languages
The Indigenous languages mainland Australia and Tasmania have not been shown to be related to any languages outside Australia. There were more than 250 languages spoken by Indigenous Australians prior to the arrival Europeans. Most these are now either extinct or moribund, with only about fifteen languages still being spoken by all age groups.
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