Arrival of Religious tradition to austrailia

Studies of Religion: Question 1.

Research the arrival of a religious tradition other than Christianity into Australia.
Describe the country of Origin of new settlers representing this tradition. Explain the traditional background and reasons for their migration to Australia.

Muslims from the Indonesian Archipelago were infact some of Australia’s earliest vistors before the European settlement. The reason for coming to Australia were that they were fishermen who came to fish for ‘trepang’. It was considered a delicacy in the Chinese market. These fishermen were from Makassar. It was said that from the 16th century they had visited the north coast of Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland. Evidence to support this theory came from how similar the vocabulary was between these fishermen and the language of Makassar and the coastal aborigines. Cave paintings depicting the ships have also been discovered and Makassar artifacts have been found in Aboriginal settlem...