1930年代にウェストン・プライスが行った歴史的研究旅行で訪れた人達の中で、｢地球上の動物の出現から保存された生きた博物館｣と彼が表現したオーストラリアのアボリジニーほど驚かせたものはない。プライスにとって完璧な道徳と肉体の実例だった。その狩猟、追跡、食料採集の技術は並ぶものがなかった。彼らの社会は子供が小さいときから集団で学ばせることができた。男の子には一連の成長の儀式を通して部族全体の福祉を大切にすることと恐れを知らない勇猛さを仕込み、かなり大勢いる老人たちに狩や採集が簡単にできる部分を残しておく敬意と心遣いを教えるようにしている。プライスが撮ったアボリジニーの現地での食事の写真は、入れ歯をしているのかと思わせるほど完璧に形成されていた。ただ、プライスが調査した他のどの先住民同様アボリジニーたちも「近代商業がもたらした食べ物―精白小麦、砂糖、ジャム、缶詰食品、茶」を取り入れると猛烈な虫歯とありとあらゆる病気にかかってしまった。その人達の子供には、白人文明に見られるのと同じパターンの顔の歪みを伴う顎の形成不全が現れる。
オーストラリア大陸は、陸生哺乳動物、鳥類、爬虫類、海産物昆虫など豊富な動物性食品の宝庫で、植物性食品も実に多様だ。海岸沿いの亜熱帯地域では緑が豊富だが、内陸の砂漠地帯では極めて厳しい環境である。不毛の地に住むブッシュマンも沿岸の森に住む種族同様健康だった。各々の一族は、宗教儀式や貝や木の実類がたくさん取れたものを分けるとき以外は自分の縄張りに暮らしていた。沿岸種族は固定的住居を立て、移動するのは集団で季節的な食料を得るためである。砂漠民は、水と獲物を追ってさまようため縄張りが広い。
男たちは大きな動物や鳥、魚を担当する。普通は群れのカンガルーを捕まえる。動物の近くの森や茂みのくぼみに網を張りそこへ何人かで動物を追い込む。別の者たちが網の近くに隠れて動物を槍や棒で捕まえる。見晴らしの良い所では動物を追いかけて真昼の暑い時間に木の陰で休んでいるのを槍で射す11。ワラビーやヤブワラビー、バンディクーと、カンガルーネズミなどの小型の有袋類も捕まえる。乾燥した中央地域ではこれらの動物がウサギに変わっている。アリクイも捕まえて肉を食べる。
彼らは夜は狩をしないが、夜行性の袋ネズミやコアラは色々と巧妙な方法で昼間休む所から誘き出す。いるかどうかを臭いや爪痕、糞などから探り棒やヤシの葉などに蜜をつけて巣になっている木の洞や丸太に差し込む。もし毛が密にくっついてくれば獲物がいる。木に登って引っ張り出すか煙で燻し出すかして捕まえる。
オオコウモリやトビネズミは場所によっては月や星が見えなくなるほど大群でいる所がある。低木の藪で休んでいる日中に捕まえる。２―３人の男が約一ダースの小さな棒を持ってこうもりの休んでいる木に登り枝に立って動物を脅し、飛び去ろうとするところに棒を投げつける。
アボリジニーはイグアナ、トカゲ、蛙、蛇などの爬虫類もエミュー、七面鳥、白鳥、アヒル、オウム、バタンインコと同様大きさに関係なく食べる。オウムのように飛ぶ鳥は、木の間に網を張って捕まえる。ブーメランを群れの上に飛ばすと、鷹と勘違いしたオウムが飛び降りてきて網に懸かるのだ。夏には水中に身を沈めて頭を隠すために木を持ちアヒルが近づいて来たら足を捕まえて溺れさせる。魚は、槍で衝いたり、毒草を水に入れて殺す。水面に浮いたところを手で捕まえる。
アボリジニーにとっての難関は、脂肪の摂取量を増やす事。自然観察の中からそれぞれの動物が一脂肪が乗っているかを知っている。例えばカンガルーは、シダの網枝が花を持っている時、袋ネズミはりんごが花咲く時などである。まだら蛇、カンガルーネズミ、蛤、書き、亀、うなぎにはそれぞれ最も太っておいしい時の兆候がある。旱魃や飢餓でもない限り、彼らはカンガルーがやせている時は食べない。住まいへ運ぶ価値もないのだ。豊かな時期には「動物を容赦なく殺し油の乗った部分だけを食べる」7。好んで食べられるのは有袋類とエミューの蝶で脂の乗っている部分。袋ネズミの脂肪が乗った腎臓は生で食べられることも多い。大柄な哺乳動物である海獣ジュゴンは海岸に住む原住民の脂の供給源である。
その他の脂肪源は、鳥や爬虫類の卵と多種類の昆虫。その中でも多いのが木に巣食う蛾の大型幼虫（cossid moths ）。この汁気の多いご馳走は時に15ｃｍ以上もあるが、生でも調理しても食べられる。乾物では、脂肪分が67％にも達する。緑蟻も貴重な脂の給源で、脂と蛋白質の比率が12：1にもなる。もう一つ一部地域で重要なのが、ベゴン蛾。この蛾は、岩に大群で張り付いているところを叩き落されるか、洞穴や割れ目から炙り出して捕まえる。その場で焼くか砕いて貯えておく。蛾の腹部は小さなピーナッツの大きさで脂肪が多い4。
ウェストン・プライスは、健康な原住民は当時の一般的アメリカ人よりも脂溶性ビタミンが10倍以上の食べ物を摂取していることを見出している。アボリジニーでは動物性脂肪、野生動物の臓物（動物の全体が消費される、排泄部分さえ）、昆虫、魚特に貝類と海老,蟹、ザリガニ、川海老、タニシ、牡蛎、ハマグリ、巻貝、アワビ、帆立貝、ウニ、タマキビ貝。貝類は、内臓肉よりも10倍ビタミンＤが多い。藻を食べる貝類、植物を食べる昆虫は、ミネラル吸収に強い働きを持つプライスファクター又は活性素Ｘを供給している10。
アボリジニーの女性たちは伝統的に採集の役割を担ってきた。昆虫、貝類、ほとんどの植物性食品を収穫するのがその役割。オーストラリアのほとんどの地域、不毛の砂漠地帯でも栄養豊富な多種類の植物性食品がある。オーストラリアの東海岸だけでも250種類以上の食べられる植物があり、ヤム芋や草芋、シダの根、などの根もの、椰子の核、豆類、木の実、種子、若芽、葉物、イチジク、木苺などの多種類の果物がある9。野生のキビが豊富な地域もある。砂漠では、一年のある時期に
スピニフェックス（ｓpinifex)が大量の種を産生する。
東オーストラリアのアボリジニーにとっての特筆すべき食料にバニヤ松がある。三年毎にこの松の大木は大量の松かさをつける。大きいものでは、2.5-4ｃｍの種がある。多くの部族が三年毎にバニヤ・バニヤ祭に集まるが、部族の境界を越えられる限られた数少ない時でもある。非常に収穫が多く何千人もの人がこれだけで数週間暮らせるほどである。煎ると栗のような味がしておいしいという。核も潰して粉にし、灰の中で焼いてお菓子にする。これを大きな藤の木の籠に入れて特殊な土の中に埋めて貯蔵する。何ヶ月か埋めたあと掘り出した実は、大変嫌な臭いがするのだが、それでも人気の食べ物である。
アボリジニーの文化で重要な位置を占めるものに、何種類ものアカシアの木があって、この花は甘い飲み物に、幹から採る地虫は魚の毒に使われる。淡水の沼（ビラボン）に育つマングローブの木は、果物とその複雑に絡み合った根には、牡蛎、二枚貝、蟹が生息する。葉から塩が取れる。ゴムの木やユーカリの木には地虫、蜂の巣、コアラ、ハリネズミが住み、ラープと呼ばれる昆虫の出すおいしいものがある。木の幹にできる瘤さえも食べる。花の中には、ある部族で作る甘い「ブール」と呼ばれる飲み物の原料になっているものもある。リボン・ゴムは、マンナの元になる崩れやすいおいしい樹液を出す。これが一日に最大19ｋｇ近く取れる。ユーカリの葉は薬草としてつかい、そのガムは虫歯の穴の充填に使われる。メラルーカ、又は紙の幹の木ともいう木の花は甘い飲み物になる。もっと重要なのは、その幹が料理からカヌーにまでさまざまに使われることだ。
Animal foods were generally cooked, either
over an open fire or steamed in pits. Kangaroo,
for example, was laid on a fire and seared
for a short period, so that the interior
flesh remained practically raw; at other
times the kangaroo was placed in a large
hole, surrounded by hot coals and sealed
from the air. Sometimes food was wrapped
in melaleuca bark. Flying fox was wrapped
in the leaf of the Alexandra palm for cooking.
When the foxes were cooked, the leaves were
unwrapped, pulling off the skin and fur at
the same time.6 Meat was sometimes tenderized by pounding
before being cooked.
Plant foods required more careful preparation
since many of them were difficult to digest
and even poisonous. Aboriginal women spent
many hours washing, grinding, pounding, straining,
grating, boiling and cooking plant foods.
Water was boiled in bark troughs or in large
sea shells.6
Very often, the first step to the time consuming
process of plant preparation was the “yandying”
process, used by women to separate seeds
from stalks and other impurities with which
they had been gathered. The process looks
deceptively simple but is, in fact, extremely
difficult, “requiring deft movements and
a great deal of skill.” The gathered seeds
are placed in an elongated wooden dish called
a “coolamon,” and the various objects of
differing density or characteristics are
separated from each other by “very intricate
and skillful rotating and jiggling movements.”5
Fern roots formed a staple article of food
in many regions. They were dug up, washed,
roasted on hot ashes, then cut into lengths,
pounded between a pair of round stones and
eaten. Other types of fern roots were dried
in the sun, lightly roasted to remove the
hair rootlets, then peeled with the fingernails,
chopped on a log to break the fibers, mixed
with water and other ingredients and finally
rounded into a lump for cooking. These fern
root cakes were eaten with fish, meat, crabs
or oysters. The grass potato is a palatable
fibrous root that was roasted and then pounded
between two stones before eating. Some foods,
such as orchid pseudobulbs, were dried first,
then ground up and mixed with water and cooked.
Yams were dug out with a stick -- sometimes
from a depth of three feet or more -- and
prepared by crushing and washing them in
water and cooking them in ashes.11
Many seeds are placed in “dilly bags” --
leaching baskets -- and set in running water
for anywhere from a number of hours to many
days -- a process that served to remove anti-nutrients
and toxins found in many seeds and legumes.
The matchbox bean, for example, was soaked
for 12 hours,6 while the jack bean was soaked
several days before it was pounded, made
into cakes and roasted.11 Seeds of the zamia, a spiky, palmlike plant,
were dried in the sun, then put in a dilly
bag and suspended in running water for 4-5
days. They were then crushed and pounded
between two flat stones and ground into a
fine paste. This paste was wrapped in paper
bark, baked under ashes and eaten as cakes.6 Seeds of the pineapple palm were crushed
into a flour, then washed in running water
for a week, cooked in hot coals and eaten.11 Black beans were soaked in water for 8-10
days and dried in the sun. They were roasted
on hot stones and pounded into a coarse meal.
When this was required as a food, it was
mixed with water, made into a thin cake and
then baked again on hot stones.6
Nuts from the spiky panaanus palm, which
cling to the rocky headlands in Eastern Australia,
required six weeks treatment to render them
safe for eating. They were converted into
a tasty and nutritious nut bread which was
also popular with the earliest European settlers.9
The Australian fauna provided many delicious
and nutritious fruits throughout the year,
particularly in the humid coastal regions.
Some of these were eaten raw just after picking,
while others were processed. The wild orange
was picked just before it was ripe, then
buried for one day during which it became
very sweet. The wallaby apple was likewise
ripened by placing it in the sand for a day.11 The taste of a type of wild plum improved
after storing or burying for a couple of
days.6 Fruit of the quandong, or native peach,
was buried for four days.11 Dried figs were pounded into cakes and eaten
with honey. Mangrove fruit was pulped, soaked
and mashed through a basket.11
The Aborigines also used fruits like tamarinds
and native lime to make refreshing beverages.11 An acid drink was made from the fruit of
lawyer cane by squashing the fruit in water,
and from breadfruit by soaking it in water.6 Certain flowers rich in nectar were gathered
in the early morning and steeped in water.
This was drunk fresh and also set aside to
ferment.11 Some tribes pounded flowers in a wooden
dish, then drained the liquid into another
dish and mixed this with the sugary parts
of honey ants. This mixture was allowed to
ferment for eight to ten days and a brew
was made to drink.6 Dried leaves of the red flowering ti tree
were added to hot water to produce a tealike
beverage.6
Of course, fresh, pure water was vital to
the survival of the Aborigines, both in the
subtropical coastal regions as well as in
the arid interior. Inland Aborigines knew
where water was located in the desert and
except in times of extreme drought drank
copious quantities of it. Researchers have
found that “In one of the driest habitats
on earth, these people use about twice as
much water per unit of mass as Europeans
in the same environment.”7 An adult Aboriginal male can drink almost
three quarts of water in 35 seconds.7 During times of drought, water can be obtained
from water-holding frogs and from certain
plants.5
In the past, kangaroo skin water bags were
used to carry quite large volumes of water.
Paradoxically, these were not used in the
driest areas, perhaps because kangaroos are
relatively rare in the desert and the vital
nutrients -- particularly fat-soluble nutrients
-- are lost if this animal is not cooked
in its skin.5 Up to a gallon of water could be carried
in certain large leaves folded up in ingenious
ways.
No studies of the Aboriginal peoples make
mention of any special preparation of bones
into pastes or broths, as is commonly found
among other traditional peoples throughout
the world. It has been reported that the
Aborigines made lime by burning sea shells
in a large fire which they kept burning for
three to four days,3 which probably was used in food preparation.
Insects eaten whole and ground up moths provided
calcium, as did the many plant foods properly
prepared to neutralize calcium-blocking phytic
acid.
Neither the salty nor the sweet tastes were
lacking in the Aboriginal diet. Salt was
collected from leaves of the river mangrove
and available from the salt flats in desert
regions. Leaves of sodium-rich pigface were
roasted and added to the diet.6 Certain rushes and sedges contained reasonable
amounts of sodium, as well as seeds of the
golden grevellea, some kinds of figs, the
nonda plum and the bush tomato. Wild parsnip
root and water chestnuts contain more than
4500 mg of sodium per 100 grams.8 Animal foods also supply sodium, especially
blood and certain organ meats, goanna, shellfish,
snails and worms.8 Seeds of the pepper vine were ground and
used as a pepper6 and some aromatic leaves
were also used in cooking.
For sweetness, the Aborigines loved honey.
They distinguished between two kinds. One
was white and very sweet, and always found
in small dead hollow trees. The other was
dark, more plentiful and of a somewhat sour
taste.11 In the desert, the sweet taste came from
eating the swollen abdomens of sugar ants.
Tree gums were dissolved in water and mixed
with honey to form sweets for children.3 Lerp, the sweet exudate found on certain
trees, was collected and chewed or melted
with warm water to form a jelly and eaten.11
Some writers have stated that the Aborigines
practiced “no method of agriculture or animal
domestication.”12 This is not exactly true. Occasionally,
the Aborigine domesticated the wild dingo
by raising and training the dogs from pups.
These were of little help in hunting kangaroo
but were useful in tracking and pinning the
echidna and the goanna.
If the Aborigines did not practice agriculture
per se, they did carry out the practice of
land management, especially through the use
of fire. Ethnobotanists are only beginning
to appreciate the vital role that fire played
in increasing the food supply of the Aborigines.
Early explorers often reported Aboriginal
land fires. Many of the important Aboriginal
food plants require regular burning if they
are to attain their maximum production. Some
desert plants require more frequent burning
than others, resulting in a “mosaic of plant
communities in different stages of fire recovery.”5
Even the practice of abstaining from hunting
and gathering in the area of sacred sites
contributed to the overall ecology of the
Aboriginal environment. Such sites served
as sanctuaries for animal life. “These areas
would… be vitally important for the long-term
viability of an area as immediately after
droughts they would be a source of plants
and animals to restock depleted areas, thereby
ensuring a more rapid recovery of the home
range’s biota.”5
Another area of land management involved
the creation of havens for insect populations.
Oak trunks were pushed into the creeks and
rivers to attract the toredo grubs.11 Sometimes wood was piled over half a meter
high and almost two meters wide. This would
be considered ready to harvest in a year’s
time. The grubs were collected by women and
old men. Aborigines also ringbarked candle
nut trees to make the trunks rot. White grubs
would feed on the decaying wood and were
collected for food.6
The traditional diet of the Aborigine thus
provided all he needed for excellent physical
development, superb strength and stamina
and overall good health. Like Weston Price,
early explorers reported the Aborigines to
be “well formed; their limbs are straight
and muscular, their bodies erect; their heads
well shaped; the features are generally good;
teeth regular, white and sound. They are
capable of undergoing considerable fatigue
and privations in their wanderings, marching
together considerable distances.”12 Many observers reported their great dexterity
and acute eyesight, which enabled them to
see stars that the white man can see only
with the telescope, and animals moving at
a distance of a mile, which civilized man
cannot see at all.
An early Australian settler named Philip
Chancy reported several examples of the extraordinary
“quickness of sight and suppleness and agility
of limb and muscle” in the Aborigines, including
an Aborigine who stood as a target for cricket-balls
thrown with force by professional bowlers
at only ten to fifteen yards and yet successfully
dodged them or parried them off with a small
shield for at least half an hour. Other natives
threw cricket balls at great distances, and
outdid “the best circus performers by bounding
from a spring board in a somersault over
eleven horses standing side by side.”12
Nevertheless, the vast materia medica of
the Aborigine indicates that he was not entirely
free from aches and pains. Australian plants
provided him with remedies for diarrhoea,
coughs, colds, rheumatism, ear infections,
toothache, upset stomach, headache, sore
eyes, fevers, sores, rashes, hemorrhaging
of childbirth, warts and ulcers -- as well
as for treatment of wounds, burns, insect
bites and snake poison. Macfarlane studied
Aborigines living in the desert almost entirely
on native foods and found that every member
of the tribe suffered from chronic conjunctivitis.7
The Aborigines also used herbs for contraception
and sterilization, thus allowing them to
space their children and prevent overpopulation.
The plight of the modern Aborigine who has
abandoned his native diet is sad indeed.
He is prone to weight gain, diabetes, TB,
alcoholism and, of all things, petrol sniffing.
Many Aborigines recognize the need to return
to native foods. Listen to the story of the
Aborigine Daisy Kanari:
Long time ago when Aboriginal people lived
on the good and healthy bush foods in the
bush, they lived without any sickness: they
lived a strong and healthy life. But now
it is different. This is what we think: when
we were children our parents looked after
us and fed us on quandongs, witchety grubs,
honey ants … rabbits and many more. These
foods are good and it is what we grew up
eating. We lived on these foods long ago
and now we still do.
Then the Europeans came with their loads
of food: of sugar, flour, milk, tea leaves
and tins of meat. From then to now, people
still live on European food. Today things
are bad with petrol and alcohol. When our
sons drink alcohol, they keep going and wander
aimlessly. They do not come back to their
mothers. Also with petrol: when children
smell petrol over a long period of time,
they die forever. Petrol and alcohol are
bad things that have recently come into our
country and lives.2
Some groups of Aborigines have returned to
the bush -- both in the desert regions and
in reserves in coastal and mountainous areas.
They may hunt with 22’s and carry water
in buckets, but they have relearned the foodways
of their ancestors. Some of their products
have potential commercial value -- from bean
cakes and fermented drinks as snack foods,
to insect powders as a nutritious food additive
for both people and livestock, to medicinal
preparations. Enlightened government policy
would educate the Australian population as
to the value of these items, and create a
market for them, thus allowing the Aborigines
to support themselves with dignity of purpose
in their traditional lifestyle.
For more information, see the article “The
Healthiest Restaurant in Australia,” PPNF
Journal, Vol 13, #2. Call our office for
information on obtaining a reprint.
References:
1. Abrams, Leon, M.A. Personal communication
2. Anangu Way, Nganampa Health Council, Inc.
Alice Springs, Australia, 1991
3. Crawford, I. M., Traditional Aboriginal
Plant Resources in the Kalumburu Area: Aspects
in Ethno-economics, Western Australian Museum,
Perth, 1982
4. Isaacs, Jennifer, Bush Food, Council for
Aboriginal Reconciliation and the Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Commission, Canberra,
1992
5. Latz, P. K. Bushfires and Bushtucker:
Aboriginal Plant Use in Central Australia,
IAD Press, Alice Springs, NT, 1995
6. Leiper, Glen, Mutooroo Plant Use by Australian
Aboriginal People, Eagleby South State School,
Eagleby 4207, 1984
7. Macfarlane, W. V., “Aboriginal Desert
Hunter/Gatherers in Transition,” The Nutrition
of Aborigines in Relation to the Ecosystem
of Central Australia, CSIRO, Melbourne, 1978
8. Miller, Janette Brand, Tables of Composition
of Australian Aboriginal Foods, Aboriginal
Studies Press, Canberra ACT, 1993
9. Nayutah, Jolanda and Gail Finlay, Minjungbal:
The Aborigines and Islanders of the Tweed
Valley, North Coast Institute for Aboriginal
Community Education, Lismore, NSW, 1988
10. Price, Weston A, DDS, Nutrition and Physical
Degeneration, Keats Publishing, Inc., New
Canaan, CT, 1939
11. Symons, Pat and Sim, Bush Heritage, Pat
and Sim Symons, Queensland 4560, 1994
12. Arnold de Vries, Primitive Man and his
Food, Chandler Book Co., 1952.
