Photos of Aboriginal Children from Western Australia

Western Australia is by far the largest state in Australia, and its people are very diverse, especially if one compares the city dwellers with those in the far-flung outback regions of this vast land. In the towns, there has been a lot of racial mixing, which is reflected in the faces of the Aboriginal children on this page. But although the kids in the southwest of the state and the coastal towns may no longer know their ancestral languages or be involved in the elaborate ceremonies of the past, they maintain their Aboriginal identity with their strong family relationships.

Small Aboriginal communities are near the northwestern coastal towns of Broome and Derby. In contrast, the faces of the children in the towns reflect the very mixed population there: Aboriginal, European, Chinese, and Japanese.

But in the remote desert regions like Balgo, on the vast plains between the Great Sandy, the Gibson and the Tanami Deserts, the languages and ceremonies of the Aboriginal peoples there are alive and well; the resident Kukatja people maintain cultural ties with the people further east in the Northern Territory and the boys will be initiated in their ancient culture.