By Christopher Bjørnsen
We Víkingar are genetically programed to travel and explore. This is why we were the first ones to settle Vinland (Eastern North America), and Helluland (Baffin Island, in the Canada Arctic).
Over 1,000 years later, things haven't changed much, and we're still discovering new cultures, having somewhat evolved to now raid for knowledge rather than gold and silver.
Our first cultural expedition in this series was Australia, for a full immersion with the Aboriginal people. So, what did we learn from it?
As with any culture that was forcibly christianized, especially at the hands of the British, the Aboriginal people of Australia are in pretty bad shape. In comparison, we Víkingar therefore fared quite well. We were nonetheless able to find a couple of guys who were still living by their ancestral tribal traditions, and it turns out they are not that different from us Norsemen.
Like us (when we aren't traveling to exotic locales), they live a simple life in harmony with their environment and nature. Like us, they live from the land, and have an ancestral knowledge of plants and their many uses. They hunt as well, but instead of using a bow, they use a... boomerang! At least the one brothers we hooked up with.
They are close to their own gods, who are not always human figures. This includes Adnoartina, the lizard guard of Uluru (Ayers Rock), Ulanji, the snake ancestor of the Bibinga, or Onur, a moon deity. One of their gods is also rather unusual... Barraiya, the creator of the first vagina!
All in all, the tribal life of the Aboriginal people of Australia is not that different from ours.
