Australian Aborigines

Australian Aborigines

Australian Aborigines , also called Aboriginal Australians, from the latin ab originem , are people who are indigenous to most of the Australian continentthat is, to mainland Australia and the island of Tasmania...

 had many ways to source sweet foods. The four main types of sweet foods gathered – apart from ripe fruit – were:

• honey from ants and bees (sugarbag, see below)
• leaf scale (honeydew – lerps
  Lerp (biology)
  In biology, a lerp is a structure of crystallized honeydew produced by larvae of psyllid insects as a protective cover.-Host plants:Some of the host plants on which lerp is often found include:* Eucalyptus dumosa...
  
  )
• tree sap
• flower nectar

In some parts of Australia, these customs are still used today, particularly in Central Australia

Central Australia

Central Australia/Alice Springs Region is one of the five regions in the Northern Territory. The term Central Australia is used to describe an area centred on Alice Springs in Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Centralia; likewise the people of the area are sometimes called Centralians...

. Foods collected can be eaten directly as a sweet or made into a sweet drink.

Arrernte sweet foods and drinks

The Arrernte

Arrernte people

The Arrernte people , known in English as the Aranda or Arunta, are those Indigenous Australians who are the original custodians of Arrernte lands in the central area of Australia around Mparntwe or Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. The Arrernte tribe has lived there for more than 20,000 years...

 of Central Australia

Central Australia

Central Australia/Alice Springs Region is one of the five regions in the Northern Territory. The term Central Australia is used to describe an area centred on Alice Springs in Australia. It is sometimes referred to as Centralia; likewise the people of the area are sometimes called Centralians...

 divide their food up into a number of groups

Indigenous Australian food groups

Indigenous Australian peoples traditionally classified food sources in a methodical way. Below are a few examples.-Central Australia:In Central Australia, people used innovative means to obtain a balanced diet.The food categories, and their Arrernte names are:...

. Many other groups also do this or did this traditionally. The Arrernte word for sweet foods is Ngkwarle — honey-like foods.

Some Aborigines who still have their language often refer to alcohol

Alcohol

In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....

 by this sweet food group term.

Arrernte Name	English name	Details
Ngkwarle athenge arlperle	Ironwood Ironwood Ironwood is a common name for a large number of woods that have a reputation for hardness. Usage of the name may include the tree that yields this wood...  (Acacia estrophiolata Acacia estrophiolata Acacia estrophiolata, commonly known as the Ironwood or Southern Ironwood, is a tree native to Central Australia.It is a graceful, pendulous shade tree, which grows from about 4-16 m tall and has a trunk with a diameter of up to about 0.45 m. Young plants are spiky leaved... ) tree gum	Ironwood gum is broken off tree branches. It can be red or clear. It runs down the tree to the ground in long beads. It is snapped off and mixed in some water and left to set. It is then scooped up with a little stick and eaten.
Ngkwarle alkerampwe	Mulga (Acacia aneura) tree gum	Gum can be found sitting in small blobs in a row on branches. Some bits are clear and some red. They are snapped off with a wooden skewer. Once quite a few are collected, they are given to the children as a treat.
Ngkwarle arlperrampwe	Whitewood (Atalaya hemiglauca) tree gum	Arlperrampwe is found on the trunk and branches of the whitewood in big globs. Some of it runs down the tree as its hanging there. It is collected and made into a lump and kneaded until soft, and is then eaten.
Ngkwarle atnyerampwe	Supplejack (Ventilago viminalis Ventilago viminalis Ventilago viminalis, commonly known as Supplejack, Vine Tree or whip vine, is a tree native to Northern and Central Australia from coastal regions of Queensland to the central deserts of the Northern Territory.... ) tree gum	Gum is scraped off after it comes through the bark. It is twisted onto a stick. It is chewy like chewing gum Chewing gum Chewing gum is a type of gum traditionally made of chicle, a natural latex product, or synthetic rubber known as polyisobutylene. For economical and quality reasons, many modern chewing gums use rubber instead of chicle... . Only small amounts can be eaten without water or it induces headache.
Ngkwarle akikarre	Witchetty bush (Acacia kempeana Acacia kempeana Acacia kempeana , commonly known as wanderrie wattle, witchetty bush or granite wattle, is a shrub in subfamily Mimosoideae of family Fabaceae... ) gum	When the flowers start to fall from the Witchetty bush, the gum comes through the bark and forms lumps, usually on the trunk. Some is red and some is clear. It is kneaded into a lump, sprinkling a bit of water on it. It can be placed on a little stick to make a lollipop.
Ngkwarle aperarnte	River red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) honeydew	Aperarnte is the sweet stuff that drips down or is extracted from the bark of the river red gum. It is retrieved from the bark or from the ground after it has dripped down.
Ngkwarle aperaltye	River red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Psylla eucalypti) leaf scale	Small, waxy white flakes of aperaltye are found on the leaves of the river red gum. Branches can be shaken so that it falls onto a sheet or bowl below, then swept up and packed into a ball for eating.
Ngkwarle alhelpe-arenye	Mallee (Eucalyptus Eucalyptus Eucalyptus is a diverse genus of flowering trees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the tree flora of Australia... ) leaf scale	Scale is scraped off to be eaten.
Ngkwarle yerrampe	Honeyant (Melophorus camponotus)	The honeyant is found in the ground in mulga The Bush "The bush" is a term used for rural, undeveloped land or country areas in certain countries.-Australia:The term is iconic in Australia. In reference to the landscape, "bush" describes a wooded area, intermediate between a shrubland and a forest, generally of dry and nitrogen-poor soil, mostly...  country. Its nest is slightly different to other ants' nests. The holes on the surface are smaller. Women dig down from the openings, following the shaft, scooping out the dirt. Honeyants are harvested from the side in the main part of the nest. They are dragged out with a little stick. They are not swallowed, but placed on the tongue and the abdomen is bitten and honey sucked from it.
Ngkwarle arwengalkere; Ngkwarle urltampe	Native bee Stingless bee Stingless bees, sometimes called stingless honey bees or simply meliponines, are a large group of bees, comprising the tribe Meliponini . They belong in the family Apidae, and are closely related to common honey bees, carpenter bees, orchid bees and bumblebees...  honey, sugarbag	Sugarbag is found in tree hollows. A small 'nose' is found made of wax, protruding from the tree. This is chopped into to split it open. The head part is retrieved first, where the larvae are, then the honey. Honey is gathered in a coolamon Coolamon (vessel) A coolamon is an Indigenous Australian carrying vessel.It is a multi-purpose shallow vessel, or dish with curved sides, ranging in length from 30–70 cm, and similar in shape to a canoe....  or billycan Billycan A billycan, more commonly known simply as a billy or occasionally as a billy can , is a lightweight cooking pot which is used on a campfire or a camping stove.-Usage and etymology of the term:...  to be eaten later.
Ngkwarle untyeyampe	Corkwood (Hakea suberea) flower nectar	When the yellow flowers hang down, corkwood flower nectar is ready to harvest. The nectar is shaken onto a hand and then the dark bits that fall there are licked off. Sometimes it can be placed in water and drunk. It can be used for this purpose when a person is sick. Everyone likes to collect this food.
Ngkwarle ntewale	Bloodwood Bloodwood Bloodwood has several meanings. It is the name of a dark red wood, from South America. It is also a common name for several unrelated groups of trees, for instance:* Brosimum paraense, a tree found in Central and South America...  (Eucalyptus opaca) flower nectar	Ntewale is the flower of the bloodwood tree. It has a pale nectar. Native bees make honey from these flowers. The flower is broken off and sucked, or nectar shaken onto the hand and the hand licked. When the flowers die off, the bush coconut Bush coconut The Bush coconut, is an Australian bush tucker food, often eaten by Aborigines of Central Australia.The bush coconut is in fact a combination of plant and animal; the Cysticoccus pomiformis grows inside the wood of the Corymbia terminalis tree.Bush coconut is called Merne arrkirlpangkwerle in the... s come.

Other sweet foods and drinks

The practices of the Arrernte were widely practised by many other groups across Australia. But customs varied depending on where people lived. Some notable other sweet foods include:

• Banksia
  Banksia
  Banksia is a genus of around 170 species in the plant family Proteaceae. These Australian wildflowers and popular garden plants are easily recognised by their characteristic flower spikes and fruiting "cones" and heads. When it comes to size, banksias range from prostrate woody shrubs to trees up...
  
  : People placed the flower spike in a paperbark-lined hole filled with water to make a sweet drink.
• Grevillea
  Grevillea
  Grevillea is a diverse genus of about 360 species of evergreen flowering plants in the protea family Proteaceae, native to Australia, New Guinea, New Caledonia, and Sulawesi. It was named in honour of Charles Francis Greville. The species range from prostrate shrubs less than 0.5 m tall to trees...
  
  : Nectar shaken and eaten, or mixed with water to make a sweet drink.
• Xanthorrhoea
  Xanthorrhoea
  Xanthorrhoea is a genus of flowering plants native to Australia and a member of family Xanthorrhoeaceae, being the only member of subfamily Xanthorrhoeoideae. The Xanthorrhoeaceae are monocots, part of order Asparagales. There are 28 species and five subspecies of Xanthorrhoea.-Description:All are...
  
  : Sweet drink from nectar by soaking in water.