walkabout

{{Short description|Australian Aboriginal cultural practice}}

{{For|similar terms}}

{{Use Australian English|date=December 2015}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2015}}

Walkabout is a term dating to the pastoral era in which large numbers of Aboriginal Australians were employed on cattle stations. During the tropical wet season, when there was little work on the stations, many would return to their traditional life back home.

The term was also used to describe unexplained absences of any kind. This was commonly treated as the product of what was erroneously assumed to be a nomadic predisposition to wander aimlessly.{{Cite journal|title = Project MUSE - Laws, Customs, and Practices in Australian Native Title|journal = Collaborative Anthropologies|volume = 6|pages = 334–352|doi = 10.1353/cla.2013.0013|year = 2013|last1 = O'Kane|first1 = Michael}} {{cite book |last= Peterson |first= Nicolas |date= 2003 |title=Myth of the “walkabout” |url= https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203464786-19/myth-walkabout-nicolas-peterson | publisher= Routledge |isbn=9780203464786}}{{Cite journal|url = https://caepr.cass.anu.edu.au/research/publications/move-indigenous-temporary-mobility-practices-australia|title = On the move? Indigenous temporary mobility practices in Australia|last = Prout|first = S.|date = 2008|journal = Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research|issue=48 |ISBN=0 7315 4947 3|ISSN=1442 3871 |access-date = 8 March 2020 }}