Some notes on the tribal divisions of the aborigines of Tasmania

The estimates of the aboriginal population of Tasmania before the advent of Europeans vary very considerably. G. A. Robinson always maintained that, in 1804, the number of the aborigines was from 6000 to 8000. Captain Kelly, in his evidence before Colonel Arthur's Committee in 1830, estimated the native population at 5000 ; but he supposed that the number was still very great in the unsettled parts of the colony, which we now know was not the case. On the other hand, Backhouse put the number as low as 700 to 1000.
To sum up the result of our enquiry, we find, ( 1 ) That the aboriginal population probably did not exceed 2000 : (2) that there were four main groups of tribes ; viz.
— (a) South ; (b) West and North-West ; (c) Central and East ; (d) North and North-East : (3) that these groups were divided by strongly marked differences of language : (4) that the Southern and Western tribes were completely isolated from those on the eastern side of the island, and that a similar separation existed between the North and North-Eastern tribes on the one hand, and those of the Centre and East on the other : (5) that within the groups each tribe and sub-tribe probably occupied a definite district which was recognised as its special territory : (6) that the tribes within each group, though generally leagued together, were at times at feud with each other : (7) that in later years, after the European occupation, the tribes—especially those of the east and centre of the island—laid aside their differences, and made common cause against the white intruders.