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Why were Aboriginal people unable to continue hunting and gathering after being removed from their land?

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Aboriginal people of Galiwnku Island in Australia — Australian Aboriginal peoples Aboriginal people from Galiwnku Island gathering to watch the proceedings at which Prime Minister Kevin Rudd formally apologized to the Aboriginal peoples of Australia for their mistreatment under earlier Australian governments, February 2008.

Aboriginal people were unable to continue hunting and gathering after being removed from their land because their survival was fundamentally dependent on an intimate, expert knowledge of their specific home territory.12

Traditional Aboriginal life relied on a deep understanding of the location, distribution, and characteristics of water holes, flora, and fauna within their range of movement. Because they were hunter-gatherers who did not domesticate animals or grow crops, they were directly dependent on the natural environment of their ancestral lands.21

When European settlement expanded, it conflicted directly with Aboriginal land tenure and economic activities. By forcing Aboriginal people off their land and into reserves or fringe settlements, the colonial authorities severed their access to the specific resources and sacred sites necessary for their way of life. Without the ability to access their traditional country, they could no longer practice the hunting and gathering techniques that had sustained them for generations, leading to forced adaptation and widespread impoverishment.3