Afghan refugees joined Aborigines in Adelaide last night to celebrate the
long history of the mixing of the two cultures in Australia.

The author of a book on an Afghan-Aboriginal family, Pamela Rajkowski,
says mixed marriages between the cultures were common in the 1800s, when
Afghans came to open up Australia's interior.

Ms Rajkowski says for many of the Afghan-Aboriginal descendents, it was
the first time they have had a chance to find out more about their Afghan
heritage.

"The Afghan descendents themselves say they want to meet the Afghan
refugees," she said.

"There could be possible links, they may have come from the same tribal
groups, because the Afghans that came to Australia come from different
tribal groups."