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Aborigina l Culture
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Aboriginal Culture
Aboriginal Culture • Australian Aborigines have the world’s longest
continuous cultural history of any group of peoples • Historians differ as to the length of time the
culture has existed, placing it between about 40000 and 65000 years • At the time of European contact, there were over
600 Aboriginal nations with their own languages • Kinship is important to Aboriginal communities –
it involves bonds linking individuals to extended family groups, and respect for elders, who pass on traditions, traditional values, and stories
Dreaming Stories My culture is my identity. Dreamtime stories tell the life of my people. Growing older. Hearing stories of my ancestors living off the land Becoming one with the creatures Even though I haven’t met them I feel this unbreakable connection Through the stories I have heard. The stories that have been passed down through generations. These stories are living through us. Without our culture we have no identity We have nothing.
- Kiarra Moseley, Karri Moseley, Luke Bidner
• What do you think the Aboriginal Dreaming entails?
• What does the poem suggest the Dreaming is? How does it differ from your original beliefs?
The Dreaming • There is no one ‘Dreaming’. Each person of Aboriginal descent
has their own specific ‘Dreaming’. This constitutes their identity, expression of spirituality and dictates who they are related to
• Ancestor spirits came to the earth in human form. They created the relationship between people and groups and the land and the animals, and also relationships between people
• The ancestors remain inside the land’s natural features, and hence these are sacred sites
• ‘Dreaming’ is a rough English translation of a complex Aboriginal spiritual concept. Different Aboriginal communities have different terms for spirituality and beliefs
• Aborigines do not consider the Dreaming a time in the past, or a ‘time’ at all. The Dreaming is timeless; it is an ever present environment Aboriginal people live within, existing all around us
• Aboriginal languages lack terms for and a concept of time. However, place is very significant
• The Dreaming involves moving from a dream state to reality and vice versa. It explains the creation process
The Dreaming “‘The Dreaming’ or ‘the Dreamtime’ indicates a psychic state in which or during contact is made with the ancestral spirits, or the Law, or that special period at the beginning.”
- Mudrooroo, Aboriginal writer
The Creation Process
• Aboriginal ancestor beings roamed the land – then barren – and created its present natural features. First, a sacred world was created, then its elements were turned into rocks, trees, and other natural features. Once they had been initiated, an Aboriginal could see the sacred places
• Australian animals represent the spirits of the ancestor beings, and hence are important totems
• The spirits can be accessed by anyone• The idea that the Dreaming is ongoing and
omnipresent differentiates Aboriginal spirituality from that of mainstream religions
Far off in Dreamtime, there were only people, no animals or birds, no trees or bushes, no hills or mountains.The country was flat. Goorialla, the great Rainbow Serpent, stirred and set off to look for his own tribe. He travelled across Australia from South to North. He reached Cape York where he stopped and made a big red mountain called Naralullgan. He listened to the wind and heard only voices speaking strange languages.This is not my country, the people here speak a different tongue. I must look for my own people. Goorialla left Naralullgan and his huge body made a deep gorge where he came down. He travelled North for many days and his tracks made the creeks and rivers as he journeyed North. Goorialla made two more mountains, one of the Naradunga was long made of granite, the other had sharp peaks and five caves and was called, Minalinha. One day Goorialla heard singing and said, "Those are my people, they are holding a big Bora." At the meeting place of the two rivers, Goorialla found his own people singing and dancing. He watched for a long time, then he came out and was welcomed by his people. He showed the men how to dress properly and taught them to dance. A big storm was gathering, so all the people built humpies for shelter.Two young men, the bil-bil or Rainbow Lorikeet brothers came looking for shelter but no one had any room. They asked their grandmother, the Star Woman but she had too many dogs and couldn't help them. the Bil-bil brothers went to Goorialla who was snoring in his humpy but he had no room. The rain got heavier and the boys went back to Goorialla and called out that the rain was heavy. Goorialla said, "All right come in now." The Bil-bil bothers ran into Goorialla's mouth and he swallowed them. Then he began to worry about what the people would say when they found the boys missing. He decided to travel North to Bora-bunaru, the only great natural mountain in the land. Next morning the people found that the boys were gone and saw the tracks of Goorialla and knew that he had swallowed them.You may never see these lakes or mountains, but after the rain you will see his spirit in the sky , which is the rainbow. This is the reason why he is called Goorialla the Rainbow Serpent.
Land and Water
The Land • Aboriginal people have a strong connection to the land.
It is not a commodity, it is not ‘owned’, bought, and sold. The land owns the people, and their lives are intricately connected with the land. Law, spirituality and culture are intertwined with the land. It is part of Aboriginal lives both physically and socially.
• Art forms such as painting, dancing and music demonstrate and stem from the connection to the land. Artists need the “connection to country”; the connection allows stories to be passed through the generations
• When an Aboriginal person looks at the land, they see the physical land, but also a historical and spiritual landscape others cannot sense
• Land is integral to Aboriginal identity and sense of belonging
The Land The land contains important places to Aborigines, including:
● burial sites ● Dreaming locations ● archaeological sites ● water holes
“When you dig ‘em hole in that country, you’re killing me…Country is very important to me.”
- Jeffrey Lee, senior custodian of the Koongarra land
“The land is my backbone...I only stand straight, happy and proud and not ashamed of my color because I still have land…I think of land as the history of my nation.”
- Galarrwuy Yunipingu, musician
“In a white society, a person’s home is a structure made of bricks or timber but to our people our home was the land that we hunted and gathered on and held ceremonies and gatherings.”
- Nala Mansell-McKenna, Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre
“For many indigenous people it’s a visceral connection; you look beyond the buildings and concrete and feel a sense of belonging.”
- Francis Rings, dancer
The Land • Clearing the environment for settlement and
construction is like ripping out Aboriginal history. It is their ‘library’, their heritage. It cuts the ties of identity, spirituality and connection to ancestors.
• When Aboriginal people were removed from their home lands (the ‘stolen generations’) they lost a key component of their identity and their spiritual belonging. The traditional connection to country was lost
“If you belong there your country will find a way to call you back. Country needs to be remembered, needs to be listened to, needs to know that we can still speak its language.”
- Aboriginal elder
“Our story is the land…it is written in those sacred places.”
- Bill Neidjie, Kakadu elder
Water • Aboriginal people also have an invisible connection
to water. It is associated with spirits, contains fish which may be totems, symbolises tribal boundaries and is represented in songs and stories
• Cultural water is known as ‘stand-alone’. It is associated with initiation and other ceremonies, heritage sites, birthing sites and other important rituals
Before Bed Most nights before bed The symphony of insects I retreat outside whose song fills the air to savor the beauty the whisper of a westerly that soothes my mind. that flows through my hair.
Stars stain the sky A mother and her joey scattered all around briskly bound away I peer into the darkness these sounds hold more meaning observing every sound. than what words can ever say.
The call of an owl I bathe in this brilliance the distant creak of a frog a smile on my face the squeaking of a bandicoot grateful to the spirits as it scurries past a log. for maintaining this place
- Jonathan Hill
“It is not a ‘lifestyle choice’ to be born in and live in a remote Aboriginal community. It is more a decision to value connection to country, to look after family, to foster language and celebrate our culture. There are significant social, environmental and cultural benefits for the entire nation that flow from these decisions.”
- Pat Dodson, former chairperson of the Council for
Aboriginal Reconciliation
Sources: • www.CreativeSpirits.info,
Aboriginal culture - Spirituality - What is the ‘Dreamtime’ or the ‘Dreaming’?, retrieved 17 December 2014
• www.CreativeSpirits.info,Aboriginal culture - Land - Meaning of land to Aboriginal people, retrieved 17 December 2014
• http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/dreaming, retrieved 17 December 2014
