By Sarah Schoch, Craig Vincent, Lexi Rudolph, and Nathan Straughan
Australia International Internet Project
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Agenda
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4 Sacred Texts
1 History of Aborginial Religion
2 Basic Beliefs and Customs
3 Geographical Influence on Religion
History of the Aboriginal ReligionOutline
The Beginning
Progression of the Race
European Settlement
Aboriginal◦ First or earliest known
Indigenous◦ Another term for Aboriginal
The Beginning: Meaning
World’s most primitive culture Entered continent from south Asia 7 million - 40,000 years ago
◦ “Traditional” period 40,000 years ago - 1788
◦ First evidence of culture
The Beginning: Earliest Years
Australian continent isolated Life developed:
◦ Differently◦ Slowly◦ Peacefully
Progression of the Race: Isolation From Other Continents
Developed different way of living Productive and without need of
improvement “Primitive”
Progression of Race: Solutions
Managed reproduction of plants and animals
Controlled underbrush growth using controlled fires
Progression of Race: Innovations
Time period of change varied:◦ Sydney and Parramatta - 1788◦ Cowpastures area - early 1800’s◦ Illawarra district - 1815
“Historical Period”
European Settlement
Forced a change in living Much like Native Americans Encroached on land and destroyed homes
and villages
European Settlement
Remaining tribes moved to reserves and missions
“Managed” by Europeans Management lasted for decades
◦ Many aborigines today do not know origins
European Settlement: 1900’s
Agenda
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4 Sacred Texts
1 History of Aborginial Religion
2 Basic Beliefs and Customs
3 Geographical Influence on Religion
BASIC BELIEFS AND RITUALS
Relationship between man and nature
Songs and stories
Dreamtime Myths
Different tribes, same fundamental beliefs
DREAMTIME
“I am a child of the Dreamtime PeoplePart of this Land, like the gnarled
gumtreeI am the river, softly singingChanting our songs on my way to the seaMy spirit is the dust-devilsMirages, that dance on the plain,I’m the snow, the wind and the falling
rainI’m part of the rocks and the red desert
earthRed as the blood that flows in my veinsI am eagle, crow and snake that glidesThorough the rain-forest that clings to
the mountainsideI awakened here when the earth was newThere was emu, wombat, kangarooNo other man of a different hueI am this landAnd this land is meI am Australia”
• Not actual dreams• Creation process—
ancestors traveled Earth• Totems/ancestors• Images of wisdom• Specific dreaming
DREAMTIME (CONT.)Biami: God-like creator Made land, mountains, rivers, living things Went back into sky
GREAT SPIRIT
Different Names Supreme being Creator Watches over Wiradjuri People Rainbow Serpent
DEATH
Physical pain for dead
“Sky Camp”
Based off of Dreamtime
Djanggau Sisters
Inquiry
REINCARNATION
Inner Spirit born again
Transmigration
Fundamental belief for all tribes
Some believed would go to a Heaven after Reincarnation
MEANS FOR REACHING REINCARNATION
Strict moral code
Ceremonies to carry on culture
Coroborees Ritual
SPIRITUALITY
Religion v. Spirituality
Dreamtime Superstition
Animal and Evil Spirits
Body and Spirit—all things
Ancestral heroes—Mt. Ranges
Spirits were supernatural being—blamed for what occurred
RITUAL: TARLOW
Sacred pile of rocks
Will to increase
Head of family journeys to shrine
Sickness isolation, not tarlow
MAGIC
Superstitious by nature
Pointing of the bone
“cured of sickness”
INITIATIONS
Male initiation rituals
Pain endurance
No initiation for females
Began at early age/puberty
ELDERS, LORE, MESSAGE STICKS
Respect Elders
“the facts and stories about a particular subject or topic”
For entering other tribes
Welcome rituals
CAVES
Express each person’s artistic ability
Pictures of spirits
SHAMANIC TRADITION
Ritual death and resurrection
Abduction by powerful beings
Body parts rearranged
Aerial ascents journeys
Transformation
CULTURE OF THE ABORIGINES
Long lasting culture “Dreamtime” Art, Song, and Dance A lost culture
LONG LASTING CULTURE
Culture survived through many others Before Egyptians built pyramids While Greeks built the Pantheon While Britain ruled Roman Empire
Existed more than 40,000 years ago
“DREAMTIME”
Time before creation Man rose from earth, water, and sky Some rose to form nature No superiority; equality with nature
ART, SONG, DANCE
All forms of culture involved religion Songs reflect “Dreamtime” Dance and artwork tell stories of land and
tradition
ART
Includes Bark and Rock paintings Baskets and beadwork Sculptures
DIDGERIDOO
Instruments made of wood Most famous instrument associated
with aborigines Five feet long and produces low,
vibrating hum Used in ceremonies like at sunsets,
circumcisions, and funerals
A LOST CULTURE
Europeans settled in Australia in 1788 Took over land 1880’s - tribes assimilated to one area Disease killed many tribes and cultures
with them Traditions have geographic connection
but many traditions have been forgotten
Agenda
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4 Sacred Texts
2 Basic Beliefs and Culture
3 Geographical Influence on Religion
Fundamentals
Themes of Aboriginal religion are centered around nature. Especially the animals and landscape
Believed physical landmarks (i.e a mountain) was their creator Most religious ceremonies occurred around or on
this landmark Holy Grounds are called Bora Ground and are
marked by 2 circles raised in the earth Many ceremonies were to ensure that there
were enough plant and animal resources.
Fundamentals Cont.
Many traditions are centered around harvesting crops which is difficult because of the lack of water.
Totems: Items in the natural world which can be paralleled into the social world.
Tribes picked totems to represent them Rooted in the animal diversity in Australia,
many animals ferocious or docile were used a totems.
Rainbow Serpent
The dry plains of Australia influenced the Religious ideology of the rainbow serpent.
It brings rain to the people only when they have done things to please him.
A centerpiece of the religion because of the immense necessity for rain.
Interpretive Dance
Aborigines employ interpretive dance in their ceremonies to remind them of the connection between themselves, nature, and the land.
Agenda
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4 Sacred Texts
3 Geographical Influence on Religion
SACRED TEXTSSacred texts are among the aspects of
indigenous spiritual ecology which evidence the tendencies among many if not most indigenes to think, feel, and live in unity with nature as the sacred.
They emphasize kinship, interdependence, and reciprocity with nature as well as care, respect, and reverence for nature.
All beings and things are seen as a sacred community and are involved in communication spiritually.
Gregory Cajete, Look to the MountainsAmerican Indians believe that breath and
language represent the most tangible expression of the spirit in all living things.
Language is an expression of the spirit because it contains the power to move people and to express human thought and feeling.
It is the breath, along with water and thought, that connects all living things in direct relationship.
The interrelationship of water, thought (wind), and breath personifies the elemental relationship from that place of the Center where all things are created.
Martin Louie/Snpakchiin, Kettle Falls Okanagon/Salish elder [I]t’s not only the Indians that sing the
song at the Winter Dance. It’s all over the world. All nations, they all have a song. That’s what my people say. When you’re a baby the first thing you do is learn to hum, to make a little noise. That’s what they call a song. Each nation in their own language in their own way have a song. Clear ’round the world [the centering tree] in all the four directions . . . don’t matter what nation it is. The world has a song. The rivers, the creeks, the winds, the trees, everything has a whispering sound.
Wub-e-ke-niew People, Wub-e-ke-niew We Have the Right to Exist There are two very different religious philosophies on
this Continent. One is the aggregate of the centralized, hierarchical world religions and the other rigid schools of thought, including Indian religion.
The other is the philosophy and world-view of the Ahnishinahbae�t jibway and other Aboriginal Indigenous people. The Ahnishinahbae�t jibway Mid� is a way of living in harmony and community; a facilitation of each person’s Sovereign relationship with Grandmother Earth, with Grandfather Mid�, with the Circle of Life which encompasses us, and with the Great Mysteries of the Universe.
The Mid� is experienced, it is directly connected to Grandmother Earth; they are married. This is where we come from.3
Sources
• Basic Beliefs/Rituals:– http://www.crystalinks.com/aboriginals.html– http://www.creativespirtis.info//spirituality/.html– http://skwirk.com/the-australian-continent.html
THANK YOU!
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