The Dreaming
The Dreaming is a unique religious concept, but it is not the same as Dreamtime since Dreaming goes beyond the usual sense of how Western civilisation understands dreams. It is the environment the Aboriginal people lived in and still do today. For the Indigenous people, the Dreaming refers to the Creation Period, which is a time beyond human memory, when human beings, landscapes, and languages were created. Dreams are the key parts for the communication between the human and spiritual. The beings, that created all this, died as bodies, but their spiritual character remains in the landscape, the sky, and the ocean.
The Indigenous Australians believe that the life giving and life sustaining powers of ancestral beings still exist. These people have a deep connection to particular 'Dreamings ', such as plants, animals and other elements of nature. Even though individuals come and go, the
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Dreaming stories transfer important knowledge, cultural values, and belief systems to later generations. Through song, dance, painting and storytelling, Aboriginal peoples created a rich cultural heritage with the connection of the ancient Dreaming to today. Most of the stories have a deep relationship with the landscape, animals, and people, like in the story "The Rainbow Serpent" above. (cf. Australian Government)
"There are many Dreamings and stories for all regions, but on the Larapinta Trail near Alice Springs, for example, visitors cannot help but be aware of the Caterpillar Dreaming. In Arnhem Land, the Yolngu record their interaction with Macassan traders with the Red Flag dance. The Titjikala community, south of Alice Springs, tell the story of the evil Itikiwarra, the knob-tailed gecko spirit ancestor, while the Anangu of northern South Australia have the Kuniya songline, where the woman python lays her eggs on a slab of rock, leaving landmarks across the country." (Pascoe
The land- The land is the aboriginals resources, it’s their way of survival. They give to the land and the land gives back to them. They use the land for food and water. Also the land is filled with their spirits, the animals are the spirits of the elders who have passed away.
These influences include Indigenous Australian cultures and western cultures. Indigenous Australian culture is clear through the character, Lorrpu who intends to follow in the footsteps of his ancestors and become a traditional indigenous man. Lorrpu gains approval from the most powerful elder, Darwu to be included in a ceremony to become a traditional Indigenous Australian man, just as his pervious ancestors and family members did. Throughout ‘Yolngu Boy’, it is evident Lorrpu believes that their traditional ways and culture is the best to follow as shown when they are running away from their community and he decides that the best way of escaping is by canoe. He also followed the tradition and belief of ‘Baru, he can lead the water and roam the earth like a normal man, spirit of the fire, he is justice and the law, with the power to protect us, and the power to heal our soul’ (Yolngu Boy, 2012).
Place names are very important to Aboriginal people, because the names of places give useful information. For example, certain names gives insight on places that are good for hunting, fishing, or it can also give a great description of the land. So when certain people are traveling, they used these names, as a guide to know where to stop, or what places to avoid. One of the most unique things about place names, is that some are used when telling stories about people 's experiences on the land. This is what makes the Innu culture so different from others, they use their environment, and the land that surrounds them to spread memories to their friends, and family
Barre Toelken: The Moccasin Telegraph and Other Improbabilities a Personal Essay Page 51 I found it interesting the different folklore that surrounded the Navajo people involving the moccasin telegraph. It would be hard idea for outsiders to rationalize how these people just have these premonitions that things are going to happen or that they need to go somewhere.
Ribbons (2011) is a free verse poem by ali cobby eckermann that effectively illustrates the thematic concern of having a dual national identity and being part of aboriginal - australian culture. The poet accomplishes this by a soulful tale, leaving behind the people she knew best and expressing herself being “tied” to the land forever, outlining her lifelong spiritual bond with the land and its people. eckermann reveals that a firm bond is established between her and the land wherever she may be through poetic devices and techniques such as poetic structuring, repetition, symbolism, and characterisation. Characterisation of the children as being young “anangu” is shown in stanza 1 of ribbons. Anangu, the defining term for australian aborigine is reflected in the children identifying their national identity as being part of australian and aboriginal culture.
The Navajo and the Modoc: Mythological comparison In the myths “When Grizzlies Walked Upright” and “The Navajo Origin Legend”, we get a glimpse of the beliefs of traditional Native American societies. The former myth is one told by the Modoc tribe of Oregon, the other is told by the Navajo tribe of the American Southwest. The different uses of animals, spirits, and women’s roles help create an illustration of society before colonization. These myths do also differ on these themes and on how they are presented.
Define and explain the notion of Katatjin (Knowledge), Boodjar (country) and Moort (family) and explain how the relationship between land, people and knowledge in the shared space of the South-west of Australia can be utilised. It is important to understand the Noongar trilogy of belief. The boodjar (land), is considered the mother and caregiver, moort is family and relations and katijin is knowledge and cosmological stories. Together these form a symbiotic relationship which is considered the "web of life" by Noongars (Collard 2007). In the south-west the term Noongar is the name given to aboriginal people who were the original inhabitants of the land (Collard et al. 2004).
Examples from third world countries were given and the paper concluded that arts are relevant to health, wellbeing and quality of life, giving an Aboriginal community in Australia as an example. Art is a communicative medium that allows a togetherness and heals fragmentation. When external reality is harsh and negative, it drives from the mind the capacity for imaginative dreaming. The process of art creation allows the formation of emotional links (in terms of Bion’s model) and negotiated interactive moments. This is one of the unique gifts the Aboriginal people had and it is this imagining that is allowed to be reawakened through the colour process mode of art.
Belonging to the land and to each other is fundamental to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their culture. Connections with the land, families, clans and communities are at the core of Aboriginality. It is through these connections that nurture belonging from which Aboriginal peoples identities and cultures emerge.
There are a variety of ways and factors that influence how people are represented in different non-fiction and fiction texts. Indigenous Australians are usually represented in harmful disrespectful ways, but they are also represented in positive ways. There are many factors that contribute to these representations. In the year 8 fiction and non-fiction text studied in the last three terms, we have seen different representations of indigenous Australian people. The main factors contributing to these are, stereotypes, historical events, real life experiences and Two main ways Indigenous Australians can be represented in fiction and non-fiction texts are as people who are kind and friendly or people who are troublesome.
Aboriginal people have a long history of traditions, but many of these traditions were altered or
In various cultures, traditional stories of a universal beginning relate to the beliefs and rituals that are prevalent within that society. Although these creation stories differ among cultures, all display similar characteristics which constitute archetypal settings of creation myths, such as a great tree, the landmass from a watery chaos, and the fall of man. In the Iroquois’ creation myth, “The World on the Turtle’s Back”, the display of archetypal settings parallels the creation depicted in the book of Genesis, but underlying each similarity are differing interpretations which allow for the stories to relate to its specific culture. In both “The World on the Turtle’s Back” and the Genesis creation story, a prominent characteristic is the great tree connecting heaven and earth.
The narrator describes how the Indigenous Australians in the area were forced to leave their land, saying, "The black people are gone, and so are the dingoes" (Ottley, 2007, p. 5). This quote highlights the displacement of Indigenous Australians by white settlers, as well as the impact of their absence on the environment. Moreover, the artwork in the text portrays the Indigenous Australians as dark and shadowy, emphasizing their marginalization and exclusion from mainstream society. Together, these examples demonstrate how power imbalances are present not only between humans, but also between humans and animals, and between different racial groups. The text serves as a commentary on the
Since colonisation in 1788 Europeans believed the Aboriginal peoples to be a primitive race with no societal structures in place because their system did not resemble one that was recognizable or fit within it did not resemble a system that was recognizable by white settlers. National identity is believed to be a general concept that referred to a broad set of codes with a shared understanding within a nation, and the sense of belonging that is reinforced through myths, symbols, media activities, and everyday practices (Carter, 2006, p. 7; Van Krieken et al., 2017, pp. 234-244). Australia is now regarded as a diverse country with an identity that has evolved over time and will continue to do so. For Indigenous Australians to conform to this national identity, they had to assimilate and give up their values, beliefs, and cultural rights to become more like white Australia.
This state of being part aboriginals has driven their identity in crisis. Indeed they have possessed a unique Aboriginal consciousness that have made them to reclaim their lost voice. Their literature has been used as a platform