Census Data + Aboriginal Spirituality

Define dreaming

Dreaming - Spiritual dimension of reality

• The fundamental tenet of aboriginal spirituality → metatemporal concept (ongoing)

• Encapsulates stories of creation + life in aboriginal culture

• Establishes the customs and stories which link Aboriginal people to the land

• “The dreaming… is the way aboriginal people explain life” (Aboriginal Art & Culture, Alice Springs Australia, 2024)

How is dreaming informed by kinship

Kinship – the network of relationships that govern interactions between individuals and tribes

Blood kinship - Individual’s responsibility is to others

• Assigns their roles in their clan

• Example: Skin Groups in Tiwi Culture:

  • They are inherited by the mother

  • Determines who someone can marry, and their totems (e.g. crocodile, shark)

Totemic kindship

• Fosters a metaphysical connection with the dreaming (ancestor spirits)

• Carry special responsibilities to their totem → must preserve them

Ceremonial Life inform dreaming

• Facilitates spiritual connections and passes on social information

• Allows them to relive the dreaming and maintain beliefs/practices

• Ceremonies → different ceremonies for different events/stages of life

Example: The Tiwi Pukumani Ceremony

• Burial ceremony

• Pukumani poles are placed around the gravesite

• Ensure spirit finds its way to the spirit world

Obligations to the land and people determine dreaming

• Land is inextricably connected to dreaming  metaphysical connection

• Land is a physical medium through which the Dreaming is communicated

  • Sacred sites → dwelling places of ancestor spirits

  • Have ritual obligations to care and maintain these sites →custodianship

• View the land as mother → provides them with everything needed to survive

Define dispossession

Dispossession – the deprivation of aboriginal people from their land and other possessions

• During periods of Protectionism and Assimilation (1800s-1900s)

The continuing effect of dispossession → separation from land

Forced removal from land onto reserves and missions

• Deprives them from their connection to land → thus their connection to dreaming (inextricable link)

  • Feel burden of not fulfilling obligations to the land

    • Cannot care for sacred sites or fulfil totemic responsibilities

    • Cannot perform ceremonies

• Cannot relive or pass down knowledge of the dreaming to younger generations

• Cannot maintain their beliefs and practices

  • Lose connection to dreaming

  • Loss of spiritual identity

The continuing effect of dispossession → separation from kinship

Forced removal from kinship groups

• Stolen generation  removal of aboriginal children from their parents and tribe

• Forbidden from speaking language and practicing rituals

  • Knowledge of the dreaming is shared through songs, stories, ceremonies

  • Cannot pass down beliefs in an authentic way

  • Loss of knowledge and culture

• Lose their connection to their clan

  • Destruction of the kinship system

  • Children can’t learn their obligations to the land and their tribe

• Destroy their connection to spirituality and identity

• Continued effect = cannot reconnect to their tribe or spiritual identity due to how they were stripped of their relationship to the land and kinship groups

“10-33% of ATSI children were removed between 1910 to 1970” (Bringing them home report, 1997)

What is Land rights movement

+ importance (dreaming)

Land rights movement - religious, political movement that sought to recognise Aboriginal people’s connection to the land and reaming

• Dispossession → aboriginal people’s spiritual wellbeing was destroyed

  • Separated from land and kinship groups

  • Aspects that inform their spiritual identity

• Dreaming is the core of the land rights movement

  • Aboriginal people were fighting to access the land they’re spiritually connected to

  • Terra Nullius denied foundational principles of aboriginal spirituality

  • The land is inextricably connected to dreaming  re-establish their connection to the dreaming through gaining access to their land

  • Access to sacred sites → strengthened relationships with ancestral beings and meet ritual obligations to land and totems

Mabo case

Mabo Case (1992)

• High court overruled Terra Nullius

• Acknowledged their continued connection to their land

• Recognised how it is essential to their spirituality = inextricably connected

Native Title Act

Native Title Act (1993) - the right of Aboriginal peoples to own their traditional lands/waters

• Regain access to their native land if they could prove their past and ongoing connection

• Give them access to sacred sites → can fulfill ritual and totemic responsibilities stripped from them during dispossession

• Facilitated economic and social development → autonomy over their land = start businesses and integrate better into society due better connection to spirituality

• 50% of NSW is under native title claims (Crownlands NSW, 2024)

Wik Case

Wik Case (1996)

• Lead to the 1998 Native Title Amendment

• High court ruled that the Native Title could co-exist with leasehold title → shared rights allowed Aboriginal people to have a say over their land

• In any conflict, leasehold titleholder rights would prevail

Religious increase (secularism)

No religion

• 39% in 2021 & increased by 2.8 million from 2016

• Mainly from people in the 20s (younger people)

• Increased disillusionment with religion

  • Improved quality of life due to medical advancements = reduced suffering = reduced need for religion for hope in times of despair

  • Rise in scepticism towards the supernatural because of scientific progress → E.g. Biblical stories about the creation of the universe contradicts scientific evidence

• Religion is not considered as relevant in people’s lives as it was previously

  • Increased individualism materialism = less need for God in people’s life = people are more focused on working and achieving dreams than religion

  • Separation of the church and the state reduces the power of religious traditions

  • Change in societal and power structures make people believe that religion is outdated

Religious increase (islam)

• 2nd most common religion: 3% in 2021 & increased by 200,000 from 2016

• Abandonment of white AUS policy in 1970s = allows migrants from non-European countries to move to Australia

• Increased immigration from the middle east = due to conflict, natural disasters, economic/political instability

half of australians have a parent born overseas

Religious increase (Hinduism)

• 3rd most common religion: 2.7% in 2021 & increased by 240,000 from 2016

• Increased immigration from India and Nepal = education, job opportunities

Religious increase (new age religion)

New age religions

• Nearly a fifth of Australians identify as 'spiritual but not religious' (McCrindle, 2012)

• 38% of Gen Z Australians identify as spiritual = Most common amongst people under the age of 35

• Emerged in 1970s as a part of counter-culture movement

• E.g. Feng Shui, Astrology

• Better adapted to today’s society and lifestyle

• Prioritise their own self-improvement and discovery = accommodates for increased materialism

  • Earn material wealth whilst maintaining spiritual wellbeing

  • Less commitment required

  • Still explore spirituality but without regular commitment of traditional religions

    • E.g. no Saturday/Sunday worship in Christianity

• Accommodates for changing societal values and power structures

  • People can explore their own beliefs

  • No doctrine enforced on them

Religious decrease (christianity)

Catholics → Anglicans → Protestant/uniting church (Presbyterian, methodists, Congregationalists)

Christianity

• Most dominant religion: 1st – 43.9% in 2021

• Christians dropped by approx. a half since 1947

Decrease in more traditional variants

• Anglicanism: 39% in 1947 to 9.8% in 2021

• Catholics are most dominant: 20% in 2016  remain relatively stable (decreased by 2% from 2016)

• Uniting Church: 7.6% in 1986 to 2.7% in 2021

Reasons

• Australia was colonised by Britain

  • UK (Anglican) was a huge source of migration until 1945

  • Many Catholics since they were the Irish convicts transported on the first/second fleets

• Denominational switching → moving from one denomination to another

  • National church life survey showed people were more committed to a congregation rather than a denomination

  • Don’t feel connected to their original denomination but more the religion as a whole

Religious increase (christianity)

Increased in smaller Pentecostal denominations

• Christianity Not Fully Defined: Increased from 1% in 2017to 2.7% in 2021

• More broad affiliation with Christianity instead of specific denomination

Ecumenism

movement for dialogue and mutual understanding between Christian churches

• Develop a stronger, united Christian voice against moral issues and counter secularism

  • Encourage participation in the Church

  • Have a bigger say in social affairs

• Gathers Christian communities to apply the message of unity as Christ willed → spread Jesus’ message of harmony: “love the lord your god and your neighbour as yourself” (Mark 12:29-31)

The National Council of Churches

Australian churches refugee taskforce

Apply Christian moral voice to suffering of refugees and promote greater humanitarian support

Example: The Christmas Bowl mission

• Providing food, shelter, healthcare to displaced and impoverished communities around the world

• During Ethiopian famine → provided food and agricultural tools to communities to build resilience for future droughts

• Aim to show compassion to refugees and restore their humanity  living out the greatest commandment

NSW Ecumenical Council

Example: Domestic violence information program

• Believe the Church is a source of hope and guidance → need to address the issue of increased domestic violence in Australia

• Aims to prevent family violence by

  • Engaging church leaders in marginalised communities and teaching them how to help DV survivors

  • Teaching them how to identity domestic violence

  • Calls on priests to directly refer anyone seeking advice about domestic violence to professional support groups

Interfaith Dialogue

the communication between different religions

• Promotes understanding and tolerance, and communication to maintain a peaceful multifaith society

• Helps counter secularism

Columban Centre for Christian-Muslim Relations

• United by their common origin (Abrahamic faith)

• Aim to fight the stereotyping surrounding Islam

Example: Hold Muslim-Christian interfaith dialogue events

• Christians and Muslims are invited to celebrate important days in Islam together

• E.g. Hosting Iftar dinners during Ramadan where the two religions can dine together

• Believe in the power of communication in dismantling stereotypes

Australian Council for Christians and Jews

Hold events to better educate Jews and Christians about how to promote peaceful multiculturalism

Example: Heads, Hearts & Hands

• Three-day Gathering of AUS and NZ people interested in understanding interfaith dialogue

• Hold a panel of international speakers about the current challenges facing Christian Jewish dialogue and the need for conversation and reflection.

• Discuss how dialogue involves information (heads), emotional responses (heart), and practical action (hands)

The process of Reconciliation

Reconciliation - process that involves recognising past wrongdoings involved in the destruction of aboriginal spiritualities

• An ongoing process that still faces barriers but requires recognition and help from many groups

Jewish community

• Orthodox Synagogue in Newtown elected an Aboriginal woman as president, Lisa Jackson Pulver: “Australia [being an] equitable place [is made possible through] commitment to positive change”

• Reflecting the integration of reconciliation into Jewish communities

Uniting Church

• Take part in Reconciliation Week

• Seek to unite one fellowship of Aboriginal Christians to promote harmony between Aboriginal Spirituality and Christianity  develop mutually respectful relationships between Aboriginal people within congregations and the wider community