Aboriginal Culture And Conflict

Oldest Surviving Culture

• Oldest skeleton ever found is mungo man which is 42000 years old that proves aboriginal culture is the oldest surviving culture

Dreamtime

• Spiritual world that accompanies the physical world. It is the basis for beliefs and lore of the Aboriginal people

• Refers to the psychic state where contact is made with ancestors

• Dreamtime stories

Aboriginal view of land

• Connection to land is deeply personal and spiritual

• According to Aboriginals, you can’t separate the land from Aboriginals

• Some accept terms of custodians, others beleive it is more a relationship

Land as a cause of conflict

• European arrival had a catastrophe of consequences for indigenous Australians

• Professor John Mayard - “collision of catastrophic proportions”

Terra Nullius

• Translated to land belonging to no one

• Used by British Governor Richard Bourke to justify British Settlement

Dispossession

• Act of depriving someone from land, property or possession

Dispersal

• Refers to the act of spreading over a wider area

Consequences of Dispossession And Dispersal

• Sacred sites left unprotected

• Means of survival were removed

• loss of connection

• Ecosystems not maintained

• Ceremonies don’t occur

Aboriginal Life And Lore

Totems

• Plant or animals that is personal to each indigenous person

• Elders decide totems - often where you mum feels you first move

Aboriginal culture is not written

• Culture is passed down orally e.g dances or stories

Fishing

• Made sure they only caught adult fish so the population could regenerate

Medicine

• Use eucalyptus oil to help with consumption