Contemporary Aboriginal Spirituality

Discuss how Aboriginal spirituality is determined by the Dreaming

• It is the fundamental tenet of aboriginal spirituality (Spiritual dimension of reality where they and spirits used to interact)

• a metatemporal concept that establishes the customs and stories which link Aboriginal people to the land

Involves kindship, ceremonial life, and obligations to land and people

QUOTE:

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

Discuss how Aboriginal spirituality is determined by the Dreaming

• Kindship

Kinship = network of relationships that obligations to people and the land

• Involves the responsibility they have to others by determining

  • who is responsible for trasmitting the knowledge of the dreaming from Elders to the younger generation

  • Who one can talk to/marry

• Kinship relationships maintain the connection with Spirit ancestors

EXAMPLES:

Skin Groups (kinship) in Tiwi Culture are inherited by the mother. This determines who someone can marry and their totems (e.g. crocodile, shark)

Discuss how Aboriginal spirituality is determined by the Dreaming

• Ceremonial life

Ceremonies link aboriginal people to their land and their identity by:

• Ceremonial life facilitates spiritual connections and passes on social information

• Purpose is to: represents the metaphysical presence of the dreaming, maintains beliefs and practices, relive the dreaming and the activities of ancestor spirits

• Merges past, present and future

Involves

• Art - communicates knowledge of dreaming and land through symbols

• Stories - dreaming stories describe aboriginal law and lifestyle → teaches them how to live

• Totems - represent the individual as they existed in the dreaming and carry ceremonial responsibilities → METAPHYSICAL CONNECTION TO DREAMING

• Ceremonies

  • Initiation ceremonies – teach young ASTI about their responsibilities

  • Smoking ceremonies – ward of bad spirits and promotes the protection of visitors

  • Funeral ceremonies – reflect their view that the spirit returns to the dreaming and maintainconnection to kinship groups + land

EXAMPLE: The Tiwi Pukumani Ceremony: After a Tiwi dies, a ceremony is held and dancers dance in a circle. Pukumani poles are placed around the gravesite to ensure spirit finds its way to the spirit world

Discuss how Aboriginal spirituality is determined by the Dreaming

• obligations to land and people

The land is inextricably connected to aboriginal spirituality by providing a sense of identity and connection to the dreaming

Land is important because

• it is the dwelling place of ancestral spirits

  • Rituals are connected to sacred sites - land is created by spirit ancestors ∴ special responsibility to take care for them + focus of rituals

• a physical medium through which the dreaming is communicated (sacred sites can communicate dreaming stories → created by ancestor spirits)

• where tribes derive their identity and relationships (e.g. totems)

• View the land as mother because she provides them with all they need to survive (protection, food, water, shelter)  belong to the land and must care for it

• Feel custodianship for the land – duty to care for it (reflected through sustainable practices like seasonal hunting and controlled burning)

“We have a human relationship with the land: mother – [child]… we belong to the land”. (Terry Djiniyini; The Land is My mother, 1965)

define dispossession

Dispossession = the deprivation of aboriginal people from their land, property and other possession

NOTE: USE THE WORD DESTRUCTION TO CONVEY THE HORRIBLE NATURE

→ If it says continuing, use current data (e.g. life expectancy)

Discuss the continuing effect of dispossession on Aboriginal spiritualities in relation to

• Separation from the land

• Separation from kinship groups

• Stolen Generation

Loss of land, family/kinship groups + culture = loss of spiritual identity (inextricably connected)

• terra nullius rejected aboriginal people as being the original inhabitants

• Protectionism (1838) = moving aboriginal people onto missions and reserves, off their original land

• Assimilation (1901) = integrating aboriginal people into white society by making them adopt European practices (involves stolen generation

land	Loss of land = loss of spiritual identity (inextricably connected) cannot fulfil ritual responsibilities Loss of IDENTITY, culture, connection and community e.g. destruction of totemic responsibilities, and caring/ceremonies involving/for sacred sites
kinship	Loss of custom and culture → become estranged from extended family + kinship toes Separation from kinship = prevents the passing of knowledge (gender roles, culture + language, ceremonies) Knowledge shared through songs, dances, paintings and ceremonies → all forbidden during assimilation period Being unable to speak the language = cannot communicate to members of tribe
stolen gen	The Removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families to assimilate them into white society QUOTE: “10-33% of ATSI children were removed between 1910 to 1970” - Bringing them home report, 1997 Maltreatment, sexual and humiliation were common → teaching them how to be housework E.g. Recommendation 7.a called for national sorry day

SUMMARY 😀

Discuss the continuing effect of dispossession on Aboriginal spiritualities in relation to

• Separation from the land

• Separation from kinship groups

• Stolen Generation

Impact of Dispossession on Spirituality

• Separation from land = loss of identity because dreaming is inextricably connected to the land

  • Feel the burden of not fulfilling ritual responsibilities because they cannot access sacred sites + care for totems → connected to the dreaming

• Separation from kinship groups = loss of language and knowledge = degradation of spiritual identity

  • Cannot pass on beliefs in an authentic way

  • Causes the destruction of the kinship system because they cannot pass down Dreaming stories, traditional practices (songs, dances, art), laws and ritual and totemic responsibilities → all mediums through which the dreaming is expressed

• Feel cut off from their spiritual identity and the dreaming

OTHER IMPACTS

• intergenerational trauma from mistreatement on reserves + stolen gen

• Lower life expectancy

• Higher rates of unemployment, infant mortality and emprisonment

Outline the importance of the following for the Land Rights movement

The Land Rights movement seeks to recognise the inextricable connection between the land and expressions of the Dreaming + the inherent rights of aboriginal people to their land

Outline the importance of the following for the Land Rights movement 😀

• Native Title → Native title act

• Mabo Case

• Wik

Mabo case 1992 - the High Court overruled Terra Nullius (that no one was here before British settlement) → recognised continuous inhabitation of land by aboriginal people

• Terra nullius denied foundational principles of aboriginal spirituality

• Made clear that native title did not apply to freehold land (private land like houses) = showed how people could claim the land

• This caused the native title act to be passed → only small percentage could be claimed

NTA 1993 - gives the right of Aboriginal peoples to own their traditional lands and waters

→ recognised rights + existence, but does not ensure access to sacred sites

• Helped them re-establish spiritual links to their sacred sites, totems, and ceremonies → since aboriginal law is derived from their land

• Allows for their economic + social development

• Only recognised where Aboriginal people maintain a continuous connection to the vacant land → had to prove that their native title was never extinguished

• STATISTIC: Approximately half of NSW is currently under native title claims.

Wik’s native title ammendment act 1998- High court ruled that the Native Title could co-exist with leasehold title

• In any conflict, leasehold titleholder rights would prevail

• Lead to the 1998 Native Title Amendment, where the NTA was abolished and replaced with Aboriginal people only having the right to be consulted on what was going to happen to their land.

CONCLUDING SENTENCE:

Despite the NTA contributing to the recognition of Aboriginal people as original inhabitants and the and reconnection of them with the land and thus the dreaming through native title claims, there is still a long way to go in fulfilling all the objectives to the land rights movement.