Aboriginal Spirituality

Aboriginal culture:

  • Aboriginals have been in Australia for more than 40,000 years
  • Were semi-nomadic at best, hunters and gatherers, but also farmers
  • In Southern parts of Australia, there is evidence of permanent dwellings as it would have been cold there
  • In Northern parts of Australia, this is less common due to the weather but there are still houses due to the heavy rains
  • Each country had their own ceremonies etc. and these happened at their scared sites
  • Each tribe shows diversity in terms of language, song, story, ceremonies and paintings
  • Totem - their identity and what roles they have in a community, totem poles were a statement of identity
  • Zero evidence of war between the nations, some neighbours had drama between them but no war and invasion
  • There were no borders between them but the land didn't mean anything to the other nations as it didn't have their spirits and stories
  • No concept of creation or a creator 

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Aboriginal Dreaming:

  • Metatemporal - A concept that incorporates the past, present and future reality as a complete and present reality, not about a linear sense of time and everything is all a part of everything and is always there

  • Dreaming is essentially the teaching of Aboriginal spirituality 

  • Three things that make up aboriginal spirituality, belonging and idenity :

  • Land - ancestral spirits and sacred sites

  • Kinship - relationships 

  • Dreaming - the teaching

  • Those three things are inextricably connected and when they disappear so does any sense of belonging 

  • Dreaming stories change from country to country as they do not all have the same animals and circumstances.

  • “The land is my mother” Provides us with everything we need, defines social structure, tells everyone where they belong, highlights ethics

  • Unseen/ancestral spirits - they are not gone, they are in the land, they give life and reality to the visible world, ceremonies are taken over by them - thin spaces

  • Ceremonies and ancestors are the essences of the dreaming

Aboriginal art:

  • Most indigenous art was not permanent and what was once discovered as art in caves etc. was actually children's graffiti. The majority of their art was on their bodies and was a part of ceremonies. 
  • The temporary art was used in parts of ceremonies and only for that part of the ceremony
  • All art has a religious theme and some sacred significance
  • Now the temporary art is placed on canvas and boards which represents the land that is no longer accessible to them so by having it with them it's like they are carrying the land with them

Aboriginal people & the land:

  • The land is connected to the ancestral beings and they have shaped the land for them
  • The loss of their land results in a loss of identity and this is significant for them 

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