Australian Aboriginal Culture
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Thursday 20 September 2007 |
Australian Aboriginal culture is one of the world's longest surviving cultures, which dates back at least 50,000 years and there are many who think it could be closer to 150,000 years!
 All of Australia's Aborigines were semi-nomadic hunters and gatherers, with each clan having its own territory. Those communities living along the coast or rivers were expert fishermen. The territories or 'traditional lands' were defined by geographic boundaries such as rivers, lakes and mountains. All Australian Aborigines shared an intimate understanding of, and relationship with, the land. That relationship was the basis of their spiritual life and shaped the Aboriginal culture. Land is fundamental to the well-being of all Aboriginal people. The 'dreamtime' stories explain how the land was created by the journeys of the spirit ancestors. Those creation stories describing the contact and features which the spiritual ancestors left on the land are integral to Aboriginal spirituality. 'Ancestor Spirits' came to Earth in human and other forms and the land, the plants and animals were given their form as we know them today.
The expression 'Dreamtime' refers to the 'time before time', or 'the time of the creation of all things', while 'Dreaming' is often used to refer to an individual's or group's set of beliefs or spirituality. For example, an Indigenous Australian might talk about their Kangaroo Dreaming, Snake Dreaming, or Honey Ant Dreaming, or any combination of Dreamings pertinent to their 'land'. However, many Indigenous Aborigines also refer to the creation time as 'The Dreaming'. For Indigenous Australians, the past is still fervantly alive in the prent moment and will remain so into the future. The Ancestor Spirits and their powers have not gone, they are present in the forms in to which they changed at the end of the 'Dreamtime' or 'Dreaming', as the stories tell. The stories have been handed down through the ages and are an integral part of an Indigenous person's 'Dreaming'. |
posted by Tabitha @ 10:18 am  |
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