By Sarah Schoch, Craig Vincent, Lexi Rudolph, and Nathan Straughan

Australia International Internet Project

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Agenda

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4 Sacred Texts

1 History of Aborginial Religion

2 Basic Beliefs and Customs

3 Geographical Influence on Religion

History of the Aboriginal ReligionOutline

The Beginning

Progression of the Race

European Settlement

Aboriginal◦ First or earliest known

Indigenous◦ Another term for Aboriginal

The Beginning: Meaning

World’s most primitive culture Entered continent from south Asia 7 million - 40,000 years ago

◦ “Traditional” period 40,000 years ago - 1788

◦ First evidence of culture

The Beginning: Earliest Years

Australian continent isolated Life developed:

◦ Differently◦ Slowly◦ Peacefully

Progression of the Race: Isolation From Other Continents

Developed different way of living Productive and without need of

improvement “Primitive”

Progression of Race: Solutions

Managed reproduction of plants and animals

Controlled underbrush growth using controlled fires

Progression of Race: Innovations

Time period of change varied:◦ Sydney and Parramatta - 1788◦ Cowpastures area - early 1800’s◦ Illawarra district - 1815

“Historical Period”

European Settlement

Forced a change in living Much like Native Americans Encroached on land and destroyed homes

and villages

European Settlement

Remaining tribes moved to reserves and missions

“Managed” by Europeans Management lasted for decades

◦ Many aborigines today do not know origins

European Settlement: 1900’s

Agenda

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4 Sacred Texts

1 History of Aborginial Religion

2 Basic Beliefs and Customs

3 Geographical Influence on Religion

BASIC BELIEFS AND RITUALS

Relationship between man and nature

Songs and stories

Dreamtime Myths

Different tribes, same fundamental beliefs

DREAMTIME

“I am a child of the Dreamtime PeoplePart of this Land, like the gnarled

gumtreeI am the river, softly singingChanting our songs on my way to the seaMy spirit is the dust-devilsMirages, that dance on the plain,I’m the snow, the wind and the falling

rainI’m part of the rocks and the red desert

earthRed as the blood that flows in my veinsI am eagle, crow and snake that glidesThorough the rain-forest that clings to

the mountainsideI awakened here when the earth was newThere was emu, wombat, kangarooNo other man of a different hueI am this landAnd this land is meI am Australia”

• Not actual dreams• Creation process—

ancestors traveled Earth• Totems/ancestors• Images of wisdom• Specific dreaming

DREAMTIME (CONT.)Biami: God-like creator Made land, mountains, rivers, living things Went back into sky

GREAT SPIRIT

Different Names Supreme being Creator Watches over Wiradjuri People Rainbow Serpent

DEATH

Physical pain for dead

“Sky Camp”

Based off of Dreamtime

Djanggau Sisters

Inquiry

REINCARNATION

Inner Spirit born again

Transmigration

Fundamental belief for all tribes

Some believed would go to a Heaven after Reincarnation

MEANS FOR REACHING REINCARNATION

Strict moral code

Ceremonies to carry on culture

Coroborees Ritual

SPIRITUALITY

Religion v. Spirituality

Dreamtime Superstition

Animal and Evil Spirits

Body and Spirit—all things

Ancestral heroes—Mt. Ranges

Spirits were supernatural being—blamed for what occurred

RITUAL: TARLOW

Sacred pile of rocks

Will to increase

Head of family journeys to shrine

Sickness isolation, not tarlow

MAGIC

Superstitious by nature

Pointing of the bone

“cured of sickness”

INITIATIONS

Male initiation rituals

Pain endurance

No initiation for females

Began at early age/puberty

ELDERS, LORE, MESSAGE STICKS

Respect Elders

“the facts and stories about a particular subject or topic”

For entering other tribes

Welcome rituals

CAVES

Express each person’s artistic ability

Pictures of spirits

SHAMANIC TRADITION

Ritual death and resurrection

Abduction by powerful beings

Body parts rearranged

Aerial ascents journeys

Transformation

CULTURE OF THE ABORIGINES

Long lasting culture “Dreamtime” Art, Song, and Dance A lost culture

LONG LASTING CULTURE

Culture survived through many others Before Egyptians built pyramids While Greeks built the Pantheon While Britain ruled Roman Empire

Existed more than 40,000 years ago

“DREAMTIME”

Time before creation Man rose from earth, water, and sky Some rose to form nature No superiority; equality with nature

ART, SONG, DANCE

All forms of culture involved religion Songs reflect “Dreamtime” Dance and artwork tell stories of land and

tradition

ART

Includes Bark and Rock paintings Baskets and beadwork Sculptures

DIDGERIDOO

Instruments made of wood Most famous instrument associated

with aborigines Five feet long and produces low,

vibrating hum Used in ceremonies like at sunsets,

circumcisions, and funerals

A LOST CULTURE

Europeans settled in Australia in 1788 Took over land 1880’s - tribes assimilated to one area Disease killed many tribes and cultures

with them Traditions have geographic connection

but many traditions have been forgotten

Agenda

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4 Sacred Texts

2 Basic Beliefs and Culture

3 Geographical Influence on Religion

Fundamentals

Themes of Aboriginal religion are centered around nature. Especially the animals and landscape

Believed physical landmarks (i.e a mountain) was their creator Most religious ceremonies occurred around or on

this landmark Holy Grounds are called Bora Ground and are

marked by 2 circles raised in the earth Many ceremonies were to ensure that there

were enough plant and animal resources.

Fundamentals Cont.

Many traditions are centered around harvesting crops which is difficult because of the lack of water.

Totems: Items in the natural world which can be paralleled into the social world.

Tribes picked totems to represent them Rooted in the animal diversity in Australia,

many animals ferocious or docile were used a totems.

Rainbow Serpent

The dry plains of Australia influenced the Religious ideology of the rainbow serpent.

It brings rain to the people only when they have done things to please him.

A centerpiece of the religion because of the immense necessity for rain.

Interpretive Dance

Aborigines employ interpretive dance in their ceremonies to remind them of the connection between themselves, nature, and the land.

Agenda

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4 Sacred Texts

3 Geographical Influence on Religion

SACRED TEXTSSacred texts are among the aspects of

indigenous spiritual ecology which evidence the tendencies among many if not most indigenes to think, feel, and live in unity with nature as the sacred.

They emphasize kinship, interdependence, and reciprocity with nature as well as care, respect, and reverence for nature.

All beings and things are seen as a sacred community and are involved in communication spiritually.

Gregory Cajete, Look to the MountainsAmerican Indians believe that breath and

language represent the most tangible expression of the spirit in all living things.

Language is an expression of the spirit because it contains the power to move people and to express human thought and feeling.

It is the breath, along with water and thought, that connects all living things in direct relationship.

The interrelationship of water, thought (wind), and breath personifies the elemental relationship from that place of the Center where all things are created.

Martin Louie/Snpakchiin, Kettle Falls Okanagon/Salish elder [I]t’s not only the Indians that sing the

song at the Winter Dance. It’s all over the world. All nations, they all have a song. That’s what my people say. When you’re a baby the first thing you do is learn to hum, to make a little noise. That’s what they call a song. Each nation in their own language in their own way have a song. Clear ’round the world [the centering tree] in all the four directions . . . don’t matter what nation it is. The world has a song. The rivers, the creeks, the winds, the trees, everything has a whispering sound.

Wub-e-ke-niew People, Wub-e-ke-niew We Have the Right to Exist There are two very different religious philosophies on

this Continent. One is the aggregate of the centralized, hierarchical world religions and the other rigid schools of thought, including Indian religion.

The other is the philosophy and world-view of the Ahnishinahbae�t jibway and other Aboriginal Indigenous people. The Ahnishinahbae�t jibway Mid� is a way of living in harmony and community; a facilitation of each person’s Sovereign relationship with Grandmother Earth, with Grandfather Mid�, with the Circle of Life which encompasses us, and with the Great Mysteries of the Universe.

The Mid� is experienced, it is directly connected to Grandmother Earth; they are married. This is where we come from.3

Sources

• Basic Beliefs/Rituals:– http://www.crystalinks.com/aboriginals.html– http://www.creativespirtis.info//spirituality/.html– http://skwirk.com/the-australian-continent.html

THANK YOU!

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