Living among Aboriginal Culture

Once upon a time I read a book about the lady that went to live with Aboriginals in Australia. That book is one of the reasons we choose to call this land our new home. Living in Melbourne I never came into contact with the representatives of this people, except once on "Listen to the Land" bushwalk with uncle Lionel of Mornington Peninsula. He took us over for the bushwalk talking and showing us native plants, animal, paths.

Moving to Queensland where many Aboriginal people live and where every place has a significant history, I discovered Kabi Kabi people. We nestled in a little seaside place call Ningi, that got its name after the oysters. This area is chosen by elders as initiation area for entering adulthood for boys when they are 14 years old. Close to us is the sacred gathering place called Gubbi, that only initiates can enter.

Today we have met the Elder of these people, and he thought us many amazing things that show how these people are real custodians, care takers of this land. Deeply connected to the land they know how to listen to nature, animals and their surroundings. Something "white fella" lost track into, a long time ago. I never knew the didgeridoos are made only up North, where is a very hot climate. That kind of weather is giving particular condition to the wood this instrument is made.

These people went through a very sad history where they were as kids taken from parents to the missions. Losing their identity and sense of belonging, many of them went astray. When the national apology happen from Australian Government in 2008 the healing occur and is still happening for all of them.

We have so much to learn from each other and by living on this land they respect and love so much. One thing that amaze me the most is their respect to all life and the deep way they look at things around them, their spirituality.

Aboriginal spirituality is heavily linked to land, they say “it’s like picking up a piece of dirt and saying this is where I started and this is where I’ll go. The land is our food, our culture, our spirit and identity.” They also believe in Dreamtime and Dreaming, however Dreamtime and Dreaming are not the same thing. Dreaming is the environment the Aboriginal people lived in and it still exists today “all around us”. They believe that “All objects are living and share the same soul or spirit that Aboriginals share” Their whole religion is revolves around the earth as they believe the earth to be the mother of all things. A persons soul is believed to continue on after their physical form has moved on through death. Aboriginals believe that after the death of a person, their spirit returns to the Dreamtime form, where they are reborn as a person, an animal, a plant or a rock. The Dreamtime is the core of Aboriginal spiritual belief, they say it has no beginning and no end.

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Myths and Stories

The Aboriginal Australian myths are their expressions of beliefs to explain how the world came about, how people came into existence, how they relate to their land and all the Laws they must follow. They believe that all these myths have come from the spirit beings of the Dreaming. Many of the spirits that give these myths and stories are in animal or other form. Sometimes myths are told as stories or pictures in paintings on bark or rock-faces, but usually they are sung and danced out or acted out in rituals. Some stories include:

- Two Brothers & The Pointer Stars
- How The Sun Came To Be
- How The Moon Came To Be
- The First Fire

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Sacred Texts

Aboriginal spirituality doesn't have any sacred texts or writings, they do however have important stories which have been passed down throughout their history. A major story from the Aboriginal people is the story of how the world was created. They believe it was created by the Dreaming spirit known as the Rainbow Serpent. The Rainbow Serpent is known of by  many different Aboriginal groups.

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Rituals

The Aboriginals have many kinds of rituals and each of these rituals follow a set pattern of celebration. Some of these rituals include:

Initiation: This is the ritual when children move into adulthood. When Girls come into adulthood it is more  of a personal and family matter, whereas boys have rituals that are long and painful.

Mortuary Rites: These are also known as death rituals. They usually go over months or even years, until that person's passage into their next life is complete and the Aboriginals left on earth have finished grieving.

Cultic Rituals: These rituals relate to Aboriginal spirits. This might include celebrating the actions of the creator spirits of a clan or group of clans.

Rituals of Reconciliation: These rituals are made and performed to reduce tensions and conflicts

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Symbols

Aboriginals have many symbols and they often refer to something beyond their external meaning. For example, a painting of a kangaroo might not be just a kangaroo, for the aboriginal people, it might be an ancestral creator spirit. The symbol which involves an arrangement of circles, dots and lines may be a map of the "Dreaming tracks" followed by spirit beings. An abstract design may be the mark of a particular clan or totemic group. Some of these symbols have different meanings to the aboriginal people. A series of a concentric circles may indicate a waterhole, a tree, a campfire, a sexual organ or a footprint or more than one of these at once, since there are often levels of meanings.

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Social Structure

Every aspects of Aboriginal Australian society was created with religious meaning. Traditionally, the Aboriginal Australian society was governed by a system of Elders. There were male Elders for the men's business and female elders for women's business. The Elders of an Aboriginal tribe played a roles concerning sacred things, for example people witnessing a ritual they shouldn't. They also have a role in helping people into aspects of religion and spirituality.

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Codes of Conduct / Moral Ethics

The aboriginals laws were provided from 'The Dreaming'. These laws covered what foods could be eaten and how they should share the food. There were punishments if these laws were broken, there were rules for family, marriage, social organization, looking after land and sacred sites and rules for ceremonies and rituals. Indigenous peoples were taught from early on what was allowed and what wasn't. This was taught through stories, music, art, dance and other ceremonies. The most important thing that Indigenous children learned was what the appropriate way to behave towards the land and other people within the family was. Particular arguments that could not be settled were settled by the elders. Theft, adultery, physical assault, neglect of family and clan obligations were offences that were considered unlawful. An example of a punishment people who committed a crime was from having to face a squad of spearmen with only a shield as protection. The aboriginals didn't have jails in Indigenous life.

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Religious experiences

Aboriginal's religious experiences revolve around the earth and their country, as they believe it is “impregnated with the power of the Ancestor Spirits”. They experience a connection to their land and feel they have to look after the land, an obligation which has been passed down as law for thousands of years. Aboriginal spirituality implies that not only do animals and plants have souls, but even rocks have a soul.An Aboriginal person’s soul or spirit is believed to continue on after death. After the death of an Aboriginal person they believe their spirit returns to the Dreamtime from where it will return through birth as a human, an animal, a plant or even a rock. This entire concept is very important and they often feel a massive spiritual experience in connection to this.