Aboriginal_Spirituality

Religion and Society Assignment 2. Religion and Society Assignment 2. By Alex Schmidt By Alex Schmidt 1. Spirituality Putting the concept of dreaming or spirituality in an indigenous point of view in one sentence seems to be quite difficult as it means many things.” The Dreaming is the spiritual concept of purpose, time, connections and spirit.” Encompassed spiritual knowledge, past, present and future (being able to look into the future, deeply reconcile the present and remember the past. Not only can it explain time it explains all life, the connections between people, land and spirit, and is expressed as a continuing journey of growth and learning. “There are always more secrets, special knowledge to gain as one grows older”. (Coming from a wise ancestor). The Dreaming carries responsibility to protect and preserve the spirit of the country and the life forms that are part of it. The Dreaming influences codes of behaviour, law, family structure, sacred duties and responsibilities. As it contains different meaning for different Aboriginal people different tribes and groups of indigenous people it usually is their own tradition belief and law. The Western version of the definition of Dreaming is “The Dreaming is the beginning of all things, when everything was formed, more correctly referred to events and places rather than time (western)”. Spirituality is a part of everything the Indigenous do, it is expressed in everyday actions and day-to-day chores. It is a part of everything. It isn't just something they do for an hour on Sunday. It influences everything. They do things a certain way because it is the right way to do it, not because some god threaten them if they don't. They act a certain way because it is the right way to be, not because they were promised a reward in heaven if we do. Dreaming is Spirituality is the way they live, the way they are supposed to live like we follow in J.C’s footsteps. 2. Land Dreamtime stories which talk about the Ancestors and Creation of the land outline the significance to all different types of landscapes and aspects involved within the landscapes. Aboriginal descendants of particular Ancestral Beings have a very special relationship with the features of the countryside associated with the Ancestor. Aborigines always relate theme selves to the land, the land is their god the land is the reason why they live. The spiritual link between the person and the Ancestor through the land and animal species means that their link with a particular area of land cannot be taken away or transferred to somewhere else. Compared with Australian attitudes to land it is for Aboriginal people something which cannot be bought or sold, land is a source of where they have come from and why they are here. I guess the best way to describe it, it’s their unique identity . This is the religious significance of land, but land also provided the group with its livelihood or means of living. As the land is so important to the indigenous they have their own land rights. “We don't own the land, the land owns us. The land is my mother, my mother is the land. Land is the starting point to where it all began. 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.” Land is at the basis of all Aboriginal relationships, economies, identities and cultural practices. Despite the loss of land through dispossession, people maintain their connections with lands and waters through storytelling, ceremony and art. The fight for recognition of rights to land is a continuous struggle for recognition and respect. Aboriginal People are the ancestors of the original population of their country Australia. Their understanding of land and water is the living cultural knowledge that is passed down from generation to generation. This forms a rich and significant matrix of people, totemic, social, economic and spiritual connectedness with the country. The connectedness extends from the past, and shapes both present and future land and natural resource management. 3. Effects of European Settlement European settlement - Not long after the First Fleet arrived in New South Wales, colonial governments began to grant, lease and sell land to white settlers. The availability of suitable land resulted in a number of expeditions to search for more fertile grazing land. New South Wales Governor Darling attempted to curb the spread of settlement in the colony. His efforts, however, were more to ensure that the settlers could still be controlled by colonial law enforcement, than out of concern for the original, Indigenous inhabitants of the land.It is believed that at least 750 000 Aboriginal people were living in Australia at the time of Captain Cook's arrival. These people were divided into around 600 different tribes and had hundreds of different languages. Archaeological evidence may show that the ancestors of the modern Indigenous people of Australia migrated to the continent more than 50 000 years ago. Isolated from external influences, the Aboriginal peoples developed their own way of life, in accordance with their religious and spiritual beliefs of the dreamtime When the settlers arrived in Australia they brought with them a number of European epidemic diseases. These diseases included chickenpox, smallpox, typhoid, measles and influenza. The Aboriginal peoples had no immunity or cure to these unfamiliar diseases. At first, fear and curiosity were experienced by the Aboriginal peoples and the British settlers. Cultural misunderstandings over land, however, made the initial attempts to construct a peaceful relationship seem futile. Both the settlers and Aboriginal people felt they were fighting for their survival and so the war that erupted between them was desperate and brutal. Raping children women and even men during this time was definitely not right but as well it did occur. European settlement had a severe and devastating impact on Indigenous people. Their dispossession of the land, exposure to new diseases and involvement in violent conflict, resulted in the death of a vast number of the Aboriginal peoples. The small percentage of Aboriginal people who did not die during these early decades of the colony, were not unaffected. The impact of the white settlers changed their lives, and the lives of future generations, forever. 4. Timeline 120,000 B.C. Analysis of pollen and charcoal suggest that people were using fire to clear land in southern Australia as early as 120,000 years ago. 23,000 B.C. Aborigines were using ground-edge grooved axes. 1788 Captain Phillip raises the Union Jack at Sydney Cove. Estimates put the indigenous population at that time bewteen 300,000 and 750,000. Within weeks of the first colonists' arrival, a wave of European epidemic diseases such as chickenpox, smallpox, influenza and measles, spread through frontier Anoriginal communities, decimating the population. 1824 Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur offerd bounties for the capture of Aborigines - adults and children. 1837 The forced detention of Aboriginal women by white men was outlawed. 1870 All the fertile areas of Australia had been appropriated by the colonists. Indigenous communities were reduced to living either on the fringes of European communities or on lands considered unsuitable for settlement. 1910 Government bodies and church groups work together to remove Aboriginal children from their homes, a practice which continues for almost 60 years. These children have become known as 'THE STOLEN GENERATION'. 1930 Estimates put the Aboriginal population as low as 50,000 to 90,000 1963 Indigenous Australians were given the right to vote in Commonwealth elections. 1969 The practice of forcibly removing Aboriginal children from their families was finally officially halted. 1971 In a landmark case, Justice Blackburn ruled that Australia had been terra nullius before European settlement, and that no concept of Native title existed in Australian law. Although the Aboriginal plaintiffs lost that case, the effect was to bring public attention to the matter, which eventually led to the Aboriginal Land Rights Act. 1972 An Aboriginal 'Tent Embassy' was established on the steps of Parliament House in Canberra, in response to the sentiment among indigenous Australians that they were "strangers in their own country". A Tent Embassy still exists on the same site today. 1992 The Australian High Court handed down its decision in the Mabo Case, declaring the previous legal concept of terra nullius to be invalid. Legislation was subsequently enacted and later amended to recognise Native Title claims over land in Australia. 1999 The Prime Minister released a public expression of regret for the ill-treatment of Aboriginies in the past, but stopped short of an 'apology', for fear that it could encourage claims for compensation. 2001 The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated the total resident indigenous population to be 458,520 (2.4% of Australia's total). The life expectancy of an Indigenous Australian was 59.4 years for males and 64.8 years for females, approximately 17 years lower than the Australian average. Unemployment is almost three times higher among Aborigines (20.0% unemployment) than among non-Indigenous Australians (7.6%). 2003 Twenty percent of prisoners in Australian jails were Indigenous, although making up only 2.4% of the country's population. 5. Aboriginal Role Models Pat O'Shane is a leading magistate in New South Wales. She is also an Australian Aborigine. Because many of her achievements have been firsts for her people, she is seen as a role model."I was the first Aboriginal female teacher in Queensland. I was the first Aboriginal person in the country to graduate in law, and the first woman to head a government department."Life for Pat and her family is comfortable now, a far cry from her childhood in north Queensland.The eldest of five children, Pat was born in 1941 to an Irish Australian father and Aboriginal mother."She was a soft person, she went out to people and she taught me to laugh. My father taught me to be aggressive - and to keep fighting and not to give in." The racism Pat encountered from an early age brought out her fighting spirit. After finishing school, Pat studied at Queensland University and became a teacher.Once recovered, Pat didn't just survive. She went on to break new ground by graduating as Australia's first Aboriginal lawyer.In 1982, the New South Wales government asked Pat to head its Department of Aboriginal Affairs. It shows no matter what race you are , if you have a dream it is defiantly possible. Other examples of great indigenous role models such as Cathy Freeman. Catherine memories of her early childhood were ones of having a lot of fun running around and playing with her siblings and friends. From an early age she realised that she not only loved to run, but that she was good at it. She became an Australian champion breaking world records and winning many gold medals. Contents 1. ABorignal Spirituality 2. Connection between land and people 3. european Settelment 4. Timeline 5. Role models Contents 6. ABorignal Spirituality 7. Connection between land and people 8. european Settelment 9. Timeline 10. Role models con