Everything about Australian Aboriginal Culture totally explained
Aboriginal Australia contains a large number of
tribal divisions and
language groups, and, corresponding to this, a wide variety of diversity exists within cultural practices. There are some similarities between cultures however.
Practices and ceremonies
- A Bora is an initiation ceremony in which young boys are transformed into men.
- A Corroboree it's a ceremonial meeting for Australian Aboriginal people.
- Fire-stick farming, identified by Australian archeologist Rhys Jones in 1969, is the practice of regularly and systematically burning patches of vegetation to facilitate hunting, to reduce the frequency of major bush-fires, and to change the composition of plant and animal species in an area. "Burning-off", as it's often called, reduces the fuel-load for a potential major bush fire, while fertilising the ground and increasing the number of young plants, thus providing additional food for kangaroos and other fauna who are hunted for meat. It is regarded as good husbandry and "Looking after the Land" by Indigenous people.
- A Smoking ceremony is a cleansing ritual performed on special occasions.
- Tjurunga or churinga are objects of religious significance by Central Australian Aboriginal Arrernte (Aranda, Arundta) groups.
- Walkabout refers to the belief of non-Indigenous Australians that Aboriginal people were prone to "go walkabout" (a pidgin or perhaps quasi-pidgin expression) meaning that they'd stop doing their jobs and wander through the bush for weeks at a time. The reality is that Aboriginal people were usually fulfilling ceremonial, spiritual, or family obligations, but could generally not convey this to white station owners, either due to its taboo nature, or the sheer clash of the two cultures which generally left misunderstanding on both sides. The term is nowadays usually regarded as derogatory or even offensive.
Belief Systems
In the world's oldest continent the creative epoch known as the
Dreamtime stretches back into a remote era in history when the creator ancestors known as the First Peoples travelled across the great southern land of Bandaiyan
(Australia), creating and naming as they went.
Indigenous Australians'
oral tradition and spiritual values are based upon reverence for the land and a belief in this
Dreamtime. The Dreaming is at once both the ancient time of creation and the present day reality of Dreaming. There were a great many different groups, each with their own individual culture, belief structure, and language. These cultures overlapped to a greater or lesser extent, and evolved over time. The
Rainbow Serpent is a major Ancestral being for many Aboriginal people across Australia, whereas
Baiame or
Bunjil are regarded as the primary creator-spirits in South-East Australia. Dingo Dreaming is a significant Ancestor in the interior regions of
Bandiyan as Dingo formed the songlines that cross the continent from north to south and east to west. The
Yowie and
Bunyip are also well known Ancestral beings.
One version of the Dreaming story runs as follows:
The whole world was asleep. Although not in a literal way, it would have seemed like it. Everything was quiet, nothing moved, nothing grew. The animals slept under the earth. One day the rainbow snake woke up and crawled to the surface of the earth. She pushed everything aside that was in her way. She wandered through the whole country and when she was tired she coiled up and slept. So she left her tracks. After she'd been everywhere she went back and called the frogs. When they came out their tubby stomachs were full of water. The rainbow snake tickled them and the frogs laughed. The water poured out of their mouths and filled the tracks of the rainbow snake. That's how rivers and lakes were created. Then grass and trees began to grow and the earth filled with life.
In principle, census information could tell us how widespread are traditional Aboriginal beliefs compared to (for example) Christianity, but the results may be misleading because the census form doesn't include traditional Aboriginal beliefs as a religion. For example, the 2001 census form listed Catholic, Anglican (Church of England), Uniting Church, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Islam, Greek Orthodox, Baptist, "No religion", "Other - please specify", and Buddhism. The following census information is therefore likely to over-represent the listed beliefs compared to traditional Aboriginal beliefs.
The 1996 census reported that almost 72 percent of Aborigines practiced some form of Christianity, and 16 percent listed no religion. The 2001 census contained no comparable updated data. In the 1991 census, almost 74% identified with Christianity, up from 67% at the 1986 census. The form of the question changed in the 1991 census, and as the religion question is optional to answer, reducing the percentage of people who didn't answer.
The Aboriginal population also has a small but rapidly growing number of muslims. This Islamic community has also seen high profile members such as the boxer, Anthony Mundine See
Islam in Australia.
Music
didgeridoo is commonly considered the national instrument of Australian Aborigines, and it's claimed to be the world's oldest wind instrument. However, it was traditionally only played by
Arnhem Land people, such as the
Yolngu, and then only by the men. It has possibly been used by the people of the
Kakadu region for 1500 years.
Clapping sticks are probably the more ubiquitous musical instrument, especially because they help maintain the rhythm for the song. More recently, Aboriginal musicians have branched into rock and roll, hip hop and reggae. One of the most well known modern bands is
Yothu Yindi playing in a style which has been called
Aboriginal rock.
Art
Australia has a long tradition of Aboriginal art which is thousands of years old. Modern Aboriginal artists continue the tradition using modern materials in their artworks. Aboriginal art is the most internationally recognisable form of Australian art. Several styles of Aboriginal art have developed in modern times including the watercolour paintings of
Albert Namatjira; the
Hermannsburg School, and the acrylic
Papunya Tula "dot art" movement. Painting is a large source of income for some Central Australian communities such as at
Yuendumu today.
Astronomy
For many Aboriginal cultures, the night sky is a central repository of stories and law.
Songlines can be traced through the sky as well as through the land, and the stories and songs associated with the sky underpin many cultural tenets. This cultural astronomy is said to predate the origins of European or Asian astronomy, so that
Indigenous Australians have been called
the world's first astronomers....x
Traditional recreation
The Djabwurrung and Jardwadjali people of western Victoria once participated in the traditional game of
Marn Grook, a type of
football played with
possum hide.
The game is believed by some to have inspired
Tom Wills, inventor of the code of
Australian rules football, a popular Australian winter sport. Similarities between Marn Grook and Australian football include the unique skill of jumping to catch the ball or high "marking", which results in a free kick. The word "mark" may have originated in "mumarki", which is "an Aboriginal word meaning catch" in a dialect of a Marn Grook playing tribe.
Indeed, Aussie Rules has seen many indigenous players at elite football, and have produced some of the most exciting and skillful to play the modern game. Approximately one in ten AFL players are of indigenous origin.
The contribution the Aboriginal people have made to the game is recognised by the annual AFL "Dreamtime at the 'G" match at the
Melbourne Cricket Ground between
Essendon and
Richmond football clubs (the colours of the two clubs combine to form the colours of the Aboriginal flag, and many great players have come from these clubs, including Essendon's
Michael Long and Richmond's
Maurice Rioli).
Testifying to this abundance of indigenous talent, the
Aboriginal All-Stars are an AFL-level all-Aboriginal football side competes against any one of the
Australian Football League's current football teams in pre-season tests.
The
Clontarf Foundation and football academy is just one organisation aimed at further developing aboriginal football talent. The
Tiwi Bombers began playing in the
Northern Territory Football League and became the first and only all-aboriginal side to compete in a major Australian competition.
Aboriginal Football
See the comprehensive study of Aboriginal people in sport: Aborigines in sport by Colin Tatz
Capturing a dream team - Video of AGE Photographer John Donegan reveals how he created a single portrait of all the AFL's indigenous players.Further Information
Get more info on 'Australian Aboriginal Culture'.
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