Aboriginal Spirituality

Question 1

Define ‘Ceremonial life’ in terms of the Aboriginal spirituality and the Dreaming.
Outline some examples.
What were the roles of the Creation ceremonies?

Answer 1

Celebrating/commemorating something or someone
Included rites of passage, burial rituals, initiation, birth ceremonies, passing on of social information, spiritual, etc.
Gender specific ceremonies -> e.g. birth (women) & initiation (men)
Recreating the tribes -> creation story of a tribe is told. Creation stories are not just the past, the are the present also.
Kept the Dreaming alive

Question 2

Define ‘kinship’

Answer 2

• system of relationships (biological & non), traditionally accepted by a particular culture. This defined a person’s place in a community.
  rights & obligations involved
• The Aboriginal children were educated in this; not unusual to have many mothers, fathers, uncles, etc.
  Each kinship had own totems, sacred sites, etc. -> responsibilities

Question 3

Describe birth ceremonies

Answer 3

The woman giving birth went outside the camp to a shelter, with another woman who had given birth another time. This second woman would assist with the delivery & perform the rituals.
The placenta was buried -> child’s connection to the earth
Smoking ceremony -> small fire made of green leaves. The mother would sit over the fire -> assist cleansing & make sure of plenty of milk. The child was also held over it to make it strong & quiet. It was then rubbed with ashes to make it dark-skinned.
Only afterwards was the father allowed to see his child.

Question 4

Describe the death ceremony. What were some beliefs held about death?

Answer 4

believed that death was not the end of life. The spirit went back to the land, to the Dreaming sites. These spirits & sites were held in great respect.
Possessions were destroyed, the camp moved, & their names were not to be spoken again. One must be buried in one’s own country & sung to rest.
Differed between tribes

Question 5

What were some of the obligations to the land? Why were they so important

Answer 5

• attachment to land through Dreaming stories
• country is given by ancestor spirits -> very special
  Must respect, nurture & maintain balance -> each tribes’ responsibility.
  -> protecting cultural sites, stories & song lines
  -> seasonal harvesting
  -> recording plants (modern)
  -> remove seeds & weeds
  -> teach others about land
  -> perform rituals
  -> Look after Dreaming sites, archaeological sites, waterholes, burial grounds
  Ceremonies help renew spiritual connection to the land & sacred sites

Question 6

What is the effect of dispossession in terms of separation from the land?

Answer 6

• loss of identity
• loss of culture -> no more Dreaming ceremonies
• spirituality mocked

Question 7

What is the effect of dispossession from kinship -> Stolen Generations

Answer 7

• unused to white food -> health issues
• reduced life expectancy
• education disadvantages
• couldn’t perform ceremonies -> lost
• totems, oral tradition, lifestyle lost